Wornick Co. v. Casas

Diana Casas (plaintiff) worked as the human-resources director for Right Away Foods Corporation (Right Away) (defendant), which was owned by Wornick Company (defendant). Casas’s supervisor, Valerie Woerner (defendant) terminated Casas suddenly and unexpectedly one day. Woerner met with Casas and informed her that she was being terminated because she had been disloyal to the company and had a bad attitude. Woerner provided no additional information at Casas’s request and instructed her to leave the company premises immediately. Woerner displayed a normal demeanor and did not raise her voice to Casas during the four-minute meeting. Casas, who had received positive performance reviews, believed she was fired to prevent her from disclosing the unethical practices of Right Away employees to government auditors. Casas was escorted from Woerner’s office to her own office by a security guard. The security supervisor was present at Casas’s office to escort her off of the property. The security supervisor carried a box of Casas’s belongings to her car for her. The security supervisor and the security guard that escorted Casas to her office were not rude or offensive to Casas. Security guards generally did not escort salaried employees who were fired, like Casas, off the property though the company did have a practice of having security guards escort hourly employees off the property. Casas sued Right Away, Wornick, and Woerner for intentional infliction of emotional distress. The trial court granted summary judgment against Casas. The appellate court reversed the trial court judgment regarding the emotional-distress claim. Right Away, Wornick, and Woerner appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.