Kuszmaul v. Sterling Life
Annotate this CasePlaintiff-Appellant Shaune Kuszmaul appealed a district court order that granted summary judgment to Sterling Life Insurance Company (Sterling) on her wrongful discharge claim. Plaintiff worked as an outside sales agent for a subsidiary of Sterling since 2000. In October 2009, Plaintiff drafted a marketing letter promoting Sterling products. She mailed out approximately 1,000 copies of the letter to current and potential customers. Plaintiff did not obtain approval from anyone at Sterling before sending the letter, nor did she clear it with the Montana Department of Insurance (DOI) or any other regulatory agency. A relative of one of the recipients of the letter anonymously notified Sterling by mail that the letter might violate the Policy. The writer sent a copy of its complaint to the Sterling Life Corporate Compliance Office, the Montana DOI, and the CMS Regional Office, exposing Sterling to possible state and federal sanctions. This prompted Sterling to begin an internal investigation. While being investigated, Plaintiff acknowledged that her marketing letter was not in conformance with company policy, but denied doing anything intentionally wrong. She was terminated for violating company policy with regard to the unapproved marketing materials. Upon review of the district court record, the Supreme Court affirmed, finding no error in the court's decision to grant the insurance company summary judgment.
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