# Shick v. Shirey

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · August 20, 1998 · 552 Pa. 590

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9700303

## Case

- **Full name:** David L. SHICK, Appellant, v. David L. SHIREY T/D/B/A Donald L. Shirey Lumber, Appellee
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** August 20, 1998
- **Citations:** 552 Pa. 590; 716 A.2d 1231
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Flaherty
- **Judges:** Flaherty, Zappala, Cappy, Castille, Nigro, Newman, Saylor
- **Cited by:** 154 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9700303

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- recognizing independent authority of courts to discern public policy in absence of legislation but rejecting claim that legislature’s failure to amend Workers’ Compensation Act to include provisions for filing claim for retaliatory discharge rendered Court powerless to recogni…
- holding that the “termination of an at-will employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim violates public policy” despite the lack of a retaliation provision in the statute
- holding that an at-will employee who alleges retaliatory discharge for the filing of a workers’ compensation claim has stated a cause of action under Pennsylvania law
- holding that “a cause of action exists under Pennsylvania law for wrongful discharge of an employee who files a claim for workers’ compensation benefits”
- holding that termination of an at-will employee for filing a workers’ compensation claim violates public policy of the Workers’ Compensation Act

## Opinion text

FLAHERTY, Chief Justice,
concurring.
I join the majority but write to express that our holding today does not create or indeed expand a new cause of action. It is consistent with Geary v. U.S. Steel Corporation, 456 Pa. 171 , 319 A.2d 174 (1974). The at-will employment doctrine remains the law in Pennsylvania and exceptions are extremely limited.
NEWMAN, J., joins in this concurring opinion.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9700303. Public record. Not legal advice.