Oregon Court: Recognizes novel basis for wrongful discharge claim

Miller Nash LLP,
Oregon and Washington Law Firm

By Lori Irish Bauman

While an at-will employee may generally be discharged for any reason, a discharge may be deemed wrongful — and will form the basis of a common law wrongful discharge claim — if it occurred because the employee fulfilled some important public duty. Last month the Oregon Court of Appeals expanded the important-public-duty exception, holding that a domestic employee who is fired for reporting that the employer had committed a crime involving child abuse has a wrongful discharge claim.

In McManus v. Auchincloss, plaintiff was a domestic employee who reported to the police that defendant, his employer, possessed child pornography. Defendant allegedly fired plaintiff in retaliation for the police report, and plaintiff sued for wrongful discharge. The trial court dismissed, holding that the facts did not support a common law wrongful termination claim. While a state statute prohibits an employer from terminating an employee in retaliation for making a good faith report of criminal activity, that statute expressly does not protect domestic employees. Because the legislature omitted domestic employees from the statute, the trial court held that plaintiff had no common law claim based on performing an important public duty.

On review, the Court of Appeals reversed. The court noted that the legislature has expressed a general public policy in favor of protecting employees who report criminal activity. That policy supports a common law claim by the plaintiff in this case, even though he was not protected by the express language of the legislation.

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