Higgins v. Assmann Electronics, Inc.

173 P.3d 453, 217 Ariz. 289, 519 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 13, 2007 Ariz. App. LEXIS 231
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 13, 2007
Docket1 CA-CV 06-0266, 1 CA-CV 06-0332
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 173 P.3d 453 (Higgins v. Assmann Electronics, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Higgins v. Assmann Electronics, Inc., 173 P.3d 453, 217 Ariz. 289, 519 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 13, 2007 Ariz. App. LEXIS 231 (Ark. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

OPINION

THOMPSON, Judge.

¶ 1 Assmann Electronics, Inc. (Assmann) and Hans Ulrich Meyer (Meyer) appeal from a jury verdict in favor of Kristina Higgins (Higgins) on her claims for assault against Meyer and wrongful termination against both Assmann and Meyer. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶2 Meyer was vice president and chief executive officer of Assmann, a German company. Meyer was Assmann’s highest ranking officer in the United States. He was also Higgins’s supervisor. Meyer and Higgins had a consensual sexual relationship that had terminated by the time of the relevant events. On Labor Day, September 1, 2003, Meyer attempted to contact Higgins at her home. Getting no response, he went to her apartment and knocked on the door. No one answered, so he entered uninvited and discovered Higgins and her male companion dressed only in bath towels. Meyer became enraged and attacked Higgins’s companion. He also assaulted Higgins. Meyer threw Higgins out the front door where her towel came off and she hit a wall. Meyer then punched Higgins. During this assault, Meyer told Higgins she was fired.

¶ 3 Higgins called the police. Meyer attempted to call Higgins after the assault, but the police answered her phone and spoke with Meyer. The following day Higgins’s company cell phone was disconnected. Higgins did not return to work, but on September 3rd she went to the office with a police escort to collect her personal belongings.

¶4 On September 4th, Duane Skinner (Skinner), Assmann’s chief financial officer and attorney, wrote Higgins asking to meet with her. On September 8th, Higgins called Skinner asking for her last paycheck and her passport. Skinner returned these items accompanied with a letter that did not state that it was her last paycheck. Skinner ultimately wrote Higgins on September 26th, informing her that her employment was terminated and that her work visa had therefore expired.

¶ 5 Higgins filed a complaint against Meyer and Assmann alleging several claims. 1 The parties went to trial on an assault claim against Meyer and wrongful termination claim against Meyer and Assmann. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Higgins on both counts, awarding her $300,000 for the assault and $300,000 against Meyer and $400,000 against Assmann on the wrongful termination claim.

¶ 6 Meyer and Assmann filed motions for new trial regarding the wrongful termination verdict. The trial court ruled that the liability for wrongful termination was joint and several, and vacated the $400,000 verdict against Assmann, holding the defendants jointly and severally hable for $300,000. Both defendants timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

¶7 Both defendants challenge the judgment on Higgins’s wrongful termination claim. Meyer asserts that as a supervisor and not Higgins’s employer, he cannot be personally hable for wrongful termination as a matter of law, and he objects to the admission of evidence of a prior altercation with co-workers. Assmann argues that the jury instruction for wrongful termination was er *293 roneous because it included physical and emotional damages that were not caused by the wrongful termination, that the jury’s award was excessive, and that it cannot be vicariously liable because Meyer’s conduct was outside the course and scope of his employment. We review questions of law de novo. See Brink Elec. Constr. Co. v. Ariz. Dep’t of Revenue, 184 Ariz. 354, 358, 909 P.2d 421, 425 (App.1995).

A. Supervisor’s Liability for Wrongful Termination

¶ 8 Under the Arizona Employment Protection Act, A.R.S. § 23-1501(3)(e)(Supp.2006) (AEPA), an employee may bring a claim for wrongful termination if the employer terminated the employment relationship in violation of public policy. The term “employer” is not defined in the statute. Meyer argues that he was not Higgins’s employer, so he is not personally liable for wrongful termination. 2

¶ 9 Our wrongful termination caselaw does not discuss a supervisor’s personal liability. See Cronin v. Sheldon, 195 Ariz. 531, 534, ¶ 9, 991 P.2d 231, 234 (1999); Wagenseller v. Scottsdale Mem. Hosp., 147 Ariz. 370, 388, 710 P.2d 1025, 1043 (1985). Cases addressing intentional interference with contract claims have held that when an individual supervisor/defendant was acting within the scope of authority as a management representative, he or she was, in effect, the employer, and could not interfere with his or her own contract. See Barrow v. Ariz. Bd. of Regents, 158 Ariz. 71, 78, 761 P.2d 145, 152 (App.1988); Lindsey v. Dempsey, 153 Ariz. 230, 233, 735 P.2d 840, 843 (App.1987). Higgins did not make a claim for intentional interference with contract. Contrary to Meyer’s assertion, these cases do not hold that an employee cannot bring a wrongful termination claim against the individual supervisor who wrongfully terminated her.

¶ 10 Meyer relies on cases denying wrongful termination claims when plaintiffs were found to be independent contractors. See Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co. v. Darden, 503 U.S. 318, 321-22, 112 S.Ct. 1344, 117 L.Ed.2d 581 (1992) (holding that employees, not independent contractors, qualify for pension benefits); Shah v. Deaconess Hosp., 355 F.3d 496, 499 (6th Cir.2004). Meyer argues that these cases imply that a wrongful termination claim cannot be brought against a supervisor/employee. We do not find these cases analogous.

¶ 11 Meyer also cites federal cases that have interpreted other definitions of “employer” and that preclude federal claims against individual supervisors. See Miller v. Maxwell’s Int’l, Inc., 991 F.2d 583, 584 (9th Cir.1993); Ransom v. Ariz. Bd. of Regents, 983 F.Supp. 895, 904 (D.Ariz.1997). The Arizona Civil Rights Act (ACRA) defines employer as a person who has fifteen or more employees and any agent of ohat person. AR.S. § 41-1461(4)(a) (2004). The Ninth Circuit addressed a similar definition in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5 (1988), and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 to 634 (1988). See Miller, 991 F.2d at 587. In Miller,

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

Related

Professional Choice v. Appel
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
Doe v. Roman Catholic Church
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
Haz-Mat v. Oxnard Commerceplex
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
Lyon v. Helton
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2022
Benedict v. Total Transit
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2021
Tarter v. Bendt
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2021
Oommen v. Glen Health & Home Management Inc.
2020 IL App (1st) 190854 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
Oommen v. Glen Health and Home Management Inc.
2020 IL App (1st) 190854 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
Farsakian v. Kent
D. Arizona, 2020
Baron v. Honorhealth
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2020
Clark v. Tucson, City of
D. Arizona, 2020
Burley v. Ali
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2015
Felipe v. Theme Tech Corp.
334 P.3d 210 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2014)
VanBuren v. Grubb
Supreme Court of Virginia, 2012
Aaron Engler v. Gulf Interstate Engineering Inc
280 P.3d 599 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2012)
Vanburen v. Virginia Highlands Orthopaedic Spine Center, LLC
728 F. Supp. 2d 791 (W.D. Virginia, 2010)
PHYSIO GP, INC. v. Naifeh
306 S.W.3d 886 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
173 P.3d 453, 217 Ariz. 289, 519 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 13, 2007 Ariz. App. LEXIS 231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/higgins-v-assmann-electronics-inc-arizctapp-2007.