Touchard v. La-Z-Boy

La-Z-Boy Inc. (defendant) hired Marilyn Touchard (plaintiff) to investigate La-Z-Boy’s high workers’-compensation costs and the safety of La-Z-Boy’s production lines. After her investigation, Touchard told La-Z-Boy that practices on the upholstery production line could be causing shoulder injuries. Touchard indicated that employees had a high injury rate and were waiting too long for diagnosis and treatment because La-Z-Boy was intentionally mismanaging their claims. Touchard also told La-Z-Boy that the company’s claims adjuster was hostile toward injured employees. Additionally, Touchard met with La-Z-Boy’s human-resources director and told the director that the alternative work assignments given to injured employees were demeaning and that employees were choosing not to report injuries to avoid mistreatment from managers. The director allegedly responded by criticizing Touchard and delaying the implementation of programs recommended by Touchard. La-Z-Boy’s vice president subsequently accused Touchard of coaching employees about how to sue La-Z-Boy and told Touchard that she could not discuss employee-rights issues with employees. Some time later, Touchard reported that La-Z-Boy was improperly denying an injured employee’s claim for benefits. The vice president allegedly threatened to fire Touchard for speaking to employees about their injuries or workers’-compensation claims. Several months later, La-Z-Boy terminated Touchard’s employment. Touchard sued La-Z-Boy in federal district court, alleging that La-Z-Boy wrongfully terminated her for complaining about how La-Z-Boy treated injured employees. The district court certified questions of law to the Utah Supreme Court regarding whether Touchard had an actionable claim against La-Z-Boy.