Case Questions

1. Is there a difference between the court’s protection of an employee

who reports a rape by a co-worker or the theft of a car, and an

employee who is constantly reporting the theft of the company’s

paper clips and pens?

2. Should the latter employee in the above question be protected?

Consider that the court in Palmateer remarked that “the magnitude

of the crime is not the issue here. It was the General Assembly

who decided that the theft of a $2 screwdriver was a problem that

should be resolved by resort to the criminal justice system.”

3. What are other areas of public policy that might offer protection to

terminated workers?