Holmes v. General Dynamics Corp

In Holmes v. General Dynamics Corp. (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 1418, the court determined a cause of action for wrongful termination in violation of public policy was not a personal injury action, in the context of interpreting a statute worded similarly to the statute at issue here. (Id. at pp. 1426, 1436.) The issue was prejudgment interest under Civil Code section 3291. "Civil Code section 3291 ... requires a court to award prejudgment interest when a defendant refuses a plaintiff's Code of Civil Procedure section 998 settlement offer and the plaintiff later recovers a more favorable judgment." (Holmes, at p. 1435.) The statute expressly applies only to those actions "brought to recover damages for personal injury sustained by any person resulting from or occasioned by the tort of any other person, corporation, association, or partnership." (Civ. Code, 3291.) The Holmes court had to determine whether the plaintiff's cause of action for wrongful termination in violation of public policy was a personal injury action within the meaning of the prejudgment interest statute. The court ultimately held that a "wrongful termination claim primarily involves the infringement of property rights, not personal injury." (Holmes, at p. 1436.) The decision was guided by our Supreme Court's decision in Gourley v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. (1991) 53 Cal.3d 121, when the court determined an insurance bad faith action was one seeking recovery of a property right, not personal injury, and emphasized that the plaintiffs brought the action primarily to recover financial damages, while emotional distress damages were only incidental to the economic loss. (Holmes, at p. 1436.) Holmes determined a wrongful termination action was like the insurance bad faith action in Gourley, insofar as "it is the employer's violation of a public policy resulting in the loss of a tangible economic benefit (a job), rather than the invasion of a personal freedom interest, which primarily defines the action." (Holmes, at p. 1437, fn. 15.) Moreover, "the nature of a tortious wrongful termination action is not to vindicate the plaintiff's personal interest. Rather, the essence of such claim is to vindicate the public interest." (Id. at p. 1436.)