Helicopter. Photo: MKFI via Wikmedia CommonsSuperior Court Tosses Pilot's $2.5M Wrongful Termination Verdict
“If it became the law that an employee may bring a wrongful discharge claim pursuant to the public policy exception to the at will employment doctrine merely by referring to generalized pronouncements about community interests offered by the General Assembly, the exception would soon swallow the rule,” the court ruled.
November 19, 2024 at 03:44 PM
3 minute read
What You Need to Know
- The Superior Court threw out a $2.5 million wrongful termination verdict awarded to a helicopter pilot.
- The court held that the public policy exception to Pennsylvania's at-will employment doctrine did not apply to the plaintiff's case.
- The court ruled that general statements of community interest were not sufficient to bring a claim under the exception.
A wrongful termination claim that earned a fired helicopter pilot a $2.5 million verdict should never have made it to a jury, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled Monday.
The three-judge panel threw out the verdict in a precedential opinion, ruling that the trial court should not have allowed the plaintiff to invoke a public policy exception to a doctrine that would have otherwise barred his claim.
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