Molesworth v. Brandon

• Decision Date: 01 September 1995
• Docket Number: No. 83,83
• Citation: 672 A.2d 608,341 Md. 621
• Parties: , 70 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 524, 64 USLW 2587, 11 IER Cases 961 Linda C. MOLESWORTH v. Randall BRANDON et al. ,
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 621

341 Md. 621

672 A.2d 608, 70 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA)

524, 64 USLW 2587,

11 IER Cases 961

Linda C. MOLESWORTH v. Randall BRANDON et al.

No. 83, Sept. Term, 1995.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

March 5, 1996.

Alan Hilliard Legum (Alan Hilliard Legum, P.A., on brief), Annapolis, for petitioner.

E. Alexander Adams (Betty Smith Adams, Adams & Adams, on brief), Ellicott City, for respondent.

Glendora C. Hughes, General Counsel; Jonathan P. Sills, Assistant General Counsel, State of Maryland Commission on Human Relations, Baltimore, for amicus curiae.

Jay R. Fries, Joan E. Book, Kruchko & Fries, Baltimore, for amici curiae The Maryland Chamber of Commerce and The National Federation of Independent Business.

Argued before MURPHY, C.J., and ELDRIDGE, RODOWSKY, CHASANOW, KARWACKI, BELL, and RAKER, JJ.

MURPHY, Chief Judge.

The issues in this case are first, whether a common law cause of action for wrongful discharge of a female employee based on sex discrimination lies against an employer with less than fifteen employees and second, whether, in such a case, the court must instruct the jury that where the same person hires and fires the employee, there is an inference that the discharge was not due to the employee's sex.

I

Dr. Linda Molesworth, D.V.M., graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School, received her license to practice veterinary medicine in the state of Maryland, and, on July 1, 1988, began working for Dr. Randall Brandon, D.V.M., whose practice concentrated on thoroughbred racehorses. The other members of the practice at that time were Dr. Jeffrey Palmer, who had been with the practice for several years, and Dr. Mark Akin, who had started just a few months earlier. Molesworth was the first female full-time veterinarian employed by Brandon.

When she began, Molesworth was informed that, as the least experienced person in the practice, her primary duty would be working in the Lasix barn at the Laurel racetrack, giving Lasix shots to horses, ¹ approving medications, and performing other miscellaneous tasks. On several occasions, Brandon told Molesworth that someone had complimented her work. Molesworth received bonuses in December, 1988 and March, 1989. On July 1, 1989, her contract was renewed and her salary increased from $25,000 to $30,000.

Dennis Manning, a trainer at the racetrack, was not pleased with Molesworth, however, because he did not want a female veterinarian in the barn. Nevertheless, in August of 1989, Molesworth received another bonus along with a note from Brandon which read:

Linda, you are doing a very good job and I appreciate your efforts. Don't worry about the Mannings. We can't please them all. He's the one with the problem. Thanks, Randy.

Again, in December, 1989, Molesworth received a bonus with a note from Brandon which read: "You are doing very well in the practice and the clients are quite happy with you."

Akin decided to leave the practice as of April 1, 1990. A trainer who was not employed by Brandon gave Akin a going-away party to which Molesworth was not invited. When Molesworth discovered this, she asked Brandon, at a meeting in April, 1990, why she had not been invited. He laughed and said she would have been the only woman there. At the same meeting, Brandon informed Molesworth that some of the trainers at the racetrack were complaining about her. Brandon said her work was fine and that the trainers had "never had a female veterinarian work for them before." He told her that she was doing fine and to "give them some time."

A new associate, Dr. Greg Fox began working for Brandon in May, 1990. Molesworth and Fox performed about the same amount of Lasix work. Molesworth complained to Brandon that Fox, as the most junior member of the practice, should be primarily responsible for the Lasix work. Brandon responded that he wanted Fox to meet the clients.

During May and June of 1990, Molesworth was not informed of any other complaints from trainers and on July 1, 1990, her salary was increased from $30,000 to $35,000. On July 13, 1990, Molesworth met with Brandon and Palmer, who had a contract to acquire 48% of the stock in the incorporated practice. Brandon informed Molesworth that her contract would not be renewed because of complaints from approximately eight trainers. Molesworth asked if she was being fired because she had complained about the Lasix schedule. Brandon replied that was not the reason. She then asked if she was being fired because she is a woman. Palmer replied, "Yes, that's part of it." According to Molesworth's testimony, Brandon "nodded in agreement and looked away" without verbally responding. Brandon told Molesworth that he would give her an excellent recommendation and that her veterinary work was fine.

On September 20, 1991, Molesworth filed a complaint against Brandon in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County alleging common law wrongful discharge. The complaint alleged that when she was terminated by Brandon, "she was informed by [him] that her employment was being terminated by him because of the fact that she was female." She claimed $150,000 in compensatory damages and $150,000 in punitive damages. The court denied Brandon's Motion for Summary Judgment.

At trial, Molesworth testified about the July 13, 1990 meeting with Brandon and Palmer. Palmer denied having made the statement attributed to him, and Brandon denied having nodded in agreement. Both doctors testified that when Molesworth asked if she was being fired because she was a woman, they answered "no."

Nancy Heil, a trainer, testified that she had no problem with Molesworth. Several other trainers testified for Brandon that Molesworth was argumentative and inflexible. Akin testified that when Molesworth gave shots, she frequently left "knots" which upset the trainers. In addition, Dr. Jean Dobson testified that Brandon offered her a job in the fall of 1990, after Molesworth was fired and before she filed suit. Dobson said she turned down the offer because she earned significantly more money at the Food and Drug Administration.

At the end of the testimony, the court denied Brandon's Motion for Judgment. Therefore, he requested that the jury be instructed, in part, as follows In cases where the hirer and firer are the same person, there is a strong inference that the discharge from employment was not due to sex discrimination, because it does not make sense that someone would hire a member of a class he does not like, only to discharge that person once he or she is on the job.

The court refused to instruct the jury as requested.

Molesworth claimed damages of $28,496.41 for lost wages from 1990, 1991, and 1992. She presented no evidence of monetary damages for 1993. The jury interrupted its deliberations to inform Judge Chester Goudy that it had found in favor of Molesworth but without any non-economic damages. It inquired whether it could award attorney's fees, and Judge Goudy instructed the jury that it could not. On September 13, 1993, the jury awarded Molesworth $39,198 in damages. Brandon's Motion for Judgement Notwithstanding the Verdict, Motion for New Trial, and Motion to Revise the Judgment were denied.

Brandon appealed to the Court of Special Appeals; that court held that the common law wrongful discharge cause of action was available to Molesworth and that she presented sufficient evidence to withstand Brandon's Motions for Summary Judgment, Judgment, and Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict. The court, nonetheless, reversed the circuit court's judgment, basing its ruling on the lower court's refusal to instruct the jury as requested by Brandon, and remanded for a new trial. Brandon v. Molesworth, 104 Md.App. 167, 655 A.2d 1292 (1995).

Both Brandon and Molesworth filed petitions for certiorari, which we granted. The Maryland Commission on Human Relations, the agency charged with interpreting, administering, and enforcing the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act, joined as amicus curiae in support of Molesworth. The Maryland Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business, statewide and national agencies that promote small businesses, joined as amici curiae in support of Brandon.

II

Molesworth alleges that in terminating her employment, Brandon violated the public policy announced in § 14 of the Fair Employment Practices Act, Maryland Code (1994 Repl.Vol., 1995 Supp.) Art. 49B:

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State of Maryland, in the exercise of its police power for the protection of the public safety, public health and general welfare, for the maintenance of business and good government and for the promotion of the State's trade, commerce and manufacturers to assure all persons equal opportunity in receiving employment and in all labor management-union relations regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, sex, age, marital status, or physical or mental handicap unrelated in nature and extent so as to reasonably preclude the performance of the employment, and to that end to prohibit discrimination in employment by any person, group, labor organization, organization or any employer or his agents.

(emphasis added). Brandon alleges that since employers with less than fifteen employees are exempted under § 15(b), ² the public policy announced in § 14 does not apply to those employers. We disagree and hold that, to this extent, the § 15(b) exemption merely excludes small businesses from the administrative process of the Fair Employment Practices Act under the aegis of the Human Relations Commission, but not from the public policy of § 14. The plain language of § 14, the legislative history of Article 49B, and prior decisions of this and other state and federal courts support this conclusion.

A

When she was terminated, Molesworth was an at will employee. "The common law rule, applicable in Maryland, is that an employment contract of indefinite duration, that is, at...