Court Opinion

ID: 9483225
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:14:48.046886+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:30.140652
License: Public Domain

TACHA, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
The majority, with little or no guidance from the courts of Colorado, decides an important question of Colorado law and implicitly forecloses a theory of tort recovery yet to be addressed by the Supreme Court of Colorado. Therefore, I respectfully dissent.
The central issue raised by this appeal is not related to the Colorado at-will employment doctrine. In her complaint, appellant Carmela Mares alleged six claims for relief, including a claim for “violation of public policy” and a separate claim for “invasion of privacy.” The violation-of-public-policy claim essentially asserts a wrongful discharge that allegedly meets Colorado’s public policy exception to the doctrine of at-will employment.1 In a separate claim for relief, Mares asserts a cause of action for the common law tort of invasion of privacy.2 The district court granted defendant’s summary judgment motion on all of Mares’ claims.
. On appeal, Mares contends only that the district court erred in granting summary judgment with respect to her invasion of privacy claim. She does not appeal from the grant of summary judgment on her claim for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy. The narrow issue raised on this appeal is whether, when inferences are drawn in favor of appellant Carmela Mares, the evidence presented by both parties presents a genuine issue as to any material fact so that the invasion of privacy issue should be submitted to a jury.
In addressing the specific summary judgment issue raised on appeal, the majority concludes that Mares has failed to carry her summary judgment burden. I disagree. When I assume without deciding— as does the majority — that Colorado would recognize a cause of action for the “intrusion upon seclusion” form of the invasion of privacy tort described in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B, I cannot agree that Mares must come forward with additional evidence, in addition to the medications form that she was required to complete, in order to prevent the entry of summary judgment. In our circuit, “ ‘[t]he *498moving party carries the burden of showing beyond a reasonable doubt that it is entitled to summary judgment.’ ” Hicks v. City of Watonga, 942 F.2d 737, 743 (10th Cir.1991) (quoting Ewing v. Amoco Oil Co., 823 F.2d 1432, 1437 (10th Cir.1987)). When the “moving party has met its burden, the burden shifts to the nonmoving party to show that there is a genuine issue of material fact.” Bacchus Indus., Inc. v. Arvin Indus., Inc., 939 F.2d 887, 891 (10th Cir.1991). ConAgra never met its initial burden of showing that it was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.
ConAgra submitted an affidavit stating that the purpose of the medications form was to ensure the accuracy of the drug test and to allow employees to explain positive test results. Although Mares presented no evidence to rebut this explanation, Mares contends — and I agree — that ConAgra’s stated justification does not eliminate all genuine issues of material fact. The majority mandates that Mares produce evidence to refute ConAgra’s justification and that the rebuttal consist of more than “mere statements of counsel.” Maj. op. at 497. The majority does not explain what type of evidence Mares possibly could produce. Indeed, it is unlikely that Mares could present any evidence other than the powerful evidence she already produced— the medications form itself.
Perhaps ConAgra, by submitting the affidavit, offered legitimate reasons for requesting a list of medications that employees are currently taking. However, ConA-gra’s proffered evidence did not even attempt to justify the arguably more intrusive requirements imposed by ConAgra on the medications form — namely, disclosure of the nature of the employee’s illnesses and authorization for release of information from the employee’s physician regarding the employee’s use of medications. Therefore, even if I assume that ConAgra met its initial summary judgment burden with respect to the disclosure of medications requirement, I cannot conclude that ConAgra has sufficiently justified all of the requirements on the medications form so as to be entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.
Finally, I cannot agree with the majority’s determination that “[i]n the absence of any evidence suggesting anything other than the complete confidentiality of the information requested, ... as a matter of law ... the suggested intrusion is insignificant.” Maj. op. at 496. Because this is a diversity case, when the majority affirms the grant of summary judgment “as a matter of law,” it necessarily bases its decision on the law of the forum — in this case Colorado. It is far from clear that the Supreme Court of Colorado would conclude that Mares has failed to state, and support, a cause of action for invasion of privacy.3 The crucial inquiry in an invasion of privacy claim is what a reasonable person finds objectionable. By deciding that the form itself is not sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue as to whether the form was unreasonable, the majority effectively forecloses the availability of the intrusion upon seclusion form of the invasion of privacy tort in Colorado.
To produce additional evidence, Mares can only assert that the form itself is intrusive and offensive to a reasonable person. Such assertions necessarily are legal arguments. Mares simply cannot supply additional factual evidence on what constitutes *499an unreasonable or offensive intrusion. There is ample room for reasonable minds to differ regarding whether the medications form, required as a condition of employment, intruded upon Mares’ solitude or seclusion in a way that “would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B. Once Mares introduced the medications form, she created a genuine issue of material fact. Today, the majority removes the issue from the province of the jury and becomes the ultimate factfinder. Absent any indication from the Supreme Court of Colorado that we should decide this issue as a matter of law, I cannot condone this usurpation of the jury’s function.
The parties’ arguments on appeal adequately frame the important, unanswered questions of Colorado law presented by this case. Mares contends that an employee who is required, as a condition of employment, to disclose to her employer the nature of her illnesses for which she takes drugs or medications and to authorize the release by her physician of information related to her use of those drugs states a claim for invasion of privacy under Colorado law. As support for her contention, Mares cites to Rugg v. McCarty, 173 Colo. 170, 476 P.2d 753 (1970), in which the Supreme Court of Colorado recognized the tort of invasion of privacy in the debt- or/creditor context. She contends that she states a claim under the standard set forth in Rugg because ConAgra’s actions in this case “foreseeably [would] probably result in extreme anguish, embarrassment,-humiliation, or mental suffering and injury to a person possessed of ordinary sensibilities, under the same or similar circumstances.” Id. at 755.
ConAgra, on the other hand, contends that the Supreme Court of Colorado would not extend Rugg to the employment context. ConAgra further contends that recognition of the invasion of privacy tort in Rugg was based on a creditor’s repeated harassment of the debtor in that case. ConAgra argues that, in the present case, Mares has not alleged that she was repeatedly hounded or harassed to fill out the medications form. Mares responds that repeated harassment should not be required in the employment context because an employer, “by wielding the power of the ‘pink slip,’ ” can cause extreme anguish by making a single unreasonable demand and conditioning employment on the fulfillment of that demand.
ConAgra also contends that Mares fails to state a claim for the “intrusion upon seclusion” form of the tort of invasion of privacy described in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B. ConAgra argues that, even if the Supreme Court of Colorado were to recognize that form of the tort, Mares has failed to allege an intrusion because she refused to consent to the release of private information. See Tombrello v. USX Corp., 763 F.Supp. 541, 545 (N.D.Ala. 1991); Spencer v. General Tel. Co., 551 F.Supp. 896, 899 (M.D.Pa.1982); Gretencord v. Ford Motor Co., 538 F.Supp. 331, 333 (D.Kan.1982); Luedtke v. Nabors Alaska Drilling, Inc., 768 P.2d 1123, 1138 (Alaska 1989); Jennings v. Minco Technology Labs, Inc., 765 S.W.2d 497, 502 (Tex. App.1989). However, as Mares points out, other courts have recognized that “highly personal questions or demands by a person in authority may be regarded as an intrusion on psychological solitude or integrity and hence an invasion of privacy.” W. Page Keeton, Prosser & Keeton on Torts § 117, at 121 (Supp.1988); Phillips v. Smalley Maintenance Servs., Inc., 435 So.2d 705, 709 (Ala.1983) (“acquisition of information from a plaintiff is not a requisite element of a § 652B cause of action”); see also McSurely v. McClellan, 753 F.2d 88, 113 (D.C. Cir.1985).
Although the Supreme Court of Colorado has noted that there are four oft-recognized forms of the tort of invasion of privacy, including “intrusion upon physical solitude,” People v. Home Ins. Co., 197 Colo. 260, 591 P.2d 1036, 1038 n. 2 (1979), the court has not formally recognized that form of the tort or defined its scope. I conclude that the Supreme Court of Colorado should be afforded an opportunity to decide whether ConAgra has intruded upon Mares’ private concerns and, if so, whether a jury should determine whether such an *500intrusion is “highly offensive.” Therefore, I would certify the following questions to the Supreme Court of Colorado:
1. Does the law of the State of Colorado recognize the tort of invasion of privacy in the form described in Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652B (1977), as set forth below?
One who intentionally intrudes physically or otherwise, upon the solitude or seclusion of another or his private affairs or concerns, is subject to liability to the other for invasion of his privacy, if the intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.
2. If the answer to Question 1 is “yes,” must information about the plaintiff’s “private affairs or concerns” actually be acquired through intrusion before the cause of action is established?
3. If the answer to Question 1 is “yes,” based on the facts of this case, does Mares state a claim for an “intentional[ ] intrusion] physical[ ] or otherwise, upon the solitude or seclusion of another or [her] private affairs or concerns”?
4. If the answers to Questions 1 and 3 are “yes,” based on the facts of this case, is the alleged “intrusion” sufficiently offensive that a jury should determine whether the intrusion is “highly offensive to a reasonable person”?
In my view, the certification procedure is an appropriate and underutilized mechanism to allow important, purely state law questions to be decided by the highest court of the state involved. Although the federal courts unquestionably retain their jurisdiction, the basic tenets of federalism suggest that the vitality of the system is best served when federal courts give state courts the opportunity to decide issues of importance to state law. Because Mares’ claim does not implicate federal statutory or constitutional rights and because the tort of invasion of privacy is based in the states’ determination of the rights and remedies to be afforded to its citizens, I favor turning to my colleagues on the Supreme Court of Colorado to exercise those powers reserved to the states.
Because the majority incorrectly shifts the burden of producing summary judgment evidence to Mares and decides — without any indication from the cases of the Supreme Court of Colorado — that the alleged intrusion in this case was insignificant, I dissent.

. The complaint's second claim for relief, entitled "Violation of Public Policy," states that
[i]n acting as alleged herein Defendant discharged Plaintiff without just cause and in violation of fundamental public policies of the State of Colorado, in the following respects, among others by requiring Plaintiff to divulge information covered under doctor patient privilege as a condition of her continued employment in violation of C.R.S. 13-90-107(d).

. Mares’ fifth claim for relief, entitled "Invasion of Privacy,” alleges that
Defendant’s insistence that Plaintiff sign a consent to the release of confidential and privileged information and her subsequent termination due to her failure to comply is an invasion of Plaintiffs privacy rights.

. In one paragraph the majority concludes that "li]n the absence of any evidence suggesting anything other than the complete confidentiality of the information requested, we hold as a matter of law that the suggested intrusion is insignificant," Maj. op. at 496 (emphasis added); then, in the next paragraph, the majority “recognize[s] that the absence of public disclosure does not preclude an action for intrusion upon seclusion under § 652B of the Restatement (Second) of Torts." Id. Clearly, under § 652B, the publicity or publication of a person’s private affairs is not relevant to whether a significant intrusion occurs. Id. § 652B cmt. a. (the intrusion upon seclusion form of invasion of privacy "does not depend upon any publicity given to the person whose interest is invaded,” but "consists solely of an intentional interference with his interest in solitude or seclusion”). If the Supreme Court of Colorado were to recognize the form of invasion of privacy described in § 652B, I doubt that the court would look to the "confidentiality” of acquired information as a determinant of whether an intrusion is significant.