Where a former employee failed to plead facts making her constructive discharge claim plausible, and her allegations of harassment are not causally linked to her reporting activity, her Bowman claim was dismissed with prejudice.
Background
Plaintiff Dawn Elizabeth McCullough filed a second amended complaint against her former employer, defendant MDM Solutions, LLC, alleging a Bowman claim, which recognizes a common law cause of action in Virginia for terminating an at-will employee in violation of public policy. Plaintiff asserts that she suffered a hostile workplace and constructive discharge for refusing her employer’s direction that she engage in a criminal act. This court dismissed plaintiff’s original complaint and first amended complaint for failure to state a claim. Defendant has now moved to dismiss the second amended complaint.
Analysis
For the purposes of this motion, defendant does not dispute that plaintiff plausibly alleges the first aspect of this kind of Bowman claim—that her supervisor(s) directed her to commit a crime by falsifying environmental reports. Defendant contends that plaintiff again fails to plausibly allege constructive discharge and that her allegations of harassment are not causally linked to her reporting activity as required under Bowman.
Plaintiff alleges that she suffered constructive discharge in retaliation for refusal to commit criminal acts as directed by defendant. This court previously held that, in reliance on Virginia circuit...
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