Court Opinion

ID: 9568352
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:02:51.953188+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:24:39.928443
License: Public Domain

DURHAM, Associate Chief Justice,
concurring in the result:
I join the majority opinion and its result as to the issues of Ryan’s at-will status and of unconscionability. Most of the majority’s analysis of the public policy question, however, I deem unnecessary and beyond the scope of the questions raised by these facts. The undisputed facts show that Ryan was terminated for rudeness and poor treatment of customers, not for his efforts to verify prescriptions or communications with law enforcement. The majority opinion expends considerable analysis, however, to conclude that the U.S. Code “does not contain a clear and substantial policy prohibiting Dan’s from terminating Ryan for generally questioning prescriptions.” The analysis and the conclusion are superfluous, since there was simply no evidence Ryan was fired for questioning prescriptions, or for reporting suspected criminal conduct, a conclusion the majority opinion itself finally reaches (“Ryan has not even shown that his contacting the public authorities was a cause of his termination,”; “the facts in this case, as a matter of law, *411could not support the conclusion that Ryan’s engaging in protected conduct was a substantial factor in Dan’s deciding to terminate him”). In light of those facts, I deem it unnecessary and probably unwise to engage in extensive analysis about the public policy question. I do, however, concur in the result.