Court Opinion

ID: 9765568
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 04:07:22.386236+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:11.537686
License: Public Domain

MACK, Senior Judge,
dissenting [in Carl I]:
I would consider the merits of appellant’s allegation that she had been discharged by appellee in violation of public policy. I would remind my colleagues first as to the law and the facts. We are all in agreement today that, in reviewing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, we accept the plaintiffs allegations as true; it necessarily follows that we are considering whether Ms. Carl can be lawfully fired because she testified before the Council of the District of Columbia and appeared in District of Columbia Courts as an expert witness for plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases.
Further, I would remind my colleagues of the issues, the first being, may this court judicially recognize an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine? The obvious answer is “yes” since we already have done so. See Adams v. George W. Cochran & Co., 597 A.2d 28, 32 (D.C.1991) (finding that an employee was wrongfully discharged when the employee refused to violate the law). I depart from my colleagues in responding to a second issue: are we free as a panel to consider the allegations of wrongful dis*190charge which we must accept as true? Of course we are.
As to my colleagues’ reliance on our vacated and reinstated panel decision in Gray v. Citizens Bank of Washington, 602 A.2d 1096-97, opinion reinstated on denial of reh’g, 609 A.2d 1143 (D.C.1992), I view the language, that only the en banc court can extend an exception to the at-will doctrine, as the pronouncement of only one member of this court.1 Even were this not so, this conclusion would not, could not, pass muster. It is contrary to the very essence of the common law as an evolving component of legal development and reasoning. A panel of our court cannot “legislate” to conclude that only our court en banc can expand or limit a common-law doctrine. Legal precedent is vital to the court system; however, it stands to reason that no panel of this court is in a posture to bind all future panels on future cases with very different facts and circumstances. Such broad dicta is beyond a panel’s power and is suspect as precedent. I would ignore the dicta, pronounced in one of the three opinions of the panel2 in Gray, and rule on the merits in this case. I would conclude that firing someone for testifying before the City Council on tort reform violates a clear mandate of public policy and therefore would create another limited wrongful discharge cause of action as an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine. I would remand for further consideration the question of whether discharging an employee for testifying as an expert in medical malpractice cases violates a clear mandate of public policy. Under either cause of action, appellant could have the opportunity of attempting to show that the termination was retaliatory and a defense pretextual.
I.
Today the majority states that “In Gray, we held that ‘only the en banc court may undertake the extension that appellant urges on us.’ Therefore, we must affirm the trial court because ‘a division of th[is] court is not free to expand the Adams exception_’” Majority op. at 159. In my view, both the lead opinion in Gray and today’s decision cannot operate to bind all future panels of this court from deciding the merits of expanding the public policy exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine. Not only are these opinions out of line with our prior precedent in this area of law, but both courts are out of bounds with historical precedent and the development of the common law.
The employment-at-will doctrine is judicially imposed arid was created by default from the evolution of the common law. As we have stated “a contract for employment of indeterminable length and where there is no statute to the contrary, the contract is terminable by either employer or employee at will without liability to the other party.” Lyons v. Capital Transit Co., 62 A.2d 312 (D.C.Mun.1948); see also Pfeffer v. Ernst, 82 A.2d 763, 764 (D.C.Mun.1951). As a judicially created and imposed doctrine the courts should be free to modify the doctrine as the development of the common law would necessitate. As one court has stated:
While it is the function of courts to interpret rather than make the law, it must nevertheless be borne in mind that the common law is not a collection of archaic, abstract legal principles ...—it is a living system of law that, like the skin of a child, grows and develops as the customs, practices and necessities of the people it was adopted for change. The common law *191had its genesis in the customs and practices of the people, and its genius, as many of the country’s greatest jurists and legal scholars have pointed out, is not only its age and continuity, but its vitality and adaptability.
Sides v. Duke University, 74 N.C.App. 331, 328 S.E.2d 818, 827, review denied, 314 N.C. 331, 333 S.E.2d 490 (1985).
This court has never before stated that a common law doctrine cannot be modified, expanded or contracted without en banc consideration. In fact three-judge panels of this court have often over time modified, expanded or contracted common law doctrines in the area of torts and contracts. See, e.g., District of Columbia v. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., 572 A.2d 394, 403-05 (D.C.1989) (recognizing municipal immunity from the running of statutes of limitations and repose because of “the artifact of a royal prerogative”); Rong Yao Zhou v. Jennifer Mall Restaurant, 534 A.2d 1268, 1276 (D.C.1987) (holding that a violation of the D.C.Code § 25-121(b) by serving a person already intoxicated “renders the tavern keeper negligent per se ”); Berman v. Watergate West, Inc., 391 A.2d 1351, 1357 (D.C.1978) (accepting “that the law of products liability applies not only to the sale of goods, but also to the sale of newly constructed homes”); Matthews v. District of Columbia, 387 A.2d 731, 734 (D.C.1978) (adopting the “recognized common law duty owed to prisoners by penal authorities is one of reasonable care in their protection and safekeeping”); Alfred A. Altimont, Inc. v. Chatelain, Samperton & Nolan, 374 A.2d 284, 289 (D.C.1977) (recognizing the tort of interference with prospective advantage); Gaither v. District of Columbia, 333 A.2d 57, 60 (D.C.1975) (recognizing “that there is a common law duty owed to the prisoner, by his guards and their superiors, which requires that they exercise reasonable care in the protection and safekeeping of the prisoner”); Cottom v. McGuire Funeral Serv., Inc., 262 A.2d 807, 809 (D.C.1970) (expanding products liability for a defective product to include recovery by a nonpurchaser against the wholesaler).
The employment-at-will doctrine should be no exception to the power of each panel of this court to do justice within the confines of precedent and legal reasoning. Prior to today, no other three-judge panel has failed to at least implicitly address the merits of expanding or creating a public policy exception to the employment-at-will doctrine. See, e.g., Elliott v. Healthcare Corp., 629 A.2d 6, 8-9 (D.C.1993) (rejecting expansion of public policy exception to employment-at-will doctrine); Nolting v. National Capital Group, Inc., 621 A.2d 1387 (D.C.1993) (same); Smith v. Union Labor Life Ins. Co., 620 A.2d 265, 269 (D.C.1993) (same); Sorrells v. Garfinckel’s, Brooks Brothers, Miller & Rhoads, Inc., 565 A.2d 285 (D.C.1989) (same). Three of these cases were decided after Gray and do not suggest that a panel is prohibited from recognizing a public policy exception; each rather rejects the need for an expansion on the facts of each ease. In fact, the only exception to the employment-at-will doctrine in this jurisdiction was adopted by an opinion of a three-judge panel, not the court en banc. Adams, supra (recognizing an exception for at-will employment doctrine when employee refuses to violate the law).
II.
In Adams this court recognized a tort for wrongful termination under a very limited public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine when an employee is discharged for refusing to violate a statute. 597 A.2d at 32. Although this court has not further defined or modified the types of situations covered by the limited public policy exception, other jurisdictions have defined the types of situations covered by a more expansive public policy exception. In fact, a majority of jurisdictions permit suits for retaliatory discharge when the discharge violates a clear mandate of public policy as expressed in the jurisdiction’s constitution, judicial decisions, statutes and regulations. See Martin Marietta Corp. v. Lorenz, 823 P.2d 100, 106-07 & n. 3 (Colo.1992) (noting thirty-seven jurisdictions with a public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine).
*192The rationale for allowing a cause of action for wrongful discharge has been explained as follows:
[I]n a civilized state where reciprocal legal rights and duties abound the words “at will” can never mean “without limit or qualification,” ... for in such a state the rights of each person are necessarily and inherently limited by the rights of others and the interests of the public. An at will prerogative without limits could be suffered only in an anarchy, and there not for long—it certainly cannot be suffered in a society such as ours without weakening the bond of counter balancing rights and obligations that holds such societies together. Thus, while there may be a right to terminate a contract at will for no reason, or for an arbitrary or irrational reason, there can be no right to terminate such a contract for an unlawful reason or purpose that contravenes public policy.
Sides, supra, 328 S.E.2d at 826.
“ ‘Public policy’ is that principle of law which holds that no one can lawfully do that which tends to be injurious to the public or against the public good.” Boyle v. Vista Eyewear, Inc., 700 S.W.2d 859, 871 (Mo.Ct.App.1985). The sources of public policy “include legislation; administrative rules, regulations or decisions; and judicial decisions. In certain instances, a professional code of ethics may contain an expression of public policy.” Pierce v. Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp., 84 N.J. 58, 417 A.2d 505, 512 (1980).
Among the public policy exceptions recognized by courts that allow an employee to sue for retaliatory discharge include: (1) jury duty, e.g., Nees v. Hocks, 272 Or. 210, 536 P.2d 512 (1975); (2) whistle blowing or threatened reporting of a statutory violation, e.g., Sheets v. Teddy’s Frosted Foods, Inc., 179 Conn. 471, 427 A.2d 385 (1980); Boyle, supra; McQuary v. Bel Air Convalescent Home, Inc., 69 Or.App. 107, 684 P.2d 21 (1984); (3) cooperating with a law enforcement investigation, e.g., Palmateer v. International Harvester Co., 85 Ill.2d 124, 52 Ill. Dec. 13, 421 N.E.2d 876 (1981); Flesner v. Technical Communications Corp., 410 Mass. 805, 575 N.E.2d 1107 (1991); (4) exercising a statutory right or privilege such as filing a worker’s compensation claim, e.g., Niesent v. Homestake Mining Co., 505 N.W.2d 781 (S.D.1993); (5) exercising a constitutional or political right such as refusing to participate in employer’s lobbying effort and privately stating opposition to company’s political stand or running for political office, e.g., Novosel v. Nationwide Ins. Co., 721 F.2d 894 (3d Cir.1983); Davis v. Louisiana Computing Corp., 394 So.2d 678 (La.Ct.App.), writ denied, 400 So.2d 668 (La.1981); (6) acting consistently with a professional code of ethics, e.g., Pierce, supra; Kalman v. Grand Union Co., 183 N.J.Super. 153, 443 A.2d 728 (App.Div.1982); (7) being fired because of race or gender, e.g., Lockhart v. Commonwealth Educ. Sys. Corp., 247 Va. 98, 439 S.E.2d 328 (1994); (8) refusing to testify falsely at a trial or administrative hearing, e.g., Sides, supra; and (9) refusing to violate a law, e.g., Adams, supra; D’Agostino v. Johnson & Johnson, Inc., 133 N.J. 516, 628 A.2d 305 (1993). Thus, many courts have recognized a more expansive exception to the rule of employment-at-will than this court did in Adams based on a broad public policy exception.
In adopting a cause of action for wrongful discharge based on a clear mandate of public policy courts should:
[Bjalance the interests of the employee, the employer, and the public. Employees have an interest in knowing they will not be discharged for exercising their legal rights. Employers have an interest in knowing they can run their businesses as they see fit as long as their conduct is consistent with public policy. The public has an interest in employment stability and in discouraging frivolous-lawsuits by dissatisfied employees.
Pierce, supra, 417 A.2d at 511. I would follow the majority of jurisdictions in this country and recognize a general action for wrongful discharge when contrary to a clear mandate of public policy.
Here Carl claims she was discharged because she testified before the City Council on tort reform issues contrary to the interests of her employer and because she testified for plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. Carl *193raises three public policies that her discharge contravened:
(1) a citizen’s right to engage in political expression before the D.C. City Council without fear of harassment or intimidation;
(2) a professional nurse’s duty to participate in the legislative process, to advocate positions of public importance on behalf of patients and to educate the legislature so that it can make informed public policy decisions; and (3) the judicially-created ev-identiary rule requiring expert testimony to establish a prima facie case of negligence in a medical malpractice action.
A.
Specifically Carl points to D.C.Code § 1-224 (1981) which states that
Whoever, corruptly or by threat or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, endeavors to influence, intimidate, or impede any witness in any proceeding pending before the Council ... shall be fined not more than $2,000 or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
Clearly, the Council has expressed a desire that all citizens be free to exercise their right to participate in the legislative process without obstruction or intimidation. A fully informed legislative process is vital to the creation of sound public policy consistent with the public interest. D.C.Code § 1-224 makes it a crime to try to intimidate a witness. Dismissing a witness from employment because of such testimony will have a deterrent effect on potential future witnesses. Allowing someone to be fired for helping to inform the legislative process is contrary to the clear mandate of public policy implicitly recognized in D.C.Code § 1-124.
In Bishop v. Federal Intermediate Credit Bank of Wichita, 908 F.2d 658 (10th Cir. 1990), the court allowed a suit when the plaintiff alleged discharge from employment for testifying before a congressional committee. The court supported the public policy exception on a state statute affording witness immunity from future criminal prosecution for legislative testimony:
Recognition of the exception supports our tradition of free, direct and truthful testimony at legislative hearings, a policy Oklahoma has implicitly recognized. Cf. Okl. Stat. Ann. title 12, § 411 (1988) (“No testimony given by a witness ... before any committee ... shall be used as evidence in any criminal proceeding against him in any court_”). Presumably, Oklahoma would extend the same protections out of comity to hearings conducted under congressional authority. Accordingly, we hold that truthful testimony at congressional hearings is “an act consistent with a clear and compelling public policy” that justifies a public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine.
Id. at 662-63.
The Oklahoma statute in Bishop granted criminal immunity to a witness. Here, D.C.Code § 1-124 makes it a crime to intimidate a witness. Employees should not be forced to choose between losing their jobs or engaging in the political right and public policy necessity of providing the legislature with important information regarding their legislative responsibilities. The public’s need for an informed legislative process not subject to influence, intimidation or any other impediment is a vital public policy. Dismissing an employee for testifying before the legislature clearly impedes future testimony. Here we have even a stronger indication of public policy than the court had in Bishop under the Oklahoma statute.
Carl also asserts that one of the obligations of a professional nurse is as an advocate on issues of public health. Included in this obligation is public education and in this case political expression in the form of educating the City Council on a matter of medical importance—tort reform and medical care. Carl points to the Health Occupations Act, D.C.Code § 2-3301.2(17)(C), and the national nursing code of conduct, American Nurses Association, Code for Nurses with Interpretative Statements § 11.2 (1985), as revealing a public policy that nurses express their views and participate in the political process on issues regarding public health.
Specifically, the Health Occupations Act defines the “practice of registered nursing” *194as the “performance of services, counseling, and education for the safety, comfort, personal hygiene and protection of patients, the prevention of disease and injury, and the promotion of health in individuals, families and communities.” D.C.Code § 2-3301.2(17)(C). Thus, there is some statutory support for the assertion that nurses should promote public health by educating the community. Other jurisdictions have grounded public policy exceptions to at-will employment on similar state health and nursing statutes. See Kirk v. Mercy Hosp. Tri-County, 851 S.W.2d 617, 620-23 (Mo.Ct.App. 1993) (recognizing wrongful discharge claim by nurse who reported improper treatment of patient based on public policy in nursing law); Winkelman v. Beloit Memorial Hosp., 168 Wis.2d 12, 483 N.W.2d 211 (1992) (allowing wrongful discharge suit when nurse refused to be reassigned to area of hospital she felt she was not qualified for when administrative rule states a nurse should not perform services she is not qualified for by education, training or experience).
Carl also relies upon the American Nurses Association, Code for Nurses with Interpretive Statements § 11.2, which directs nurses to promote “the welfare and safety of all people” through “active participation in decision making in institutional and political arenas.” Other courts have concluded that codes of professional conduct are a source of public policy in the wrongful discharge context when the ethical code provision serves the public interest as opposed to the interest of the professional. See Pierce, supra, 417 A.2d at 512 (recognizing possible public policy interest arising from medical Hippocratic oath or other codes of professional ethics); Kalman, supra, 443 A.2d at 730-31 (recognizing wrongful discharge cause of action based on pharmaceutical code of ethics).
Both the Health Occupations Act and the Nurses Code provide a strong policy that nurses should inform and educate the public and legislative process in regards to matters of public health. Tort reform legislation presumably would have an impact (positive or negative) on public health. The requirement in the Nurses Code is not designed to serve only in the interests of the profession, but rather is designed to educate the public—a clear interest of the public. In addition, the Health Occupations Act clearly wants health officials to educate the public on matters of public health. Testifying before the legislature or City Council is one of the best ways to educate the public regarding matters of public health. Therefore, both the health statute and the code of professional ethics provide a sufficient grounding for pursuing a wrongful discharge claim based on a clear mandate of public policy.
Unencumbered expert testimony before the City Council on a matter of public importance, such as tort reform, is of vital importance to our democratic process and informed decision making by our elected officials. Retaliatory discharge for speaking on issues of public health and safety should not be impeded by an employer especially when a professional feels obligated to voice an opinion on matters within his or her expertise and experience and when legislative statutes and a professional code of ethics encourage the professional to inform and educate the public on such matters. A retaliatory firing for testifying as a professional nurse on tort reform is contrary to the polices articulated in D.C.Code § 1-124, the Health Occupations Act and the Nurses Code. These statutes and ethical code create a clear mandate of public policy for informed expert medical testimony before a legislature on matters of public health not subject to influence, intimidation or any other impediment. Therefore, I would recognize an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine based on this clear mandate of public policy.3
*195B.
Carl also asserts that she was discharged for providing expert advice and testimony on behalf of plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases. Thus, she argues that her discharge contravenes a judicial rule and the integrity of the judicial process. Our decisions require that a plaintiff present expert testimony to establish the applicable standard of care in a medical malpractice case where the medical procedure is beyond the ken of the average layman. Eibl v. Kogan, 494 A.2d 640, 642 (D.C.1985) (per curiam). Judicial opinions are a recognized source of public policy in the employment-at-will context. As one court has noted sole reliance on legislative pronouncements would “eliminate aspects of the public interest which deserve protection but have limited access to the political process.” Berube v. Fashion Centre, Ltd., 771 P.2d 1033, 1043 (Utah 1989).
In L’Orange v. Medical Protective Co., 394 F.2d 57 (6th Cir.1968), the court was confronted with the issue of whether a dentist could lose his malpractice insurance for testifying for a plaintiff in a malpractice suit against another dentist. The two dentists resided in the same city and had the same malpractice insurance carrier. The terms of the insurance contract had a cancellation clause that was almost equivalent to an at-will employment situation—the insurance could be cancelled upon ten days notice for any reasons as long as the unearned premium was returned. However, the court noted that Ohio courts have determined that an insurance policy is a voluntary contract “subject to the public policy of the state.” Id. at 59. Thus, the court had to define public policy in a professional testimony ease.
The L’Orange court discussed the public policy of medical expert testimony as follows:
The virtual necessity of expert testimony in medical malpractice cases plus the recognized reluctance of members of the medical profession to give such testimony render the public policy against intimidating a witness even more compelling in the present case.
It cannot be doubted that the effective administration of justice requires that expert testimony be available in malpractice actions.
* * * * *
A member of the medical profession could hardly be expected to appear in Court and testify for a plaintiff in any litigation if the penalty might be the cancellation of his own malpractice insurance. It manifestly is contrary to public policy to permit an insurance company to use policy cancellation as punishment against a doctor or dentist who appears as a witness to protect the rights of a plaintiff who has been wronged by another member of the profession. If the insurance industry can use the cancellation procedure to keep members of the medical profession from testifying as witnesses, malpractice litigation can be stifled.
Id. at 61-62 (citations and footnotes omitted). This same public policy analysis would seem applicable in the retaliatory discharge context.
A medical professional should not be intimidated from testifying in court cases by fear of being fired by his or her employer. Experts do help with the administration of justice and in allowing individuals to recover for tortious conduct. With more and more medical professionals being employed by large corporations, health maintenance organizations, and hospitals, an employer or group of employers could effectively intimidate a medical professional from testifying for a plaintiff by threatening dismissal.
However, experts are hired and paid for testifying by plaintiffs, defendants, or their counsel. Testifying in a tort case is not a whistleblowing activity or an activity designed to educate the public regarding public health. If a professional is required to be in court under a subpoena, public policy would dictate that he or she not be fired for speaking the truth, or for refusing to alter truthful testimony regarding his or her involvement while on duty. See Sides, supra (finding wrongful discharge cause of action when *196nurse discharged for refusing to testify falsely or incompletely at medical malpractice trial). However, where the professional is hired to testify against his or her employer, as opposed to another entity, no judicially-created evidentiary requirement on expert testimony creates a clear mandate of public policy in the wrongful discharge context.
The record in this case is unclear on the specific nature of the testimony, its involvement with Children’s Hospital, or other hospitals, and its production for payment or under subpoena. On remand these factors would be critical on whether there is a cause of action for retaliatory discharge based on a clear mandate of public policy. Thus if Carl testified under subpoena she would be immunized against retaliation for truthful testimony regardless of whether the testimony was against the interest of Children’s Hospital or some other medical entity. However, if Carl was hired to testify by a party other than her employer, any testimony against the direct interest of Children’s Hospital might place her beyond protection. Such a determination would likely turn on whether the suit was against Children’s Hospital or another entity. Therefore, I would remand this aspect of the case for further discovery of the circumstances of her testimony in the medical malpractice cases.
III.
In conclusion, I gather that we can all agree that the employment-at-will doctrine protects the interest of both the employer and the employee. The right of termination is mutual to both; discharge is not so mutual.4 To prevent a shocking discharge in derogation of public policy, either statutorily or judicially-imposed exceptions have evolved. The adjectives “retaliatory” and “pretextual,” as applied to a discharge, cry out for a resolution when an employee has done nothing more than to perform a public service—a service protected against interference by a criminal statute. I would reverse summary judgment on the wrongful discharge claim to permit Ms. Carl to prove, if she can, that she was fired for testifying before the Council or under immunized circumstances for testifying as a plaintiffs expert, at which time presumably appellee could defend its position that she was terminated for legitimate reasons.5

. In Gray, one member of the panel (concurring in affirmance of the trial court’s dismissal of a complaint) agreed it would be “more seemly” to act en banc, 602 A.2d at 1099; another, relying on the specific factual allegations in that case, concluded that it was anything but a "suitable vehicle" for en banc consideration. Id. at 1100-02.

. In Gray, a petition for rehearing en banc was heard, and the panel decisions were vacated. 609 A.2d 1143. A majority en banc vote, reinstating the panel’s decision, is silent as to why a petition for rehearing was "improvidently granted.” Three dissenting judges stressed the importance of the public policy exception sought in the facts of that case.
In the instant case, Ms. Carl sought an initial rehearing en banc. Appellee points to a purported “concession” by Ms. Carl that if that rehearing was denied, it would be "inappropriate” for a panel to expand the law of wrongful discharge— a position which is antipathetic to the appellate process.

. There is also some basis to find an exception to the employment-at-will doctrine on public policy grounds from the First Amendment right to free expression. See Novosel, supra, 721 F.2d at 898-900 (finding dismissal of employee based on refusal to participate in political lobbying on behalf of employer a violation of First Amendment values); Lenzer v. Flaherty, 106 N.C.App. 496, 418 S.E.2d 276, 287 (recognizing public policy exception based on free speech guarantees when a physician’s aide reported patient abuse), review and supersedeas denied, 332 N.C. 345, 421 S.E.2d 348 (1992); Schultz v. Industrial Coils Inc., 125 Wis.2d 520, 373 N.W.2d 74, 76 (App.1985) (designing balancing test based on free speech claim *195in wrongful discharge case when employee wrote letter to local newspaper criticizing employer).

. I notice that the word “termination” is used by my colleagues in advancing the Hospital’s version of the facts; "fired” is used to describe the allegations of Ms. Carl's complaint, which the majority concedes it must accept as true.

. As to the issue of the denial of discovery, I agree with my colleagues that we have jurisdiction to review the trial court’s denial of the motion to compel. I am not so sanguine as to say that I agree with their holding with respect thereto (in view of the limited discovery sought as well as its relevancy to retaliation charge).