Johnston v. Del Mar Distributing Co. Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

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Johnston v. Del Mar Distributing Co.
Texas Court of Appeals
776 S.W.2d 768 (1989)

Under the employment at will doctrine, an agreement for employment that has no fixed duration may be terminated by either party for any reason.

However, in some states, a public policy exception prevents employers from discharging employees in retaliation for refusing to perform illegal acts. In Johnston versus Del Mar Distributing Company, the Texas Court of Appeals considered whether this exception applied to a former employee who was discharged for seeking advice about the legality of of packaging and shipping firearms with inaccurate labels.

In the summer of nineteen eighty seven, Nancy Johnston was an employee at Del Mar Distributing Company. As an employee, Johnston prepared shipping documents for packages sent from Delmar's warehouse to other cities.

One day, Del Mar instructed Johnston to package and ship a semi automatic firearm to a grocery store in Brownsville and to label the package's contents as fishing gear. Johnston was required to sign her name on shipping documents before giving the package to the post office.

Concerned that she might violate federal law, by labeling the package's contents as fishing gear, Johnston contacted the United States Treasury Department Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms for advice.

However, a few days after Johnston contacted the bureau, Del Mar fired her.

Johnston sued Del Mar in state district court for wrongful discharge.

Specifically, Johnston claims that Del Mar fired her in retaliation for inquiring about whether her acts were illegal and reporting suspected legal violations to a regulatory agency, also known as whistle blowing.

Del Mar moved for summary judgment, arguing that the employment at will doctrine barred Johnston's claims for wrongful discharge.

To this end, Del Mar asserted that it had an absolute right to terminate Johnston for any reason or no reason because she was an employee at will.

The district court agreed and granted Del Mar's motion.

Johnston appealed to the Texas Court of Appeals.

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