Murray-Obertein v. Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.Murray-Obertein v. Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission.
NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk‘s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. http://www.gaappeals.us/rules
Elisabeth Murray-Obertein appeals from the order of the trial court granting the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission‘s (“the Commission“) motion for summary judgment. Murray-Obertein contends that the trial court erred in finding that her retaliation claim under the Georgia Whistleblower Act,
On appeal from the grant of summary judgment, this court applies a de novo standard of review. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We must view the evidence, and all reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. (Citations omitted.) Tuohy v. City of Atlanta, 331 Ga. App. 846 (771 SE2d 501) (2015).
The trial court‘s grant of summary judgment was limited to whether a “public employee” as defined by the GWA includes former employees, and in concluding that it did not, the trial court did not address whether, under the GWA, Murray-Obertein was engaged in protected acts or whether the Commission‘s acts were retaliation. Thus, the underlying claims are not at issue in this appeal.
With that being so, the facts pertinent to this appeal demonstrate that Murray-Obertein was employed by the Commission from December 2011 until January 29, 2014. On October 28, 2014, she filed the underlying complaint in which she alleged that the Commission had retaliated against her because of the following: on August 1, 2013, she gave a deposition in a case brought against the Commission regarding violations of
“The GWA creates a cause of action for retaliatory discharge, suspension, demotion, or other adverse employment action taken against a public employee (as defined by the Act) by a public employer as a result of the employee‘s disclosure of, or refusal to participate in, violation of the law.” West v. City of Albany, 300 Ga. 743 (797 SE2d 809) (2017). Under the GWA,
[n]o public employer shall retaliate against a public employee for disclosing a violation of or noncompliance with a law, rule, or regulation to either a supervisor or a government agency, unless the disclosure was made with knowledge that the disclosure was false or with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.
In moving for summary judgment, the Commission asserted that even though the WBA waives sovereign immunity, see Colon v. Fulton County, 294 Ga. 93, 95 (1) (751 SE2d 307) (2013) (”
In Robinson, an former employee filed suit under § 704 (a) of Title VII, which makes it unlawful “for an employer to discriminate against any of his employees or applicants for employment” who have availed themselves of Title VII‘s protections. Id. at 339-340. After, “first . . . interpreting [the] statute . . . to determine whether the language at issue has a plain and unambiguous meaning,” the Supreme Court found the term “employee” ambiguous within the context of § 704 (a), because, among other things, and of significance in this case, “there is no temporal qualifier in [the statute] such as would make plain that § 704(a) protects only persons still employed at the time of the retaliation.” Id. at 340-341 (II). “Employee” under Title VII is defined as “an individual employed by an employer.”
Thus, while Robinson indicated that former employees were included in the definition of “employees” in Section 704(a) of Title VII, that case is distinguishable from the circumstances in this case because
When we consider the meaning of a statute, we must presume that the General Assembly meant what it said and said what it meant. To that end, we must afford the statutory text its plain and ordinary meaning, we must view the statutory text in the context in which it appears, and we must read the statutory text in its most natural and reasonable way, as an ordinary speaker of the English language would. Consequently, courts sometimes refer to the rules of English grammar, inasmuch as those rules are the guideposts by which ordinary speakers of the English language commonly structure their words, and the legislature is presumed to know the rules of grammar. Applying these principles, if the statutory text is clear and unambiguous, we attribute to the statute its plain meaning, and our search for statutory meaning is at an end.
(Citations, footnote and punctuation omitted.) Deal v. Coleman, 294 Ga. 170, 173 (1) (a) (751 SE2d 337) (2013). See
In this case,
the discharge, suspension, or demotion by a public employer of a public employee or any other adverse employment action taken by a public employer against a public employee in the terms or conditions of employment for disclosing a violation of or noncompliance with a law, rule, or regulation to either a supervisor or government agency.
While the WBA anticipates that in some instances, the retaliation may not be discovered until some time in the future, at which time the “public employee” may no longer be employed by the agency, see
Thus, in this circumstance, the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to the Commission.
Judgment affirmed. McMillian and Mercier, JJ., concur.