Court Opinion

ID: 9566562
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:40:53.647846+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:38:30.819071
License: Public Domain

Herd, J.,
dissenting: I join the dissent of Lockett, J., and make these additional comments.
The majority opinion equates retaliatory discharge with wrongful discharge. While it is true discharging an employee in retaliation for his making a workers’ compensation claim is wrongful, it is much more; it is a malicious intentional tort and it is unlawful.
A collective bargaining agreement between a union and management binds the parties only on matters negotiated. Unlawful acts of the parties are not subject to negotiation. See Hunter v. American Rentals, 189 Kan. 615, 617-18, 371 P.2d 131 (1962). Thus, the meaning of wrongful discharge in the collective bargaining agreement cannot be enlarged to include retaliatory discharge.
In addition, a union member has a statutory right to workers’ compensation and a constitutional right to a remedy by due course of law. Ratification of a collective bargaining agreement negotiated by the union does not waive either statutory or constitutional rights of a union member. Those rights are personal to the individual; waiver requires his voluntary, willing and knowledgeable act. See United American State Bank & Trust Co. v. Wild West Chrysler Plymouth, Inc., 221 Kan. 523, 526, 561 P.2d 792 (1977). Here, there is no evidence Armstrong took any such action. An agent cannot waive a person’s statutory or constitutional rights.
*180I would reverse.
Allegrucci, J., joins the foregoing dissenting opinions of Lockett and Herd, JJ.