Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 341038_pub.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 341038_pub.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/341038_pub.pdf ↗

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https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/overriding (last visited Aug. 30, 2017). This

justification element acknowledges that some public policies, even if clearly mandated,

are not strong enough to warrant interfering with employers' personnel management.

Gardner v. Loomis Armored, Inc., 128 Wn.2d at 947 (1996).

The only Washington decision addressing in depth the element of overriding

justification is the seminal decision of Gardner v. Loomis Armored, Inc., 128 Wn.2d 931.

Loomis Armored fired Kevin Gardner after he abandoned his armored car to rescue a

female branch bank manager chased by a man with a knife. Loomis' policy precluded

any armored car driver from leaving the car unattended. The Supreme Court held the

firing violated Washington's fundamental policy of preservation of life. Loomis argued,

however, that it possessed an overriding reason for terminating the employee despite the

employee's public policy linked conduct. Loomis cited an incident when an armored car

driver exited the truck in response to his partner being robbed. The robber shot and killed

the driver. Loomis also worried about robbers counterfeiting an attack in order to lure the

driver out of the truck. Finally, Loomis noted that its insurance policy may not cover a

loss if a driver leaves a truck unattended.

The Gardner court wrote that it must balance the public policies raised by Kevin

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For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.

No. 34103-8-111
Martin v. Gonzaga University

Gardner against Loomis Armored' s legitimate interest in maintaining a safe workplace

and determine whether those public policies outweighed Loomis' concerns. Gardner

advanced the Good Samaritan principle as a sufficient policy to override Loomis'