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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Mr. Martin referenced student safety in his e-mail to Dr. McCulloh, he did not suggest he

was concerned about gymnasium safety, as opposed to the swimming pools.

Mr. Martin claims he wanted Mr. Standiford and Dr. McCulloh to review his

written pool proposal, which discussed the issue of gymnasium padding. That may be.
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.

No. 34103-8-III
Martin v. Gonzaga Univiversity (Concurrence)

But Mr. Martin never provided Mr. Standiford or Dr. McCulloh his proposal. Instead, he

submitted e-mails asking for an opportunity to pitch his proposal to the administration.

See Appellant's Reply Br. at 4. When one of Mr. Standiford's designees, Joel Morgan,

demanded to see a copy of Mr. Martin's pool proposal, Mr. Martin refused to provide it.

Apparently, Mr. Martin wanted to keep the proposal confidential so that others would not

get credit for his ideas.

Like Mr. Standiford, Dr. McCulloh, and Mr. Martin, we have not seen Mr.

Martin's pool proposal. A copy is not in the record. It is therefore impossible for us to

assess whether the written proposal would have adequately raised gymnasium safety

concerns 1 to qualify as a public safety complaint had it been shared. Mr. Martin's

assurances that the pool proposal raised safety concerns about lack of gymnasium

padding is not sufficient to link Mr. Martin's advocacy efforts with a matter of public

policy.

The lead opinion recognizes the paucity of evidence linking Mr. Martin's concerns

about gymnasium padding to his termination. Nevertheless, the opinion claims summary

judgment is not appropriate on this element of Mr. Martin's claim because, according to

Mr. Martin, Mr. Standiford referenced Mr. Martin's leaks about gymnasium injuries to