Retaliatory Discharge Under Illinois Law: 'Public Policy' Strictly Interpreted Once Again
An Illinois state court of appeals recently held that the Cook County Department of Public Health ("Cook County") was not liable for common law retaliatory discharge because plaintiff/appellant failed to identify a cognizable "public policy." Lucas v. County of Cook, Case No. 09 L 11982 (1st Dist. March 5, 2013). This decision underscores the height of the hurdle employees face in attempting to show a public policy has been violated, as general references to safety and health simply will not do-particularly in the wake of the Illinois Supreme Court's landmark decision in Turner v. Memorial Medical Center, 233 Ill. 2d 494 (2009).
Background
Throughout her employment at Cook County, plaintiff/appellant Dr. Lucas exclusively treated female patients.However, Cook County made the business decision to merge the family planning clinic and the STD clinic.As a result, it informed Dr. Lucas that she would need to treat both male and female patients.Dr. Lucas refused to treat male patients, asserting she was not competent to treat them.On that basis, she claimed her treatment of males would violate several state laws.Cook County disagreed and instructed her to attend training on the treatment of male patients for STDs.And it made clear to her that she would be discharged if she failed to complete the training.Her employment was terminated after she failed to complete the training.
Dr. Lucas filed suit in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, alleging, among other things, retaliatory discharge.The Circuit Court granted Cook County summary judgment and Dr. Lucas appealed.
The Illinois Appellate Court's Decision
The First District explained that to pursue a retaliatory discharge claim under Illinois common law, a plaintiff must establish that: "(1) the employer discharged the employee, (2) in...
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