Does a disciplinary record the seller started affect my ability to terminate that employee for cause later?

It can, but generally in the employee's favour more than yours, at least at the outset. Just cause for termination is a high legal bar, and it's usually built on a pattern — prior warnings, documented performance issues, escalating discipline — rather than a single incident, so a disciplinary history that began under the seller can, in principle, form part of the overall record if you're continuing progressive discipline for the same ongoing conduct or performance issue.

The complication is that just cause generally requires the current employer to have handled discipline properly along the way, including giving clear warnings and a genuine opportunity to improve, and if you weren't the one who issued the seller's warnings, you may need to independently assess whether they were properly documented and communicated, and potentially restart or reinforce the disciplinary process yourself once you're the employer, rather than assuming you can rely entirely on someone else's file. Combined with continuity of employment, the employee's full length of service also still counts, which raises the stakes of getting a termination for cause wrong.

Before relying on a pre-existing disciplinary record to terminate for cause, get the seller's documentation reviewed and consider reinforcing the process yourself. A Treadstone business lawyer can help you assess whether a for-cause termination is likely to hold up.