Hetronic International, Inc. v. Rempe

99 F. Supp. 3d 1341, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46412, 2015 WL 1602081
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedApril 9, 2015
DocketCase No. CIV-14-787-C
StatusPublished

This text of 99 F. Supp. 3d 1341 (Hetronic International, Inc. v. Rempe) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hetronic International, Inc. v. Rempe, 99 F. Supp. 3d 1341, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46412, 2015 WL 1602081 (W.D. Okla. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ROBIN J. CAUTHRON, District Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff is Hetronic International, Inc. (“Hetronic”), a Delaware corporation that conducts business in the transportation, energy, electronics, and manufacturing industries. Its principal place of business is Oklahoma City. Hetronic is a subsidiary of Methode Electronics, Inc. (“Methode”). Methode is a publicly traded company; Hetronic is not. Defendant was president of Hetronic until September 2013. In November 2013, Defendant incorporated a new business, AZ Control Solutions, Inc. During Defendant’s employment as president, Hetronic had contracts with several German companies (the “Fuchs Compa[1345]*1345nies”) for the distribution and assembly of Hetronic products. Hetronic terminated those contracts and filed suit against the Fuchs Companies in June 2014 after discovering the Fuchs Companies allegedly were engaged in a scheme to compete with Hetronic, which included selling Hetronic systems independently and placing He-tronic’s name on counterfeit parts. He-tronic filed this lawsuit in July 2014, alleging, in part, that Defendant assisted the Fuchs Companies in this scheme and that Defendant planned to use AZ Control Solutions, Inc., as the North American distributor for the Fuchs Companies. In the Answer (Dkt. No. 28), Defendant denies liability for Hetronic’s claims and asserts the following five counterclaims against Hetronic and Methode: two claims of wrongful termination arising out of fraudulent transactions and consumer fraud; slander; tortious interference with prospective economic relations; and abuse of process. Hetronic and Methode now seek dismissal of all Defendant’s counterclaims for failure to state a claim upon which relief may granted pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 26(b). (Mot. to Dismiss Coun-tercls., Dkt. No. 38.) Defendant has filed a Response (Dkt. No. 40). Hetronic and Methode have filed a Reply (Dkt. No. 42). The motion is at issue.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Supreme Court has made clear that to survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint must contain enough allegations of fact which, taken as true, “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007); see also Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009).

A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. The plausibility standard is not akin to a “probability requirement,” but it asks for more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.

Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (internal citations omitted). At the dismissal stage, the Court will accept all of the claimant’s well-pleaded factual allegations as true and view them in the light most favorable to the claimant. Alvarado v. KOB-TV, L.L.C., 493 F.3d 1210, 1215 (10th Cir.2007). However, “conclusory allegations that lack ‘supporting factual averments are insufficient to state ... claim[s] on which relief can be based.’ ” In re Marsden, 99 Fed.Appx. 862, 866 (10th Cir.2004) (quoting Hall v. Bellmon, 935 F.2d 1106, 1110 (10th Cir.1991)). Dismissal is appropriate when the allegations in the complaint, treated as true, cannot “raise a claim of entitlement to relief.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 558, 127 S.Ct. 1955.

111. ANALYSIS

A. Wrongful Termination

Employers generally may terminate at-will employees with or without cause at any time and without incurring any liability. Burk v. K-Mart Corp., 1989 OK 22, ¶ 5, 770 P.2d 24, 26. However, this standard is not without exception. Oklahoma law recognizes an actionable Burk tort “where an employee is discharged for refusing to act in violation of an established and well-defined public policy or for performing an act consistent with a clear and compelling public policy.” Id., ¶ 19, at 29. This tort also offers protection for both “internal and external reporting of whistleblowers who rely on an employer’s public-policy violation to support an actionable employment termination.” Darrow v. Integris Health, Inc., 2008 OK 1, ¶ 19, 176 P.3d 1204, 1215 (citing Barker v. State Ins. Fund, 2001 OK 94, ¶ 16, 40 P.3d 463, 465). A Burk tort, “is unique: it applies to only [1346]*1346a narrow class of cases and it must be tightly circumscribed.” Barker, 2001 OK 94, ¶ 14, 40 P.3d at 468 (citing Burk, 1989 OK 22, ¶¶ 21-22, 770 P.2d at 29). To assert a viable Burk claim, Defendant must allege the following:

(1) an actual or constructive discharge (2) of an at-will employee (3) in significant part for a reason that violates an Oklahoma public policy goal (4) that is found in Oklahoma’s constitutional, statutory, or decisional law or in a federal constitutional provision that prescribes a norm of conduct for Oklahoma and (5) no statutory remedy exists that is adequate to protect the Oklahoma policy goal.

Vasek v. Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs of Noble Cnty., 2008 OK 35, ¶ 14, 186 P.3d 928, 932. Hetronic and Methode argue that Defendant’s Burk claims must be dismissed because they do not fit in the “narrow class of cases in which the discharge is contrary to a clear mandate of public policy as articulated by constitutional, statutory or decisional law.” Burk, 1989 OK 22, ¶ 17, 770 P.2d at 28. Public policy is a judicial determination. Pearson v. Hope Lumber & Supply Co., Inc., 1991 OK 112, ¶ 5, 820 P.2d 443, 444.

1. In Counterclaim I, Defendant asserts he was fired because he refused to sign inaccurate quarterly financial reports and internally reported concerns regarding inaccurate accounting in Hetronic’s Philippines division. (Answer, Dkt. No. 28, at 27-35.) Defendant argues his actions are protected pursuant to 21 Okla. Stat. §§ 1635 and 1636 and that termination based on these actions is a violation of Oklahoma’s public policy.1 These criminal statutes prohibit the falsification of corporate records and apply to corporations “carrying on business, or keeping an officer thereof,” in Oklahoma. 21 Okla. Stat. §§ 1635, 1636 & 1644. “It is public policy in Oklahoma and everywhere to encourage the disclosure of criminal activity.” Lachman v. Sperry-Sun Well Surveying Co., 457 F.2d 850, 853 (10th Cir.1972). However, not every “employee allegation of illegal or unsafe employer’s activity will withstand scrutiny in light of Burk.” Darrow, 2008 OK 1, ¶ 20, 176 P.3d at 1216. In Hayes v. Eateries, Inc., 1995 OK 108, 905 P.2d 778, the Oklahoma Supreme Court held that an employee who was fired after reporting a co-employee’s embezzlement did not have a viable Burk claim.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Heck v. Humphrey
512 U.S. 477 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Alvarado v. KOB-TV, L.L.C.
493 F.3d 1210 (Tenth Circuit, 2007)
Diane McGeorge v. Continental Airlines, Inc.
871 F.2d 952 (Tenth Circuit, 1989)
Cohlmia, Jr. v. St. John Medical Center, Inc.
693 F.3d 1269 (Tenth Circuit, 2012)
Burk v. K-Mart Corp.
1989 OK 22 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1989)
Tulsa Radiology Associates, Inc. v. Hickman
683 P.2d 537 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 1984)
Nienstedt v. Wetzel
651 P.2d 876 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1982)
Crystal Gas Co. v. Oklahoma Natural Gas Co.
529 P.2d 987 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1974)
Hayes v. Eateries, Inc.
1995 OK 108 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1995)
Pearson v. Hope Lumber & Supply Co., Inc.
1991 OK 112 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1991)
Liguori v. Alexander
495 F. Supp. 641 (S.D. New York, 1980)
Tesh v. United States Postal Service
215 F. Supp. 2d 1220 (N.D. Oklahoma, 2002)
Boyle Services, Inc. v. Dewberry Design Group, Inc.
2001 OK CIV APP 63 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
99 F. Supp. 3d 1341, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 46412, 2015 WL 1602081, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hetronic-international-inc-v-rempe-okwd-2015.