Carl v. Children's Hospital, 702 A.2d 159 (1997)

Citation: Carl v. Children's Hospital, 702 A.2d 159 (1997)
Parent Document: Carl v. Children's Hospital, 702 A.2d 159 (1997)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 1997-09-23
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2395626/carl-v-childrens-hospital/ ↗

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The origins of the more restrictive language reflected in some of our earlier opinions in this area12 may be, at least in part, semantic. Proposed judicial modifications of Wood’s Rule have consistently been characterized as “public policy” exceptions. See, e.g., Adams, supra, 597 A.2d at 32. Seizing on this nomenclature, some courts have assumed that, because “public policy” necessarily involves “policy,” and because legislatures (and not judges) are supposed to make “policy,” any exceptions to the at-will rule must be effectuated by the legislature and not by courts. Use of the phrase “public policy exception” presents the issue before us in a way that implies a threat of judicial intrusion *181upon a legislative domain. If we invoked Judge Prettyman’s language in Linkins, supra, and inquired whether “changes in conditions have made [Wood’s Rule] obsolete,” 87 U.S.App. D.C. at 355, 187 F.2d at 361, then the spectre of activism might perhaps recede in the reader’s mind. Here, as in so many situations, the phrasing of the question may have a good deal to do with the character of the answer.13

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