Sanchez v. Black Brothers Co‪.‬

Plaintiff, Emil Petrik, filed a three-count complaint against defendant, Monarch Printing Corporation (Monarch), his former employer, alleging inter alia that he had been discharged from his position as vice-president in retaliation for his reporting suspicions of embezzlement of corporate funds to Monarchs president and chief operating officer, Herbert C. Hansen. The trial court dismissed Petriks retaliatory discharge claim, which was set forth in counts II and III, for failure to state a cause of action. Count I, which sought damages for defendants alleged breach of an oral contract, is still pending in the trial court and is not involved in this appeal. The sole issue presented for our review is whether Petriks complaint set forth sufficient facts to state a cause of action for retaliatory discharge. For the reasons which follow, we conclude that it does, reverse the trial court and remand the cause for further proceedings.