Case Name: David FLENKER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WILLAMETTE INDUSTRIES, INC., Defendant-Appellee
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1998-12-23
Citations: 162 F.3d 1083
Docket Number: No. 96-3242
Parties: David FLENKER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WILLAMETTE INDUSTRIES, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
Judges: Before HENRY, LUCERO, and MILES-LAGRANGE, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 3d Series
Volume: 162
Pages: 1083–1084

Head Matter:
David FLENKER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WILLAMETTE INDUSTRIES, INC., Defendant-Appellee.
No. 96-3242.
United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.
Dec. 23, 1998.
Stephen J. Dennis, Dennis, Stanton & Redlingshafer, L.L.C., Fairway, Kansas, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Rody P. Biggert (Andrew M. Altschul with him on briefs), Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson, Chicago, Illinois, for Defendant-Appellee.
Before HENRY, LUCERO, and MILES-LAGRANGE, Circuit Judges.
The Honorable Vicki Miles-LaGrange, United States District Judge of the Western District of Oklahoma, silling by designation.

Opinion:
HENRY, Circuit Judge.
This is an appeal from a summary judgment entered in favor of an employer, Willamette Industries, Inc. ("Willamette"), in a tort action under Kansas law for retaliatory discharge. The district court held that plaintiff-appellant Mr. Flenker's l'etaliatory discharge claim was precluded because section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act ("OSHA"), 29 U.S.C. § 660(c) (1994), provided him an adequate alternative remedy. Mr. Flenker appealed.
Because we determined that resolution of the appeal turned on an unsettled issue of Kansas law, we certified the following question to the Kansas Supreme Court: "Does the remedy provided by OSHA § 11(c) for employees who allege that they have been discharged in retaliation for filing complaints under that statute preclude the filing of a Kansas common law wrongful discharge claim under Kansas's public policy exception to at-will employment?" The Kansas Supreme Court, under the facts submitted to it in our certification, answered "no." Flenker v. Willamette Industries, Inc., 967 P.2d 295, 297 (Kan.1998).
Applying the Kansas Supreme Court's answer here, we hold that OSHA § 11(c) does not preclude Mr. Flenker's Kansas common law wrongful discharge claim. Thus, with the benefit of this decision previously unavailable to the district court, we now VACATE the grant of summary judgment to Willamette and REMAND for further proceedings.