Court Opinion

ID: 9681129
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 07:44:19.091495+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:39:20.434367
License: Public Domain

GONZALEZ, Justice,
dissenting.
I join with Justice Cook’s conclusions that this cause of action is preempted by ERISA, and that it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to filter out meritless cases by summary judgment as a result of today’s opinion. I write, however, to emphasize what the court’s decision does not do. It does not extend the duty of good faith and fair dealing to the employment-at-will doctrine; and it does not decide what damages are available for this new cause of action: I further note that the federal authority that the court finds persuasive is questionable.
By point of error, McClendon invited us to engraft the duty of good faith and fair dealing as enunciated in Arnold v. National County Mutual Fire Ins. Co., 725 S.W.2d 165, 167 (Tex.1987) on to the employment-at-will doctrine.1 We refused.
In responding to this point of error, the court instead created a narrow “exception to the employment-at-will doctrine.” In creating this exception, the court fails to give the bench and bar clear guidance as to whether this “exception” creates a new cause of action sounding in tort or whether it merely eliminates the doctrine as a contractual defense. See Brockmeyer v. Dun & Bradstreet, 113 Wis.2d 561, 335 N.W.2d 834 (1983); see generally, Annotation, Discharge of At-Will Employee, 12 A.L.R. 4th 544 (1982).
In an attempt to avoid the preemptive effect of ERISA, the court observes that the plaintiff here is “seeking lost future wages, mental anguish and punitive damages” as a result of the alleged wrongful discharge. P. 71 at n. 3. The court, however, does not resolve whether the plaintiff is entitled to all damages pleaded. This is essentially an open question. In Azar Nut Co. v. Caille, 734 S.W.2d 667 (Tex.1987), we allowed punitive damages, but this was in a statutorily-created cause of action for which the right to exemplary damages could reasonably be inferred from the language of the statute. In Sabine Pilot Service, Inc. v. Hauck, 687 S.W.2d 733 (Tex.1985), we recognized a common law exception but did not decide the question of available damages. Id. at 736 (Kilgarlin, J., concurring). As a general rule, the damages available for common law wrongful termination are contractual in nature. Greater Fort Worth and Tarrant County Community Action Agency v. Mims, 627 S.W.2d 149 (Tex.1982).
Furthermore, the court’s reliance upon two federal district court cases, Hovey v. Lutheran Medical Center, 516 F.Supp. 554 (E.D.N.Y.1981) and Savodnik v. Korvettes, Inc., 488 F.Supp. 822 (E.D.N.Y.1980) is misplaced. Those two courts created a public policy exception to the employment-at-will doctrine that another New York federal district court refused to follow, stating:
[A] change in New York’s law such as the recognition of a tort which for the past 90 years has not been recognized by the New York Court of Appeals, should not be brought about by a federal district court deciding issues of state law solely by virtue of the diversity of citizenship of the parties before it (citations omitted). [Hjirings for an unspecified or indefinite period are freely terminable at the will of either party.
Salanger v. U.S. Air, 560 F.Supp. 202, 205 (N.D.N.Y.1983). Additionally, one New York intermediate court of appeals con*76sidered and refused to follow the same cases the court now finds persuasive:
We find no case in this state wherein a cause of action for abusive discharge based on a violation of public policy has been sustained and we are unable to subscribe to such a cause of action in light of the well-established principle that an at-will employee may be discharged at any time without cause.
Pavolini v. Bard Air Corp., 88 A.D.2d 714, 715, 451 N.Y.S.2d 288, 289 (1982). The highest court of the State of New York has declined opportunities to carve out exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine. See Weiner v. McGraw-Hill, Inc., 57 N.Y.2d 458, 443 N.E.2d 441, 457 N.Y.S.2d 193 (1982); Murphy v. American Home Products Corp., 58 N.Y.2d 293, 448 N.E.2d 86, 461 N.Y.S.2d 232 (1983); see also Salanger, 560 F.Supp. at 205; Patrowick v. Chemical Bank, 98 A.D.2d 318, 470 N.Y. S.2d 599 (1984).
For the above reasons, I dissent.

. We granted McClendon’s application for writ of error on points two and four. Point four contended: "The Court of Appeals erred when it failed to recognize that a covenant of good faith and fair dealing should be applied to Respondent’s employment relationship with Petitioner."