Case: Individual Employment Rights/Wrongful Discharge (Cal. Ct. App., 2d Dist.)

The former owners and employees of Rancho Physical Therapy, Inc. properly prevailed on claims against Rancho alleging wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, after they were terminated following an asset sale, a California appellate court affirmed. The trial court found that the “substantial motivating factor” for Rancho’s termination of the plaintiffs’ employment was their filing of an illegality lawsuit, which had resulted in a finding that Rancho had an illegal corporate structure, in that its directors and officers were not licensed physical therapists. The illegality lawsuit invoked a “fundamental public policy that inures to the public benefit and is ...