Dorshkind v. Oak Park Place of Dubuque II, LLC
Annotate this CaseAfter Plaintiff, an at-will employee, reported a forgery on the part of supervisors at an assisted living facility, the facility terminated Plaintiff's employment. The Department of Inspections and Appeals later concluded that certain state-mandated documents relating to the facility's dementia training program had been forged. Plaintiff subsequently filed an action against the facility for wrongful discharge. The jury returned a verdict for Plaintiff, finding the facility terminated her in retaliation for whistleblowing and a willful and wanton disregard for the rights or safety of others. The jury also awarded punitive damages. The court of appeals (1) affirmed the court's finding that the public-policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine protected Plaintiff's employment from retaliatory termination, but (2) reversed the court's decision to submit the issue of punitive damages to the jury. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) an employer's retaliatory discharge of Plaintiff violated public policy; and (2) the district court should not have submitted the punitive damages claim to the jury because at the time of Plaintiff's discharge, the Court did not recognize a public-policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine based upon a violation of administrative rules.
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