The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals published its opinion in McBride v. Peak Wellness Center, Inc. on Monday, August 6, 2012.
The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision. Petitioner is an accountant who worked as Respondent’s business manager for about nine years. Respondent terminated her in 2009, citing job performance and morale issues. Petitioner, however, claims she was terminated in retaliation for bringing various accounting improprieties to the attention of Respondent’s Board of Directors. Petitioner brought several federal and state-law claims against Respondent, among them (1) whistleblower retaliation under the federal False Claims Act (FCA); (2) violations of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA); (3) breach of employment contract; (4) breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (5) defamation; and (6) a federal sex discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. After discovery, Respondent moved for summary judgment on all claims, and the district court granted the motion. Petitioner appeals the grant of summary judgment, arguing that significant issues of material fact remain unresolved and that her claims should proceed to trial. She also appeals the district court’s denial of an evidentiary motion. The Court found no error in the district court’s decision and affirmed.
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I served on the Board of the Southeast Wyoming Mental Health Center, the predecessor name of Peak Wellness, for some 28 years, chairing it for one year back about 79 or 80. Dr. Birney had been the executive director for many years before I left the Board, and so I had many interactions with him. Consequently, although I met the Plaintiff/Appellant after I had left the Board, I had no interactions with her. But my lengthy experience with the Board was that it was not a rubber stamp, and the staff, both professional and administrative, was under scrutiny, not like a witch hunt, but simply as part of the Board’s recognized duties. It was always a hard-working Board, the members of which always took their duties seriously.
Operating a large non-profit such as Peak takes unusual talent and dedication. Anyone seeking to be an officer or high-ranking member of the administrative staff of such an organization must be prepared to devote more than just the 9-5 mentality to the job, because it’s more than just a job. Analogous to working for a church, to a certain extent it has to be a calling. It’s apparent from the opinion that if the Plaintiff had that sort of calling in the beginning of her employment, along the way she seemed to have lost it.
While I had no knowledge about this lawsuit, I’m not surprised at the outcome. Peak Wellness in general and Dr. Birney in particular have my and many others’ respect for a superb organization which strives to provide the best of mental health services under the strictures of both Wyoming and federal law.