Heslop v. Bank of Utah

In Heslop v. Bank of Utah, 839 P.2d 828 (Utah 1992), the Court was asked whether Mr. Heslop, a senior vice president and manager of the bank's Salt Lake Division, had a cause of action for wrongful discharge. Id. at 831. Specifically, Mr. Heslop alleged that he had been terminated for reporting to a bank officer and the bank president that the bank had misstated its income and assets, thereby creating a deficiency between the bank's stated capital and its actual capital. Id. While Mr. Heslop eventually reported the deficiency to federal and state bank regulators, id. at 832, the court recognized that Mr. Heslop's reporting furthered a substantial public policy because he "pursued all internal methods for resolving the problem. Id. at 838. The Court did not require him to go "outside the Bank to try to correct the policy violation." Id. at 838.