Opinion ID: 1182150
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Heading: the public policy exception generally

Text: The public policy exception to the employment-at-will doctrine restricts an employer's right to terminate an employee for any reason. Burk v. K-Mart Corp., 770 P.2d 24, 28 (Okla.1989) (public policy exception attempts to balance competing interests of society, employee, and employer). Under the exception, the at-will doctrine will not insulate an employer from liability where an employee is fired in a manner or for a reason that contravenes a clear and substantial public policy. Utah recognizes the public policy exception to the at-will doctrine. Hodges v. Gibson Products Co., 811 P.2d 151, 165 (Utah 1991); Loose v. Nature-All Corp., 785 P.2d 1096, 1097 (Utah 1989). [2] Actions falling within the public policy exception typically involve termination of employment for (1) refusing to commit an illegal or wrongful act, (2) performing a public obligation, or (3) exercising a legal right or privilege. Jill S. Goldsmith, Note, Employment-at-Will  Employers May Not Discharge At-Will Employees for Reasons that Violate Public Policy  Wagenseller v. Scottsdale Memorial Hospital, 1986 Ariz.St.L.J. 161, 166-67. Here, Peterson alleges that he was terminated for refusing to commit an unlawful act. In a number of cases, other courts have found that the public policy exception applies in similar circumstances. See, e.g., Tameny v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 27 Cal.3d 167, 164 Cal.Rptr. 839, 610 P.2d 1330 (1980) (employee discharged for refusing to engage in illegal price fixing); Petermann v. International Bhd. of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of Am. Local 396, 174 Cal.App.2d 184, 344 P.2d 25 (1959) (employee terminated for refusing to commit perjury); Trombetta v. Detroit, Toledo & Ironton R.R., 81 Mich.App. 489, 265 N.W.2d 385 (1978) (employee discharged for declining to illegally manipulate state-mandated pollution sampling results); O'Sullivan v. Mallon, 160 N.J.Super. 416, 390 A.2d 149 (1978) (employee terminated for refusing to perform medical procedure for which she was not licensed); Harless v. First Nat'l Bank, 162 W.Va. 116, 246 S.E.2d 270 (1978) (employee discharged for refusing to violate consumer protection law); Ostrofe v. H.S. Crocker Co., 740 F.2d 739 (9th Cir.1984), cert. dismissed, 469 U.S. 1200, 105 S.Ct. 1155, 84 L.Ed.2d 309 (1985) (employee discharged for refusing to participate in conspiracy to violate Sherman Antitrust Act). How a court defines public policy is a determining factor in whether it will invoke the public policy exception. Wagenseller v. Scottsdale Memorial Hosp., 147 Ariz. 370, 377, 710 P.2d 1025, 1032 (1985); Note, Protecting Employees At Will Against Wrongful Discharge: The Public Policy Exception, 96 Harv.L.Rev.1931, 1947 (1983) [hereinafter Protecting Employees ]. We acknowledge that the term public policy is open-ended, Hodges, 811 P.2d at 165, and varies from court to court and from case to case. See generally Protecting Employees at 1947-50 (discussing arbitrariness with which courts define public policy). We will not attempt here to define the full scope of the term public policy for purposes of the exception to the at-will doctrine. At this point, it is sufficient to say that declarations of public policy can be found in our statutes and constitutions. Hodges, 811 P.2d at 165-66; Berube v. Fashion Centre, Ltd., 771 P.2d 1033, 1043 (Utah 1989). This does not mean that all statements made in a statute are expressions of public policy. [M]any statutes simply regulate conduct between private individuals, or impose requirements whose fulfillment does not implicate fundamental public policy concerns. Foley v. Interactive Data Corp., 47 Cal.3d 654, 254 Cal. Rptr. 211, 217, 765 P.2d 373, 379 (1988). A number of courts have refused to recognize a cause of action unless the public policy allegedly violated is clear or substantial, see, e.g., Larsen v. Motor Supply Co., 117 Ariz. 507, 573 P.2d 907 (1977) (refusing to recognize public policy action where employees terminated for refusing to consent to take psychological stress evaluation test); Lampe v. Presbyterian Med. Ctr., 41 Colo.App. 465, 590 P.2d 513 (1978) (refusing to recognize public policy action based on broad, general language of nursing statute); Jones v. Keogh, 137 Vt. 562, 409 A.2d 581 (1979) (refusing to recognize action where employee was discharged over leave time dispute); Ward v. Frito-Lay, Inc., 95 Wis.2d 372, 290 N.W.2d 536 (1980) (refusing to recognize public policy violation where employee was fired because relationship with co-worker was causing dissension in work place), or clearly mandated, see Wagenseller, 147 Ariz. at 377, 710 P.2d at 1032; Parnar v. Americana Hotels, 65 Haw. 370, 652 P.2d 625, 631 (1982); Palmateer v. International Harvester Co., 85 Ill.2d 124, 52 Ill.Dec. 13, 15-16, 421 N.E.2d 876, 878-79 (1981); Boyle v. Vista Eyewear, Inc., 700 S.W.2d 859, 871 (Mo.Ct.App.1985); Geary v. United States Steel Corp., 456 Pa. 171, 319 A.2d 174, 180 (1974); Thompson v. St. Regis Paper Co., 102 Wash.2d 219, 685 P.2d 1081, 1089 (1984). This court has indicated that it will narrowly construe the public policies on which a wrongful termination action may be based. Caldwell v. Ford, Bacon & Davis Utah, Inc., 777 P.2d 483, 485 (Utah 1989); Berube, 771 P.2d at 1043. It is not the purpose of the exception to eliminate employer discretion in discharging at-will employees, Hodges, 811 P.2d at 165, or to impose a requirement of good cause for the discharge of every employee. Accordingly, we hold that the public policy exception applies in this state when the statutory language expressing the public conscience is clear and when the affected interests of society are substantial. The identification of clear and substantial public policies will require case-by-case development.