Gottling v. P.R. Inc.

2002 UT 95, 61 P.3d 989, 19 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 336, 456 Utah Adv. Rep. 14, 2002 Utah LEXIS 140, 2002 WL 31055952
CourtUtah Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 17, 2002
Docket20010324
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 2002 UT 95 (Gottling v. P.R. Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Utah Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gottling v. P.R. Inc., 2002 UT 95, 61 P.3d 989, 19 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 336, 456 Utah Adv. Rep. 14, 2002 Utah LEXIS 140, 2002 WL 31055952 (Utah 2002).

Opinions

HOWE, Justice.

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 We granted this interlocutory appeal to decide whether the trial court correctly ruled that an at will employee who claims to have been discriminated against by her employer and who is unable to seek relief under the Utah Anti-Discrimination Act can pursue a civil action for wrongful termination in contravention of an alleged public policy against sex discrimination.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2 Plaintiff Toby Gottling alleges that her employer, defendant P.R. Incorporated, terminated her because she refused to maintain a sexual relationship with P.R. Incorporated’s owner, defendant Kelly Peterson. The Utah Anti-Discrimination Act (UADA or the Act) provides an administrative remedy for discrimination, retaliation, or harassment by an employer on the basis of sex, race, color, pregnancy, age, religion, national origin, or disability. Utah Code Ann. §§ 34A-5-101 to -108 (1999). The remedy is limited, however, to those persons who work for an employer of fifteen or more employees (large employers). See Utah Code Ann. §§ 34A-5-102(8)(a)(iv) (defining “employer” for the purposes of the act as a “person employing 15 or more employees within the state for each working day in each of 20 calendar [991]*991weeks or more in the current or preceding calendar year”). Because P.R. Incorporated — along with the majority of Utah employers — employs less than fifteen people, Gottling may not look to the UADA for relief from P.R. Incorporated’s alleged discrimination. See Burton v. Exam Ctr. Indus. & Gen. Med., 2000 UT 18, ¶ 25, 994 P.2d 1261 (Durham, J., dissenting) (stating that as recently as 1999, 69.7% of Utah employers were small employers).

¶3 Seeking an alternative remedy, Got-tling brought this action asserting a common law tort cause of action previously unrecognized by this court. Relying on our case law forbidding the termination of an at will employee in contravention of a clear and substantial public policy, Gottling alleged that P.R. Incorporated wrongfully terminated her in contravention of a public policy against sex discrimination. See Burton, 2000 UT 18 at ¶ 17, 994 P.2d 1261 (stating that though Utah did not have a public policy against age discrimination, discrimination on account of “sex ... may present different considerations”); Fox v. MCI Communications Corp., 931 P.2d 857, 860 (Utah 1997) (stating that “a public policy whose contravention is achieved by an employment termination must be ‘clear and substantial’ to be actionable”); Berube v. Fashion Ctr., Ltd., 771 P.2d 1033, 1043 (Utah 1989) (recognizing the existence of an action for wrongful termination of an at will employee in violation of a substantial and important public policy).

¶4 P.R. Incorporated answered Gottling’s complaint by denying her allegations and asserting the affirmative defenses that (1) Gottling’s cause of action was preempted by the UADA; (2) Gottling had failed to exhaust her administrative remedies under the UADA; and (3) Kelly Peterson could not be held personally liable for P.R. Incorporated’s conduct. Gottling then moved for partial summary judgment and to strike P.R. Incorporated’s affirmative defenses. In response, P.R. Incorporated cross-moved for summary judgment, arguing that an action for wrongful termination in contravention of a public policy against sex discrimination does not exist in Utah and that Kelly Peterson could not be held personally liable. After a hearing, the trial court ruled in favor of Gottling on all issues. We subsequently granted P.R. Incorporated’s petition for interlocutory appeal.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 5 “We review a trial court’s summary judgment ruling for correctness and afford no deference to its legal conclusions.” Utah Coal & Lumber v. Outdoor Endeavors Unlimited, 2001 UT 100, ¶ 9, 40 P.3d 581.

ANALYSIS

¶ 6 P.R. Incorporated contends that Got-tling cannot pursue a wrongful termination action based on the contravention of an alleged public policy against sex discrimination because (1) the UADA preempts all common law employment discrimination remedies and (2) Utah does not have a public policy against sex discrimination. P.R. Incorporated also argues that Kelly Peterson cannot be personally liable for the corporation’s alleged discrimination. We address each argument sequentially.

I. PREEMPTION

A.

¶ 7 We have long held that “where a conflict arises between the common law and a statute or constitutional law, the common law must yield,” Hansen v. Utah State Ret. Bd., 652 P.2d 1332,1337 (Utah 1982) because “the common law cannot be an authority in opposition to our positive enactments.” In re Garr’s Estate, 31 Utah 57, 68, 86 P. 757, 761 (1906). In fact,

[t]he rule of the common law that statutes in derogation thereof are to be strictly construed has no application to the statutes of this state. The statutes establish the laws of this state respecting the subjects to which they relate, and their provisions and all proceedings under them are to be liberally construed with a view to effect the objects of the statutes and to promote justice.

Utah Code Ann. § 68-3-2 (1999); see Retherford v. AT & T Communications, 844 P.2d 949, 962 (Utah 1992); Garr’s Estate, 86 P. at [992]*992761. Consequently, like an ordinance, the common law is invalid “if it intrudes into an area which the [legislature has preempted by comprehensive legislation intended to blanket a particular field.” State v. Hutchinson, 624 P.2d 1116,1121 (Utah 1980) (analyzing a statute’s preemptive effect on a county ordinance).

¶ 8 Whether legislation is intended to blanket a particular field — and thereby preempt existing or developing common law- — is obviously a question of legislative intent. Richardson v. Matador Steak House, Inc., 948 P.2d 347, 350 (Utah 1997). In short, we must decide if the legislature, with its broad law-making power, intended to exercise that power and to occupy the field in such a way as to exclude the contemporaneous application and development of the common law. See Gilger v. Hernandez, 2000 UT 23, ¶ 11, 997 P.2d 305. Generally, when answering this question we apply the two-tiered analysis for determining preemptive intent established by the United States Supreme Court.1 Id.; Price Dev. Co. v. Orem City, 2000 UT 26, ¶ 12, 995 P.2d 1237. We recently summarized this analytical framework as follows:

[i] Sometimes courts, when facing the pre-emption question, find language in the ... statute that reveals an explicit [legislative] intent to pre-empt [common] law.

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Bluebook (online)
2002 UT 95, 61 P.3d 989, 19 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 336, 456 Utah Adv. Rep. 14, 2002 Utah LEXIS 140, 2002 WL 31055952, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gottling-v-pr-inc-utah-2002.