Opinion ID: 1135943
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Public Policy Requirement

Text: 16. In Shovelin, this Court explained, The linchpin of a cause of action for retaliatory discharge is whether by discharging the complaining employee the employer violated a `clear mandate of public policy.' Shovelin, 115 N.M. at 303, 850 P.2d at 1006 (quoting Vigil, 102 N.M. at 688, 699 P.2d at 619). We also described several sources of public policy that could serve as the basis for a claim of retaliatory discharge, including legislation that defines a public policy without necessarily specifying either a right or a remedy for an employee. Id. 17. In the present case, the public policy at issue is the reporting of suspected illegal activities, namely, the use of illegal drugs. Although our legislature has not provided any specific rights or remedies for employees who discover or suspect that a coworker or supervisor is committing a crime, it has clearly enunciated a strong public policy against condoning criminal activity and in favor of uncovering and eradicating it. As the Illinois Supreme Court stated: There is no public policy more basic, nothing more implicit in the concept of ordered liberty than the enforcement of a State's criminal code. There is no public policy more important or more fundamental than the one favoring the effective protection of the lives and property of citizens. No specific constitutional or statutory provision requires a citizen to take an active part in the ferreting out and prosecution of crime, but public policy nevertheless favors citizen crime-fighters. Public policy favors the exposure of crime, and the cooperation of citizens possessing knowledge thereof is essential to effective implementation of that policy. Persons acting in good faith who have probable cause to believe crimes have been committed should not be deterred from reporting them. . . . Palmateer v. International Harvester Co., 85 Ill.2d 124, 52 Ill.Dec. 13, 16-17, 421 N.E.2d 876, 879-80 (1981) (citations omitted) (holding that firing of employee who had reported suspected illegal activity of coworker to police and had agreed to assist in police investigation violated a clear mandate of public policy and gave rise to claim of retaliatory discharge) (quoting Joiner v. Benton Community Bank, 82 Ill.2d 40, 44 Ill.Dec. 260, 262, 411 N.E.2d 229, 231 (1980)). Cf. Sheets v. Teddy's Frosted Foods, Inc., 179 Conn. 471, 427 A.2d 385, 388-89 (1980) (holding that reporting violations of state food-labelling laws was important public-policy concern that supported action for retaliatory discharge); Harless v. First Nat'l Bank, 162 W.Va. 116, 246 S.E.2d 270, 275-76 (1978) (holding that firing employee for reporting violations of consumer credit protection laws implicated strong public-policy concerns sufficient to support claim for retaliatory discharge). Accordingly, we conclude that the Garritys have alleged an interest for which there is a clear mandate of public policy.