Turner v. Memorial Medical Center

• Decision Date: 18 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. 107317.,107317.
• Citation: 233 Ill.2d 494,911 N.E.2d 369
• Parties: Mark TURNER, Appellant, v. MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER, Appellee.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

911 N.E.2d 369

233 Ill.2d 494

Mark TURNER, Appellant, v. MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER, Appellee.

No. 107317.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

June 18, 2009.

John A. Baker, of Baker, Baker & Krajewski, LLC, Springfield, for appellant.

John A. Kauerauf, of Sorling, Northrup, Hanna, Cullen & Cochran, Ltd., Springfield, for appellee.

Glenn A. Stanko, of Rawles, O'Byrne, Stanko, Kepley & Jefferson, P.C., Champaign, for amicus curiae Illinois Trial Lawyers Association.

OPINION

Justice FREEMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Plaintiff, Mark Turner, brought a retaliatory discharge action in the circuit court of Sangamon County against defendant, Memorial Medical Center (Memorial). The circuit court dismissed plaintiff's first-amended complaint pursuant to section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2006)). A divided panel of the appellate court upheld the dismissal. No. 4-07-0934 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). We allowed plaintiff's petition for leave to appeal (210 Ill.2d R. 315(a)), and now affirm the judgment of the appellate court.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff's first-amended complaint alleged as follows. Plaintiff is a trained and licensed respiratory therapist. Beginning in 1983, plaintiff was employed by Memorial, which is a community hospital. During his employment, plaintiff had consistently met legitimate employment expectations, and his employment evaluations consistently indicated excellent work performance.

In September 2006, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (hereinafter, Joint Commission) performed an on-site survey at Memorial. The Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization that establishes various health-care standards and evaluates an organization's compliance with those standards and other accreditation requirements. The purpose of the on-site survey was to determine whether Memorial would continue to receive Joint Commission accreditation. Memorial's failure to receive this accreditation would result in the loss of federal Medicare/Medicaid funding.

Memorial uses a computer charting program that allows medical professionals to electronically chart a patient's file. The Joint Commission standard is that such electronic charting be performed immediately after care is provided to a patient. However, Memorial's respiratory therapy department did not require immediate charting. Rather, Memorial required a respiratory therapist to chart patient care merely at some point during his or her shift.

On September 28, 2006, plaintiff was asked to speak with a Joint Commission surveyor. Also present at this meeting was Memorial's vice-president of patient care services. During this meeting, plaintiff truthfully advised the surveyor of the discrepancy between the Joint Commission standard of immediate charting and Memorial's requirement of charting at some point during the shift. Plaintiff further advised the surveyor that Memorial's deviation from the Joint Commission standard was jeopardizing patient safety. Plaintiff alleged that as a result of his truthful statements to the Joint Commission surveyor, Memorial discharged plaintiff on October 4, 2006.

Plaintiff also alleged: "Illinois law clearly recognizes the rights of patients. The Medical Patient Rights Act [citation] recognizes Illinois public policy establishing `[t]he right of each patient to care consistent with sound nursing and medical practices.'" Plaintiff further alleged that Memorial's failure to immediately chart patient records "was not consistent with sound medical practices" and "jeopardized the safety of patients." According to the complaint, plaintiff's discharge "violated public policy that encourages employees to report actions that jeopardize patient health and safety." Plaintiff claimed damages in the form of lost wages.

On Memorial's motion, the circuit court dismissed plaintiff's complaint with prejudice pursuant to section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2006)). Viewing the alleged facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the court found that the complaint was legally insufficient. The court concluded plaintiff failed to establish the existence of a public policy that a provision of law clearly mandated which Memorial allegedly violated by discharging plaintiff.

The appellate court affirmed, with one justice specially concurring. No. 4-07-0934 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). This court allowed plaintiff's petition for leave to appeal. 210 Ill.2d R. 315(a). We subsequently granted the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association leave to submit an amicus curiae brief in support of plaintiff. 155 Ill.2d R. 345.

II. ANALYSIS

A section 2-615 motion to dismiss (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2006)) attacks the legal sufficiency of a complaint. The motion does not raise affirmative defenses, but rather alleges only defects on the face of the complaint. The question presented by a section 2-615 motion to dismiss is whether the allegations of the complaint, when taken as true and viewed in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, are sufficient to state a cause of action upon which relief can be granted. A cause of action will not be dismissed on the pleadings unless it clearly appears that no set of facts can be proved which will entitle the plaintiff to recover. Because Illinois is a fact-pleading jurisdiction, a plaintiff must allege facts sufficient to bring his or her claim within the scope of the cause of action asserted. Napleton v. Village of Hinsdale, 229 Ill.2d 296, 305, 322 Ill.Dec. 548, 891 N.E.2d 839 (2008); Vernon v. Schuster, 179 Ill.2d 338, 344, 228 Ill.Dec. 195, 688 N.E.2d 1172 (1997); Bryson v. News America Publications, Inc., 174 Ill.2d 77, 86-87, 220 Ill.Dec. 195, 672 N.E.2d 1207 (1996). A court reviews de novo an order granting a section 2-615 motion to dismiss. Napleton, 229 Ill.2d at 305, 322 Ill.Dec. 548, 891 N.E.2d 839; Imperial Apparel, Ltd. v. Cosmo's Designer Direct, Inc., 227 Ill.2d 381, 392, 317 Ill.Dec. 855, 882 N.E.2d 1011 (2008).

In the present case, plaintiff assigns error to the circuit court's dismissal of his complaint with prejudice. Plaintiff contends that Memorial discharged him in retaliation for advising the Joint Commission surveyor of the discrepancy between the Joint Commission standard of charting a patient's file immediately after care is provided and Memorial's requirement of charting at some point during the employee's shift. Plaintiff alleged in the complaint that his discharge violated public policy relating to "patient health and safety." Plaintiff contends that the complaint sufficiently states a claim for retaliatory discharge.

A. Common Law Retaliatory Discharge: Controlling Principles

In Illinois, "a noncontracted employee is one who serves at the employer's will, and the employer may discharge such an employee for any reason or no reason." Zimmerman v. Buchheit of Sparta, Inc., 164 Ill.2d 29, 32, 206 Ill.Dec. 625, 645 N.E.2d 877 (1994); accord Fellhauer v. City of Geneva, 142 Ill.2d 495, 505, 154 Ill.Dec. 649, 568 N.E.2d 870 (1991) (stating this court's adherence to rule that employer may discharge at-will employee for any or no reason); Price v. Carmack Datsun, Inc., 109 Ill.2d 65, 67, 92 Ill.Dec. 548, 485 N.E.2d 359 (1985) (stating "accepted general rule" that "in an employment at will there is no limitation on the right of an employer to discharge an employee").

However, an exception to this general rule of at-will employment arises where there has been a retaliatory discharge of the employee. Price, 109 Ill.2d at 67, 92 Ill.Dec. 548, 485 N.E.2d 359. This court has recognized a limited and narrow cause of action for the tort of retaliatory discharge. Fellhauer, 142 Ill.2d at 505, 154 Ill.Dec. 649, 568 N.E.2d 870, citing Palmateer v. International Harvester Co., 85 Ill.2d 124, 52 Ill.Dec. 13, 421 N.E.2d 876 (1981); Kelsay v. Motorola, Inc., 74 Ill.2d 172, 23 Ill.Dec. 559, 384 N.E.2d 353 (1978). To state a valid retaliatory discharge cause of action, an employee must allege that (1) the employer discharged the employee, (2) in retaliation for the employee's activities, and (3) that the discharge violates a clear mandate of public policy. Fellhauer, 142 Ill.2d at 505, 154 Ill.Dec. 649, 568 N.E.2d 870; Barr v. Kelso-Burnett Co., 106 Ill.2d 520, 529, 88 Ill.Dec. 628, 478 N.E.2d 1354 (1985); Palmateer, 85 Ill.2d at 134, 52 Ill.Dec. 13, 421 N.E.2d 876. Surveying many cases from across the country, this court in Palmateer discussed the meaning of "clearly mandated public policy":

"There is no precise definition of the term. In general, it can be said that public policy concerns what is right and just and what affects the citizens of the State collectively. It is to be found in the State's constitution and statutes and, when they are silent, in its judicial decisions. [Citation.] Although there is no precise line of demarcation dividing matters that are the subject of public policies from matters purely personal, a survey of cases in other States involving retaliatory discharges shows that a matter must strike at the heart of a citizen's social rights, duties, and responsibilities before the tort will be allowed." Palmateer, 85 Ill.2d at 130, 52 Ill.Dec. 13, 421 N.E.2d 876.

Further, numerous decisions of this court have maintained the narrow scope of the retaliatory discharge action. Buckner v. Atlantic Plant Maintenance, Inc., 182 Ill.2d 12, 19-20, 230 Ill.Dec. 596, 694 N.E.2d 565 (1998) (collecting cases). "The common law doctrine that an employer may discharge an employee-at-will for any reason or for no reason is still the law in Illinois, except for when the discharge violates a clearly mandated public policy." Barr, 106 Ill.2d at 525, 88 Ill.Dec. 628, 478 N.E.2d 1354.

At the outset, we reject plaintiff's contention that whether the failure to perform immediate charting jeopardizes the public policy of "patient safety" is a...