Burchett v. MasTec North America, Inc.

2004 MT 177, 93 P.3d 1247, 322 Mont. 93, 21 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 850, 2004 Mont. LEXIS 265
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 6, 2004
Docket03-019
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 2004 MT 177 (Burchett v. MasTec North America, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Burchett v. MasTec North America, Inc., 2004 MT 177, 93 P.3d 1247, 322 Mont. 93, 21 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 850, 2004 Mont. LEXIS 265 (Mo. 2004).

Opinions

JUSTICE REGNIER

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶1 Appellant Ronald Burchett (Burchett) was discharged from his employment with Respondent MasTec North America, Inc. (MasTec) and filed a Complaint in Montana’s Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, against MasTec alleging violations of the Montana Wrongful Discharge From Employment Act (WDEA). The District Court granted MasTec’s Motion to Dismiss on the grounds that Montana lacked subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate Burchett’s claim and that Montana’s WDEA did not apply. Burchett appeals. We reverse and remand to the District Court.

¶2 We address the following issues on appeal:

¶3 1. Did the District Court err when it concluded that Montana’s Wrongful Discharge From Employment Act did not apply to Burchett’s claim?

¶4 2. Did the District Court err when it dismissed Burchett’s complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction?

BACKGROUND

¶5 Burchett was employed by C&S Directional Boring from March 2000 to January 2001. C&S Directional Boring is now a subsidiary of MasTec. MasTec is a Florida corporation, and the division of its business relevant to this appeal is operated out of Purcell, Oklahoma. MasTec lays fiber optic cable throughout the United States.

¶6 Burchett was hired by telephone while working temporarily in Massachusetts. The employment contract was never reduced to writing. MasTec hired Burchett to work as a field mechanic, a job which required travel. During the time Burchett was employed by MasTec, he lived and worked in Purcell, Oklahoma, Red Bluff, California, and LaPorte, Indiana. At the time of his hiring, MasTec asked Burchett his state of residence and requested a copy of his driver’s license. Burchett informed MasTec he was a Montana resident and produced a Montana driver’s license.

¶7 While working in Indiana, Burchett had a dispute with his supervisor and was fired. Burchett filed a Complaint in the Thirteenth Judicial District Court against MasTec alleging violations of Montana’s WDEA, Title 39, Chapter 2, Part 9, Montana Code Annotated. Specifically, Burchett alleges MasTec violated the WDEA by discharging him without cause after fulfilling his probationary period, [96]*96and in retaliation for his refusal to violate public policy and reporting a public policy violation.

¶8 MasTec filed a Motion to Dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The District Court granted the motion. Burchett appeals from the District Court’s Order.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶9 We review a district court’s ruling on a motion to dismiss to determine whether the court abused its discretion. Pickens v. Shelton-Thompson, 2000 MT 131, ¶ 7, 300 Mont. 16, ¶ 7, 3 P.3d 603, ¶ 7. However, a court’s determination that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction is a conclusion of law which we review to determine whether the court’s interpretation of the law is correct. Pickens, ¶ 7.

DISCUSSION ISSUE ONE

¶10 Did the District Court err when it concluded that Montana’s Wrongful Discharge From Employment Act did not apply to Burchett’s claim?

¶11 In granting MasTec’s Motion to Dismiss, the District Court concluded that Montana did not have a significant enough relationship with the case for a Montana court to have subject matter jurisdiction over the controversy.

¶12 At issue in this case is an employment contract. In determining the choice of law rules for contract disputes, this Court adopted the approach contained in the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws (1971). See Casarotto v. Lombardi (1994), 268 Mont. 369, 373-74, 886 P.2d 931, 934, cert. granted and vacated on other grounds sub nom. Doctor’s Associates, Inc. v. Casarotto (1995), 515 U.S. 1129, 115 S.Ct. 2552, 132 L.Ed.2d 807, and on remand sub nom. Casarotto v. Lombardi (1995), 274 Mont. 3, 901 P.2d 596, and cert. granted on other grounds sub nom. Doctor’s Associates, Inc. v. Casarotto (1996), 516 U.S. 1036, 116 S.Ct. 690, 133 L.Ed.2d 594, and rev’d on other grounds Doctor’s Associates, Inc. v. Casarotto (1996), 517 U.S. 681, 116 S.Ct. 1652, 134 L.Ed.2d 902. Our conflict of laws analysis begins with the general principles set forth in § 6 of the Restatement (Second), which states:

Choice-of-law Principles
(1) A court, subject to constitutional restrictions, will follow a statutory directive of its own state on choice of law.
(2) When there is no such directive, the factors relevant to the [97]*97choice of the applicable rule of law include:
(a) the needs of the interstate and international systems,
(b) the relevant policies of the forum,
(c) the relevant policies of other interested states and the relative interests of those states in the determination of the particular issue,
(d) the protection of justified expectations,
(e) the basic policies underlying the particular field of law,
(f) certainty, predictability and uniformity of result, and
(g) ease in the determination and application of the law to be applied.

¶13 Applying the first paragraph of § 6, we look to § 28-3-102, MCA, Montana’s statutory directive for choice of law. Section 28-3-102, MCA, provides that, “[a] contract is to be interpreted according to the law and usage of the place where it is to be performed or, if it does not indicate a place of performance, according to the law and usage of the place where it is made.” Under the unique facts of this case, however, § 28-3-102, MCA, is not instructive. At the time Burchett and MasTec entered into the employment contract, the parties did not know where it was to be performed; the work Burchett was hired to perform was transitory by nature. Furthermore, in this case it would be inappropriate to apply the law of the place where the contract was made. The contract was formed during a telephone conversation when Burchett was temporarily in Massachusetts and the representative of MasTec who hired him was in Oklahoma. The connections to Massachusetts and Oklahoma are far too tenuous to justify applying the laws of either state here.

¶14 We next turn to § 187 of the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws (1971), which gives us more specific guidance in this situation. “When parties specify their choice of law in a contract, that choice will be effectuated subject to the limitations in section 187(2) ....” M + W Zander v. Scott Co. of California (Or. Ct. App. 2003) 78 P.3d 118, 121. Section 187 states:

Law of the State Chosen by the Parties

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Burchett v. MasTec North America, Inc.
2004 MT 177 (Montana Supreme Court, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
2004 MT 177, 93 P.3d 1247, 322 Mont. 93, 21 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 850, 2004 Mont. LEXIS 265, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/burchett-v-mastec-north-america-inc-mont-2004.