Drinkwalter v. Shipton Supply Co., Inc.

732 P.2d 1335, 225 Mont. 380, 1987 Mont. LEXIS 791, 42 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 36,965, 50 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 616
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 23, 1987
Docket86-094
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 732 P.2d 1335 (Drinkwalter v. Shipton Supply Co., 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
Drinkwalter v. Shipton Supply Co., Inc., 732 P.2d 1335, 225 Mont. 380, 1987 Mont. LEXIS 791, 42 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 36,965, 50 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 616 (Mo. 1987).

Opinions

MR. JUSTICE MORRISON

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

The District Court of the Thirteenth Judicial District, County of Yellowstone, granted summary judgment January 27, 1986, in favor of defendants, Shipton Supply Company and Greg Carroll. The judgment was premised on plaintiff, Pam Drinkwalter’s failure to obtain a. right-to-sue letter from the Human Rights Commission prior to filing a civil suit alleging sexual harassment. Pam Drinkwalter appeals.

Pam Drinkwalter was employed by Shipton Supply Company from October of 1980 through July of 1983. Greg Carroll, a son of the president of Shipton Supply Company, was Drinkwalter’s supervisor. In early July of 1983, Drinkwalter told Carroll’s brother, also a supervisor for Shipton Supply, that she was perturbed by sexual comments and actions directed by Greg Carroll to herself and other individuals. She further stated that if the behavior continued, she would quit her job. The behavior ceased; however, Drinkwalter still terminated her employment with Shipton Supply in mid-July.

Drinkwalter subsequently filed a claim with the State of Montana, Department of Labor and Industry, for unemployment compensation benefits. Drinkwalter alleged that Greg Carroll’s crude behavior established sufficient cause to leave her employment. Carroll adamantly disagreed, contending Drinkwalter quit work because her request not to work weekends was denied. The Department of Labor and Industry found in favor of Drinkwalter and granted unemployment compensation benefits.

Thereafter, Drinkwalter contacted new counsel for the purpose of pursuing a civil suit.

The complaint in this action was filed fifteen months after Drinkwalter left her job, October 9, 1984. It is a multiple-count complaint. Count one alleges acts which constitute sexual harassment. Count two alleges that the acts constituted a breach by defendants of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing in an employment relationship. Count three contends that Shipton Supply Company is liable under a negligence theory for failure to properly investigate, correct and prevent Greg Carroll’s behavior. Finally, count four alleges that Greg Carroll’s behavior constituted a tortious interference [382]*382with the contract of employment between Drinkwalter and Shipton Supply.

In their answer, defendants deny most of the allegations in the complaint and present the court with several affirmative defenses.

The parties thereafter prepared to try the case. On October 17, 1985, defendants moved for summary judgment, alleging in pertinent part:

“1. Plaintiff’s Complaint states a cause of action cognizable under Montana’s Human Rights Act, which Act requires a ‘right to sue’ letter be issued by the Human Rights Commission before suit in district court may be brought. No such right to sue letter was ever issued in this matter.
“2. Plaintiff’s Complaint fails to state a cause of action cognizable under Montana law separate and apart from specific rights and remedies provided in Montana’s Human Rights Act.”

Following extensive briefing and a hearing on the matter, the trial judge granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In his memorandum and order, the trial judge found that each of the counts in Drinkwalter’s complaint was premised on allegations of sexual harassment and that the sexual harassment was of the type contemplated by the Montana Human Rights Act. He then determined that the Montana Human Rights Act provided the exclusive remedy by which the alleged wrongs could be remedied. Drinkwalter’s complaint was “dismissed without prejudice with the understanding that Plaintiff may refile her Complaint within 90 days of obtaining a so-called ‘Right to Sue’ letter from the Montana Human Rights Commission.”

Three issues are raised on appeal:

1. Do the provisions of the Montana Human Rights Act provide the exclusive remedy for claims of sexual harassment in Montana?

2. Do Sections 49-2-501(2) and 49-2-509(2), MCA, prescribe a constitutionally valid 180 day statute of limitations for all claims of sexual harassment in Montana?

3. Did the District Court err in granting defendants’ motion for summary judgment in totol

There appears to be no disagreement among the parties that the actions of Greg Carroll complained of by Pam Drinkwalter, if true, constitute sexual harassment. The controversy arises with respect to the appropriate remedy for the harassment. Defendants contend the Montana Human Rights Act provides the sole and exclusive remedy in sexual harassment suits. We disagree.

[383]*383Section 49:2-303(l)(a), MCA, of the Montana Human Rights Act, provides:

“Discrimination in employment. (1) It is an unlawful discriminatory practice for:
“(a) an employer to refuse employment to a person, to bar him from employment, or to discriminate against him in compensation or in a term, condition, or privilege of employment because of his race, creed, religion, color, or national origin or because of his age, physical or mental handicap, marital status, or sex when the reasonable demands of the position do not require an age, physical or mental handicap, marital status, or sex distinction.”

Our act is very similar to the Federal Anti-Sex Discrimination statutes. The federal act provides at 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e-2(a)(2) that:

“It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer —
“(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

Federal courts have interpreted the term “sexual discrimination” as found in 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e-2(a)(2) to encompass sexual harassment. See Barnes v. Costle (D.C. Cir.1977), 561 F.2d 983 and Bundy v. Jackson (D.C. Cir. 1981), 641 F.2d 934. We view this as a broad interpretation of the term “sex discrimination,” explained, perhaps, by the absence of federal common law. Traditional remedies for sexual harassment are rooted in common law. Since there is no federal common law remedy for sexual harassment, it is defined and treated as sexual discrimination.

Such is not the situation in Montana. Our 1972 Constitution provides in Article II, Section 4 that:

“The dignity of the human being is inviolable. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws. Neither the state nor any person, firm, corporation, or institution shall discriminate against any person in the exercise of his civil or political rights on account of race, color, sex, culture, social origin or condition, or political or religious ideas.”

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Drinkwalter v. Shipton Supply Co., Inc.
732 P.2d 1335 (Montana Supreme Court, 1987)

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Bluebook (online)
732 P.2d 1335, 225 Mont. 380, 1987 Mont. LEXIS 791, 42 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 36,965, 50 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/drinkwalter-v-shipton-supply-co-inc-mont-1987.