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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Judge Terry, however, expresses concern “lest we allow ‘public policy’ exceptions to swallow up the at-will doctrine-” Judge Terry’s opinion, supra, at 162. He would, therefore, restrict this court’s recognition of such exceptions to only those cases where the exception is firmly anchored or solidly based in a statute or regulation which clearly reflects the “public policy” being relied *187upon. For the reasons stated at length in my (division) dissent (see APPENDIX, infra ), I cannot agree to such a drastic restriction. See also Judge Ferren’s opinion, issued today, supra, at 166, tracing the history of the common law role of the courts in law making. I would add that the underpinnings of the employment-at-will doctrine (an agrarian, patriarchal, master-servant relationship of the English feudal system) proved to be ill-suited for our increasingly industrialized society. Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander & Laura B. Pincus, Employment Law FOR Business 8-10 (1995) (“Background—The Employment At-Will Doctrine”); see also Judge Schwelb’s opinion, supra, at 174. It is for this very reason that, in our country, legislators, faced with the problems of an ever-increasing workforce, found it necessary to provide statutory guidance in the area of diversified employee-employer relationships. Bennett-Alexander & Pincus, supra, at 9.

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