Opinion ID: 1402780
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cronin's Claim

Text: ¶ 7 Petitioner Janette Cronin was employed as manager of a Denny's restaurant from March 19, 1993, until her discharge on July 3, 1996. During three years as manager, Cronin reported to Herbert Eckhardt, who, according to the complaint, propositioned her persistently and made inappropriate sexual remarks. Cronin claims Eckhardt's behavior continued despite her protests. She further alleges she was paid less than her male counterparts for a job requiring the same skills, efforts and responsibilities, and was singled out to train younger, less experienced male managers who were subsequently paid higher wages than she. Cronin also alleges she was assigned menial job duties by Eckhardt because of her sex, including the task of office cleaning. ¶ 8 In May 1996, Cronin informed Peter Trimble, Denny's human resources representative, of her complaints against Eckhardt. She alleges Trimble refused or otherwise failed to rectify the hostile workplace and refused to address her pay-disparity concerns. On May 15, Cronin went to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to charge Eckhardt and Denny's with sexual harassment and discrimination. Because of this action, Cronin claims Eckhardt gave notice she would be fired. Cronin was in fact fired on July 3, 1996, ostensibly for violating Denny's alcoholic beverage service policy. She alleges the firing was pretextualthat in reality she was terminated in retaliation for asserting the EEOC charge. Cronin claims that while she did permit an underage employee to serve alcohol, this practice was common at Denny's and had been regularly permitted by Eckhardt and by the company. ¶ 9 On May 12, 1998, Cronin filed this action in superior court against Denny's and against Herbert and Jane Doe Eckhardt alleging several counts, including Count VII, a tort claim for wrongful termination in violation of public policy. Thereafter, she withdrew Count VII against Eckhardt, leaving the claim in place only as to Denny's. Denny's moved to dismiss Count VII on the ground that the EPA precluded Cronin's separate claim for wrongful discharge, and Cronin responded that the EPA is unconstitutional. The court granted Denny's motion. Cronin then filed the instant petition with this court, again asserting the EPA's unconstitutionality. ¶ 10 As a threshold issue, Denny's maintains that Cronin is procedurally barred by the statute of limitations from prosecuting Count VII of her complaint. On the date Cronin was terminated, wrongful termination claims in Arizona were governed by the two-year statute of limitations set forth in A.R.S. § 12-542 (1992). The legislature, however, shortened the statutory period to one year, effective July 20, 1996. See A.R.S. § 12-541(4) (Supp.1998). Denny's argues, pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-505(C) (1992), [1] that the shorter period applies to bar Cronin's wrongful termination action and urges this court to dispose of the action now, to avoid the futility of returning Cronin's claims to the trial court to produce the same result. We decline to rule on the limitations question because certain aspects are unique to this case, and the trial court, having not yet addressed the matter, should be the first to deal with possible factual issues relative to the period of limitations.