Robinson v. Salvation Army

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed summary judgment for the Salvation Army and Joel DeMoss in Frances Robinson’s wrongful-termination action. The court held that Virginia Code § 18.2-344, which criminalized fornication, could not support a Bowman public-policy claim based on private consensual sexual activity between adults because the statute was unconstitutional as applied in that context. Robinson had not alleged facts showing that she was asked to engage in public sexual activity or another remaining criminal act.

Holdings

1. Code § 18.2-344 does not support a public-policy Bowman wrongful-termination claim based on private, consensual sexual activity between adults because the statute is unconstitutional as applied to that conduct.
2. The record did not support a Bowman claim based on public fornication or another criminal act because Robinson alleged no request to engage in public sexual activity.
3. VanBuren v. Grubb does not support Robinson's claim because it concerned different criminal statutes and did not overrule Martin.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Code § 18.2-344 could provide the public-policy basis for a Bowman wrongful-termination claim when the alleged termination resulted from an employee's refusal to engage in private, consensual sexual activity with an adult supervisor.
2. Whether the alleged conduct supported a wrongful-termination claim based on a request to engage in public fornication or another criminal act.
3. Whether VanBuren v. Grubb preserved or expanded the availability of Code § 18.2-344 as a basis for a wrongful-discharge claim.

Disposition

affirmed