§ 6.1.6.6 ETHICAL OR MORAL STANDARDS.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 6.1.6.6 Ethical or Moral Standards. The preamble of the EPA states that Wagensellerwas correctly decided.²⁰⁸ The EPA by its terms nevertheless purports to negate the Wagenseller line of cases dealing with wrongful discharge in violation of public policies not expressed in state statutory or constitutional law.²⁰⁹ Under those cases, the requisite public policy could be found in the state's judicial decisions as well as its constitution and statutes.²¹⁰

Under the literal language of the EPA, only violations of an Arizona statute or the Arizona Constitution can become the basis of a violation of public policy.²¹¹ Therefore, although courts in other jurisdictions have indicated that the public policy underlying a wrongful discharge claim may be found in a professional code of ethics,²¹² and there is as yet no published Arizona appellate court decision addressing that issue,²¹³ employees in Arizona now may be unable to base a wrongful discharge claim on their refusal to engage in unethical conduct,²¹⁴ such as that prohibited by professional ethical codes, unless the ethical obligation at issue is embodied in a state statute.²¹⁵

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Notes:

^[208] Preamble to A.R.S. § 23-1501, 1996 Ariz. Sess. Laws ch. 140, § 1(E) (observing that "as a policy matter, the court reached the correct conclusion").

^[209] Although the Arizona Supreme Court has asserted that "neither the rationale nor the holding in Wagenseller is implicated by the EPA," Cronin, 195 Ariz. at 536 ¶ 19, 991 P.2d at 236, the District Court for Arizona has stated that "the Arizona Employment Protection Act . . . overruled Wagenseller and limited the grounds under which an employee could claim wrongful discharge." Chaboya v. Am. Nat'l Red Cross, 72 F. Supp. 2d 1081, 1092 (D. Ariz. 1997).

^[210]Wagenseller, 147 Ariz. at 378-79...