Mark Hunger was the safety director at Grand Central
Sanitation. On September 7, Hunger “became aware” that
hazardous materials consisting of blasting caps were being
deposited into garbage containers at Shu-Deb, Inc. Grand
Central collected garbage from these containers and dumped
it at a dump site. Hunger knew that Grand Central was not
licensed to dispose of hazardous materials and believed that
it would violate State and/or Federal law if the company
transported or disposed of hazardous materials. Hunger also
became concerned about the safety of company employees
from the danger of transporting blasting caps. On September 9,
Hunger informed Grand Central’s owner and vice president,
Gary Perin, of the information he received about the blasting
caps. On September 12, Hunger, accompanied by Pennsylvania
state police and agents of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms, went to search the contents of
Shu-Deb’s containers. However, the garbage had already
been collected, so Hunger and the police located the garbage
truck that had collected the garbage and searched it. No
hazardous materials were found in the truck. On October 4,
Hunger was terminated because of the incident. Hunger sued
Grand Central for wrongful termination.
a. What are the arguments that Hunger was wrongfully
terminated?
b. What are the arguments that Hunger was legally terminated?
c. Will Hunger prevail? Explain
