TERRY ALAN OCHAB, APPELLANT,
v.
MORRISON, INC., D/B/A RUBY TUESDAY AND KEITH GRUBB, APPELLEES
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Florida appellate court affirmed dismissal of wrongful discharge claim, holding that at-will employees have no implied cause of action for retaliatory discharge based on refusal to serve intoxicated patrons, absent clear legislative intent to create civil remedies.
At-will employees have no implied cause of action for retaliatory discharge where the legislature has provided only criminal penalties and no civil remedies.
[1] At-will employees have no implied cause of action for retaliatory discharge absent clear legislative intent to provide civil remedies.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAppellant was discharged from his bartender position after refusing to continue serving an intoxicated and belligerent patron.…
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CAMPBELL, Judge.
In this appeal, we are again asked to establish a cause of action for “wrongful” or “retaliatory discharge” of an employee where the term of employment is “at will” or indefinite and discretionary with either party. Appellant appeals the final order that dismissed with prejudice his complaint that sought damages for his alleged retaliatory discharge. Appellant alleged he was discharged from his employment as a bartender in retaliation for his refusal to continue to serve a patron who had become intoxicated and belligerent.
Appellant urges us to create a cause of action under the circumstances alleged in his complaint by implication of legislative intent from the provisions of section 562.-50, Florida Statutes (1985). We perceive no such clear legislative intent. While the legislature has provided criminal penalties for violation of that statute, it has not provided civil remedies. We decline to act where the legislature has chosen not to and, thereby, continue to adhere to our holding in Ponton v. Scarfone, 468 So. 2d 1009 (Fla.2d DCA 1985), pet. denied, 478 So. 2d 54 (Fla.1985) and Muller v. Stromberg-Carlson Corp., 427 So. 2d 266 (Fla.2d DCA 1983). See also Smith v. Piezo Technology and Professional Administrators, 427 So. 2d 182 (Fla.1983).
Affirmed.
RYDER, A.C.J., and FRANK, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
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W.R. Grace & Co. v. Geodata Servs., Inc., 547 So. 2d 919 (Fla. 1989)…port a cause of action. Smith v. Piezo Technology and Professional Administrators, 427 So. 2d 182 (Fla.1983); Harbour Square Development Corp. v. Miller, 517 So. 2d 773 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Ochab v. Morrison, Inc., d/b/a Ruby Tuesday and Keith Grubb, 517 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Ponton v. Scarfone, 468 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Muller v. Stromberg-Carlson Corp., 427 So. 2d 266 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Catania v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 381 So. 2d 265 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). 526 So. 2d at 930. The law of wr…
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Geodata Servs., Inc. v. W. R. Grace & Co., 526 So. 2d 922 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988)…port a cause of action. Smith v. Piezo Technology and Professional Administrators, 427 So. 2d 182 (Fla.1983); Harbour Square Development Corp. v. Miller, 517 So. 2d 773 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Ochab v. Morrison, Inc., d/b/a Ruby Tuesday and Keith Grubb, 517 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987); Ponton v. Scarfone, 468 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985); Muller v. Stromberg-Carlson Corp., 427 So. 2d 266 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Catania v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 381 So. 2d 265 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980). I must conclude that in the absen…
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Jarvinen v. HCA Allied Clinical Labs., Inc., 552 So. 2d 241 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989)…for breach of employment contract). Those Florida cases that do exist on wrongful discharge from employment have consistently declined to recognize a cause of action for the retaliatory discharge of an at-will employee. See Ochab v. Morrison, Inc., 517 So. 2d 763 (Fla. 2d DCA 1987), and Hartley v. Ocean Reef Club, Inc., 476 So. 2d 1327 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). WALDEN and GUNTHER, JJ., concur. GLICKSTEIN, J., concurs specially with opinion.…
Previewing 3 of 6 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Smith v. Piezo Tech. & Prof'l Administrators, 427 So. 2d 182 (Fla. 1983)
- Muller v. Stromberg Carlson Corp., 427 So. 2d 266 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)
- Ponton v. Scarfone, 468 So. 2d 1009 (Fla. 2d DCA 1985)