Curlee v. Kootenai County Fire & Rescue

• Decision Date: 16 October 2008
• Docket Number: No. 34460.,34460.
• Citation: 224 P.3d 458
• Parties: Mary C. CURLEE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KOOTENAI COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

224 P.3d 458

Mary C. CURLEE, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. KOOTENAI COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 34460.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, September 2008 Term.

October 16, 2008.

Rude, Jackson & Daugharty, LLP, Coeur d'Alene, for appellant.

Ramsden & Lyons, Coeur d'Alene, for respondent.

HORTON, Justice.

Appellant Mary C. Curlee (Curlee), a former employee of Respondent Kootenai County Fire and Rescue (KCFR), was discharged on October 13, 2004, after her notes detailing the minute-by-minute activities of two of her coworkers, Jackie Sharp (Sharp) and Lisa Wheeler (Wheeler), to whom she assigned the fictitious names "Muffy" and "Buffy," were discovered by Sharp on Curlee's desk. Curlee filed suit against KCFR, alleging that she was fired in violation of the Idaho Protection of Public Employees Act as her notes documented the waste of public funds, property, or manpower. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of KCFR and Curlee appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment. This Court granted review sua sponte. We vacate the district court's grant of summary judgment and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Beginning in 1999, Curlee held several office positions within the KCFR system. In 2002, Curlee was transferred into the administrative offices of KCFR. When Curlee arrived, Wheeler and Sharp were already working there as a bookkeeper and an administrative assistant, respectively. Initially, Curlee performed data entry duties; she was later assigned to the front-desk receptionist position. While in her data entry position, Curlee became displeased with what she considered to be an inordinate amount of time Wheeler and Sharp spent on personal conversations during the workday. Curlee perceived the actions as wasteful and complained to the Fire Chief, Ronald Sampert. When she complained to Chief Sampert about Wheeler and Sharp's behavior, Curlee also suggested that she be moved from the receptionist position to a more important position and that the office could be run by two, not three, employees.

After being reassigned to the receptionist position, Curlee was in direct daily contact with Wheeler and Sharp. Growing more frustrated with the actions of her coworkers, Curlee eventually voiced her concerns to two fire commissioners, two lieutenants, and the deputy chief. Each of these individuals listened to her complaints. The deputy chief and one of the lieutenants informed Curlee they would discuss her concerns with Chief Sampert. Curlee claims that both of the lieutenants told her she should document the behavior of her coworkers that she believed to be wasteful.

Over the course of the next several months, Curlee maintained a detailed, handwritten, minute-by-minute log of the activities engaged in by her two coworkers which Curlee deemed to be wasteful. During this time period, Curlee again expressed her frustration to Chief Sampert. In response, he expressed a desire to ease the tension in the office and to have all of his employees work together. One of the fire commissioners told Curlee that he and another commissioner were "working on" Curlee's concerns. Curlee did not discuss or disclose the contents of her log during these conversations or at any other time to any employee of KCFR.

Approximately seven months after Curlee began keeping her log, Sharp inadvertently discovered the log when she was attending the front desk during Curlee's lunch break. Sharp showed the log to Wheeler. Both women noticed that, within the log, Curlee had frequently referred to them as "Muffy" and "Buffy" rather than by their names. Wheeler and Sharp made photocopies of the log and submitted them to Chief Sampert. Both women were angry that Curlee had been recording their office activities and felt that being referred to as "Muffy" and "Buffy" was derogatory and insulting. Chief Sampert agreed to speak with Curlee about the log.

Chief Sampert, accompanied by the deputy chief, spoke with Curlee about the log. When asked what she meant to accomplish by keeping the log, Curlee responded that everyone in the office wasted too much time and she wanted to show how much. Curlee also informed Chief Sampert that she could document anything she wanted to. Chief Sampert informed Curlee that her coworkers were upset and insulted by the derogatory names she had used and that all offices had wasted time. Chief Sampert advised Curlee that she was not trying to get along with the others and that her behavior was exacerbating office tension. He indicated that he was trying to build a team, and her actions were detrimental to the team. Curlee advised Chief Sampert that she and the two coworkers would never be a team. Chief Sampert gave Curlee the remainder of the day off as paid leave and asked her to go home and develop a solution to ease the workplace tension.

Curlee returned to work the next day. Chief Sampert asked her if she had thought about the problem and what they might do about it. Curlee responded that she did not know what to do, that she would not apologize, and that she had done nothing wrong. When Chief Sampert discussed the importance of not creating dissension in the office and working together, Curlee responded that it was her coworkers who found the log and gave it to him. Curlee reiterated that she would not apologize and would never be able to have a good working relationship with her two coworkers. Her employment was then terminated.

Curlee filed suit against KCFR, alleging that she was wrongfully terminated in violation of the Idaho Protection of Public Employees Act for documenting a waste of public funds and manpower. KCFR answered Curlee's complaint, denied the allegations, and moved for summary judgment. KCFR moved to strike an affidavit submitted by Curlee from Suzanne Johnson, a former KCFR employee who had worked with Sharp prior to Curlee's transfer into the administrative office. The district court granted the motion to strike and granted KCFR's motion for summary judgment. Curlee filed a motion to reconsider, which the district court denied.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

"While this Court gives serious consideration to the views of the Court of Appeals when considering a case on review from that court, this Court reviews the district court's decision directly." Hauschulz v. State, 144 Idaho 834, 837, 172 P.3d 1109, 1112 (2007) (citing Workman v. State, 144 Idaho 518, 522, 164 P.3d 798, 802 (2007)). This Court reviews an appeal from an order of summary judgment de novo, and this Court's standard of review is the same as the standard used by the trial court in ruling on a motion for summary judgment. Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Idaho State Tax Comm'n, 142 Idaho 790, 793, 134 P.3d 641, 644 (2006). When ruling on a motion for summary judgment, disputed facts are construed in favor of the non-moving party, and all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the record are drawn in favor of the non-moving party. Lockheed Martin, 142 Idaho at 793, 134 P.3d at 644. "Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Id. "I.R.C.P. 56(e) provides that the adverse party may not rest upon mere allegations in the pleadings, but must set forth by affidavit specific facts showing there is a genuine issue for trial." Rhodehouse v. Stutts, 125 Idaho 208, 211, 868 P.2d 1224, 1227 (1994).

III. ANALYSIS

Curlee claims that she was discharged in violation of the Idaho Protection of Public Employees Act, I.C. § 6-2101 et seq. (the Act), which is commonly referred to as a "whistleblower act." The Act "seeks to `protect the integrity of government by providing a legal cause of action for public employees who experience adverse action from their employer as a result of reporting waste and violations of a law, rule or regulation.'" Mallonee v. State, 139 Idaho 615, 619, 84 P.3d 551, 555 (2004) (quoting I.C. § 6-2101). On appeal, Curlee asserts three points of error: first, she asserts it was error to grant summary judgment to KCFR; second, she asserts it was error to strike Suzanne Johnson's affidavit; and third, she asserts it was error to deny her motion to reconsider, alter, or amend. On appeal, KCFR raises the issue of whether the district court's grant of summary judgment can be affirmed under a different legal theory, namely that Curlee's actions were not protected by the Act. We consider these issues below.

A. The district court erred by granting summary judgment to KCFR.

The primary issue in this case is whether the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of KCFR. Curlee's principal argument is that the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of KCFR was improper because the district court did not evaluate the evidence in accordance with proper standards for deciding summary judgment motions. Specifically, Curlee argues that the district court usurped the function of the jury by making findings of fact and drawing inferences from the evidence in favor of KCFR, rather than determining whether she demonstrated the existence of a genuine issue of material fact.

The district court ruled on KCFR's motion for summary judgment from the bench, holding that Curlee had failed to demonstrate a causal connection between her keeping of the log and her termination. The district court noted that, although Curlee had presented evidence that she may have been terminated for a reason protected by the Act (her keeping of the log), KCFR presented evidence of a legitimate reason for her discharge (her refusal to follow Chief Sampert's order to take measures to resolve the tension she had created with her coworkers by using the names Muffy and Buffy in her log). The district court stated...