Gustafson v. Bridger Coal Co.
| Decision Date | 21 September 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 93-CV-0177-B.,93-CV-0177-B. |
| Citation | 834 F. Supp. 352 |
| Parties | Florice "Florie" GUSTAFSON, Plaintiff, v. BRIDGER COAL COMPANY and Pacific Minerals, Inc., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Wyoming |
Walter Urbigkit, Cheyenne, WY, for plaintiff.
Stanley K. Hathaway, Hathaway, Speight, Kunz & Trautwein, Cheyenne, WY, Mary K. VanderWeele, Stoel, Rives, Boley, Jones & Grey, Portland, OR, for defendants.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS
The above-entitled matter having come before the Court upon the defendants' Motion to Dismiss and the plaintiff's opposition thereto, and the Court having reviewed the materials on file herein, having heard argument from the parties, and being fully advised in the premises, FINDS and ORDERS as follows:
Background
Plaintiff, Florice Gustafson, was employed by defendant Bridger Coal Company1 at its Point of Rocks, Wyoming mine from October 1985 until she was terminated in October 1990. Gustafson alleges that the general manager of the mine had decided not to report accidents as required by the Mine Safety and Health Act ("MSHA"), 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. (1988). She maintains that this course of action was taken in an effort to boost the mine's poor safety record. Gustafson also alleges that she had many disagreements with her supervisor regarding the reporting of accidents. She states that she reported the accidents of which she became aware. This caused her much stress. At the request of the defendants she met with a psychiatrist for testing. Gustafson claims that, the defendants were unsatisfied with the results of the testing, and as a result, fired her for being uncooperative in the medical exams.
Plaintiff brings four claims for relief: (1) breach of contract based on the employee handbook requirement of for cause termination; (2) promissory estoppel; (3) the tort of outrage; and (4) punitive damages. The defendants have moved to dismiss the outrage and the punitive damage claims under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). This motion is currently before the Court.
The purpose of Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) is to test the legal sufficiency of the statement of a claim for relief. It is not a procedure for resolving issues of fact or the merits of a case. 5A Charles A. Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1356 (1990). In consideration of a Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) motion, the trial court determines the sufficiency of a complaint as a matter of law. Morgan v. City of Rawlins, 792 F.2d 975, 978 (10th Cir.1986).
Dismissal of a case pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) requires the legal determination that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of her claim to entitle her to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). Morgan, 792 F.2d at 978 (citing Auster Oil & Gas v. Stream, 764 F.2d 381 (5th Cir.1985)).
Rule 8 sets forth the basic requirements for pleading a claim. That rule calls for "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a)(2). Thus, although Rule 12(b)(6) provides for dismissal when the plaintiff fails to state sufficient facts to meet this liberal standard, its "sanction extends only to a formal testing of the legal sufficiency of the factual basis" of the claim. Auster Oil & Gas, 764 F.2d at 386. "Granting defendant's motion to dismiss is a harsh remedy which must be cautiously studied, not only to effectuate the spirit of the liberal rules of pleading but also to protect the interests of justice." Morgan, 792 F.2d at 978; 5A Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1357.
The defendants contend that this Court should dismiss the plaintiff's third and fourth claims of outrage and punitive damages. The Court addresses each contention below.
The defendants make essentially three arguments in support of their motion to dismiss the outrage claim.2 First, the defendants contend that the outrage claim is unavailable under Wyoming law because there is an alternative remedy provided in the MSHA, 30 U.S.C. § 815(c) (1988). Second, the defendants maintain that even if the outrage claim is available, it is barred by Wyoming's one year statute of limitations. Third, the defendants urge the Court to grant their motion to dismiss because the plaintiff failed to file her response within ten (10) days after the service of the motion to dismiss as required by U.S.D.C.L.R. 78(b)(2).
The defendants contend that the outrage claim is unavailable under Wyoming law because there is an alternative remedy provided in the MSHA, 30 U.S.C. § 815(c).3 In making this argument, the defendants recharacterize the plaintiff's outrage claim as a tort action for retaliatory discharge.
Wyoming recognizes the tort of retaliatory discharge as a public policy exception to the general rule of "at-will" employment. Allen v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 699 P.2d 277, 284 (Wyo.1985). The Allen court refused to recognize a cause of action for retaliatory discharge, however, where another remedy was available:
A tort action premised on violation of public policy results from a recognition that allowing a discharge to go unredressed would leave a valuable social policy to go unvindicated. If there exists another remedy for violation of the social policy which resulted in the discharge of the employee, there is no need for a court-imposed separate tort action premised on public policy.
Id. Similarly, in Masters v. Daniel Int'l Corp., 917 F.2d 455, 456 (10th Cir.1990), the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of the plaintiff's retaliatory discharge claim, holding that the remedies available under the Energy Reorganization Act's "whistleblower" provision were sufficient to displace any need for the public policy tort of retaliatory discharge. Like the MSHA, the Energy Reorganization Act's whistleblower provision enables whistleblower claimants to recover the relief sought, including reinstatement with back pay, interest, and all costs and expenses, including attorney's fees.
Given Masters and Allen, it is clear that the tort of retaliatory discharge is not available to the plaintiff in this case because the whistleblower remedy provided by the MSHA is available. Additionally, there is no evidence that the MSHA remedies "are constitutionally inadequate to compensate plaintiff, or so inadequate to enforce the stated public policy as to require bolstering by a common law cause of action." Polson v. Davis, 895 F.2d 705, 709-10 (10th Cir.1990).
This, however, does not end this Court's analysis. In English v. General Elec. Co., 496 U.S. 72, 110 S.Ct. 2270, 110 L.Ed.2d 65 (1990), the Supreme Court held that a state law claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress by an employee who reported safety violations was not preempted by the Energy Reorganization Act. See also Lingle v. Norge Div. of Magic Chef, Inc., 486 U.S. 399, 108 S.Ct. 1877, 100 L.Ed.2d 410 (1988) (). Thus the dispositive issue in this case is whether the plaintiff's claim is one of retaliatory discharge, therefore unavailable because of the MSHA whistleblower provision, or whether the claim is one of intentional infliction of emotional distress, which would not be preempted by federal law.
The plaintiff contends that she is bringing a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, not retaliatory discharge. While this Court recognizes that labelling one claim as another to avoid dismissal would be improper, the Court does not believe the plaintiff has done so in this case. In Leithead v. American Colloid Co., 721 P.2d 1059, 1065 (Wyo.1986), the Wyoming Supreme Court recognized the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress. The tort occurs when "one who by extreme and outrageous conduct intentionally or recklessly causes severe emotional distress to another...." Id. (citing Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 (1965)).
A party cannot prevail on its motion to dismiss unless it appears beyond doubt that the opposing party can prove no set of facts entitling it to relief. Walters v. Grand Teton Crest Outfitters, Inc., 804 F.Supp. 1442, 1444 (D.Wyo.1992). This Court is not convinced that the plaintiff cannot prove sufficient facts entitling her to relief on the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. In fact, the plaintiff makes many allegations in her complaint which tend to support her outrage or intentional infliction of emotional distress claim. For example, the plaintiff alleges that the defendants "were outrageous in their dealings with her"; that the defendants' employees "set about on a course to discredit her and make her life so miserable that she would terminate employment"; and "that the job environment was so stressful that her physician precluded her from going to work."
Because the Court concludes that the plaintiff's claim is one of intentional infliction of emotional distress, which is not preempted by the federal law instead of a claim of retaliatory discharge as categorized by the defendants, the Court denies the motion to dismiss the outrage claim as an unavailable public policy tort.
The defendants also argue that the claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress is governed by Wyoming's one year statute of limitations. Wyo. Stat. § 1-3-105(a)(v) (West Supp.1993). The statute provides:
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