Opinion ID: 761503
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Reason Given May be Based on Mistaken Facts

Text: 36 The second type of case where the Montana Supreme Court has found that the reason for discharge is not legitimate is if the reason given is based on a mistaken interpretation of the facts. The Montana Supreme Court has repeatedly found that an employee discharged for a reason based on a mistaken interpretation of the facts has a valid claim under the WDEA, even if the employer acted in good faith. 37 Morton v. M-W-M, Inc., 263 Mont. 245, 868 P.2d 576 (Mont.1994) presented the Montana Supreme Court with facts strikingly similar to this case. Morton worked as an assistant manager for Burger King, and requested and received vacation time so that she could take care of her children, but instead went to work at a second job for another restaurant, Black Angus. Id. at 578. Although she was generally rated as an exceptional employee, Burger King terminated her, claiming that she had violated company policy by going to work for a competitor, failing to make herself available for part-time work during her vacation, and for being dishonest about her vacation plans. Id. 38 Morton did not dispute that she had gone to work for Black Angus, but denied that she had lied about it. Morton argued that Black Angus was not a competitor of Burger King, and that while she originally intended to use her vacation to take care of her children, she was ultimately able to find a babysitter, and only then did she interview for the position at Black Angus. Id. The Montana Supreme Court reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment to Burger King. 39 The Montana Supreme Court stated that material issues of fact still existed as to whether Morton misled her employer to obtain vacation time to work for a second job. Id. at 580 (emphasis added). In other words, Burger King fired Morton for being dishonest about her work plans, and Morton had sufficiently demonstrated that there was a triable issue of fact whether Burger King was mistaken. There was no discussion of pretext because proof of pretext was unnecessary. Morton had sufficiently raised a factual question whether the reason given for her discharge was not legitimate because it was based on a mistaken interpretation of the facts. 40 Importantly, the court did not frame the issue as whether Burger King had good reason to think that Morton had misled Burger King, or whether Burger King had acted in good faith in relying on the facts then known to it. Rather, the court's focus was on the factual issue of Morton's intent, regardless of whether Burger King was justified in reaching its decision to terminate Morton. Under Delta's reasoning, the exact opposite would be true--the focus would be on whether Burger King had a good faith basis to believe that Morton lied, regardless of whether she did in fact lie. 41 In Howard v. Conlin Furniture No. 2, Inc., 272 Mont. 433, 901 P.2d 116 (Mont.1995), the Montana Supreme Court reaffirmed that the WDEA does not require the plaintiff to demonstrate that the employer acted in bad faith to state a valid cause of action. The plaintiff, Howard, worked as a manager of a Conlin furniture store, but was fired for alleged deficiencies in his job performance. Id. at 118. At trial, Howard argued that while the factual basis of the allegations were true, there was an innocent explanation for each alleged deficiency. For example, he admitted that he was absent an excessive amount of time, but contended that his absences were related to store business. Id. at 120. The employer also claimed that Howard loaned out a company vehicle which was then damaged while being used by a third party, but Howard explained that he was only acting pursuant to the company's policy of assisting others to build public relations. Id. 42 The trial court granted the employer's motion for summary judgment, finding that [the employer] offered evidence of reasonable job related grounds for [termination], and that Howard's alleged reasons were conclusory and speculative. 3 Id. at 118 (emphasis added). The trial judge seemed to agree with Delta's position that an employer who acts in good faith in terminating an employee may do so without liability under the WDEA, regardless of whether the allegations the employer is relying upon turn out to be mistaken. 43 The Montana Supreme Court reversed, holding that Howard's claims, denials, and counterclaims regarding Conlin's allegations raised a factual issue whether Howard was terminated for good cause. Id. at 120. The court stated, 44 where an employee testified that she had been hard working and loyal and had not received previous complaints from her employer about her management capability; and where she denied that the reasons given by her employer for her termination were correct; there was an issue of fact regarding whether she was terminated for good cause. 45 Id. at 120-21. Again, in reversing the grant of summary judgment to the employer, the court focused on whether the allegations and reasons provided by the employer were mistaken, not whether the employer acted in good faith or had used a pretext. Once Howard raised a genuine issue that the employer's reasons for discharging him were based on a mistaken interpretation of the facts, Howard had stated a valid cause of action under the WDEA. 46