McNEIL v. CHARLEVOIX COUNTY
Case Details
- Citation
- 484 Mich. 69
- Judge(s)
- Kelly, C.J., and Cavanagh and Hathaway, JJ., concurred with Weaver, J.; KELLY, C.J., concurred with CAVANAGH, J.; Corrigan and Young, JJ., concurred with Markman, J.
- Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
- appeal
- State
- Michigan
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Claim Types
Outcome
Michigan Supreme Court affirmed the validity of a local health department's smoking regulation that prohibits employer retaliation against employees exercising smoke-free workplace rights, holding the regulation is within the health department's statutory authority and does not violate at-will employment doctrine.
Excerpt
McNEIL v CHARLEVOIX COUNTY Docket No. 134437. Argued January 22, 2009 (Calendar No. 9). Decided July 21, 2009. Kent A. McNeil and other residents or business owners in Charlevoix County brought an action in the Charlevoix Circuit Court against Charlevoix County and Northwest Michigan Community Health Agency (NMCHA), a multicounty district health department organized by Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, and Otsego counties. The NMCHA had promulgated a regulation that prohibits smoking in all enclosed public places, requires employers that do not wholly prohibit smoking at an enclosed work site to designate an NMCHA-approved, independently ventilated smoking room, and prohibits an employer from discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise retaliating against an employee for exercising his or her right to the smoke-free environment created by the regulation. The plaintiffs sought a judgment declaring the regulation invalid. The court, Richard M. Pajtas, J., denied a motion for summary disposition filed by the plaintiffs, who then appealed. The Court of Appeals, Saad, EJ., and Hoekstra and Smolenski, JJ., affirmed, holding that the NMCHA acted within its authority when it promulgated the regulation at issue, that the regulation was not preempted by the Michigan Clean Indoor Air Act, and that the provision of the regulation that prohibits employers from discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise retaliating against employees for exercising their right to a smoke-free environment did not violate the public policy of allowing employment terminable at will. 275 Mich App 686 (2007). The plaintiffs applied for leave to appeal, which the Supreme Court granted with respect to those plaintiffs who had standing. 482 Mich 1014 (2008). In an opinion by Justice Weaver, joined by Chief Justice Kelly and Justices Cavanagh and Hathaway, the Supreme Court held: The regulation at issue is authorized by statute and was promulgated in a manner consistent with the statutory requirements. Furthermore, the private cause of action that the regulation creates fits within public policy exceptions to Michigan’s at-will employment doctrine. 1. The NMCHA acted within its authority when it promulgated the regulation at issue. Part 126 of the Public Health Code (PHC), MCL 333.12601 et seq., which governs smoking in public places and is also known as the Michigan Clean Indoor Air Act, expressly provides that the Michigan Department of Community Health may authorize a local health department like the NMCHA to enforce part 126 and the rules promulgated under that part. MCL 333.12613(2). Even if the responsibility for the implementation and enforcement of the restrictions established by part 126 had been exclusively granted to the Department of Community Health, that would not, by itself, deny a local health department the authority to promulgate, implement, and enforce similar regulations of its own making. Part 24 of the PHC, MCL 333.2401 et seq., which governs local health departments like the NMCHA, charges local health departments with the duty to continually and diligently endeavor to prevent disease, prolong life, and promote the public health through organized programs, including those for the prevention and control of environmental health hazards. MCL 333.2433(1). Part 24 also provides that a local health department may adopt regulations to properly safeguard the public health, MCL 333.2435(d), or regulations that are necessary or appropriate to implement or carry out the duties or functions vested by law in the local health department, MCL 333.2441(1). Finally, part 24 provides that a local health department shall implement and enforce laws for which responsibility is vested in the local health department. MCL 333.2441(1). 2. The provision in the regulation that prohibits an employer from discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise retaliating against a person for exercising his or her right to a smoke-free environment does not violate the public policy of allowing employment terminable at will by either employer or employee. An at-will employee’s discharge violates public policy if the employee is discharged in violation of an explicit legislative statement prohibiting discharge of employees who act in accordance with a statutory right or duty, the employee is discharged for the failure or refusal to violate the law in the course of employment, or the employee is discharged for exercising a right conferred by a well-established legislative enactment. Although the regulation at issue is not a legislative enactment or statement, it provides employees with certain specified rights and was, as required by MCL 333.2411(1), approved by the governing bodies of each of the counties served by the NMCHA. Given this and the public policy of minimizing the effects of smoking evinced by the Legislature through its enactment of part 126 and § 12905 of part 129 of the PHC, MCL 333.12905 (which governs smoking in public areas of food service establishments), the regulation’s restriction on an employer’s right to discharge an employee at will is consistent with the aforementioned exceptions. Justice Cavanagh, joined by Chief Justice Kelly, concurring, wrote separately to clarify that the non-retaliation provision of the clean indoor air regulation promulgated by the defendants falls within the public-policy exception to the common-law doctrine of at-will employment for employees acting in accordance with a legally recognized right or duty. He further stated that the sections of the regulation that create a private cause of action were within the broad constitutional and statutory authority granted to county boards of commissioners to pass ordinances that relate to county affairs and do not contravene the general laws of this state. Affirmed. Justice Markman, joined by Justices Corrigan and Young, concurring in part and dissenting in part, agreed that the NMCHA, acting in conjunction with the local boards of commissioners, has the authority to enact that part of the regulation that restricts smoking at least as stringently as the Michigan Clean Indoor Air Act. He dissented from the majority’s implicit ruling that the part of the regulation that creates a private cause of action against private employers is valid and would hold instead that MCL 46.11© precludes a county board of commissioners from creating a private cause of action against a private entity that alters Michigan’s at-will employment doctrine. He also dissented from the conclusion that the part of the regulation that restricts smoking fits within one of the exceptions to at-will employment recognized in the Suchodolski v Michigan Consolidated Gas Co, 412 Mich 692 (1982), and generally would not extend the Suchodolski exceptions to include local regulations. He would remand this case to the Court of Appeals to consider whether employees could enforce their rights under the regulation restricting smoking by bringing an action under the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act. 1. Health — Local Health Departments — Smoking Regulations. A local health department created pursuant to part 24 of the Public Health Code has the authority under that part and part 126, also known as the Michigan Clean Indoor Air Act, to promulgate, implement, and enforce regulations in indoor public places that are at least as stringent as those established by state law (MCL 333.2433[1], 333.2435[d], 333.2441[1], and 333.12613[2]). 2. Health — Local Health Departments — Smoking Regulations. A regulation by a local health department created pursuant to part 24 of the Public Health Code that prohibits smoking in all enclosed public places and requires employers that do not wholly prohibit smoking at an enclosed work site to designate a department-approved smoking room for those of its employees who smoke does not conflict with part 126 of the Public Health Code, also known as the Michigan Clean Indoor Air Act (MCL 333.2401 et seq. and 333.12601 et seq.). 3. Health — Local Health Departments — Smoking Regulations — Employment — At-Will Employment. A regulation by a local health department created pursuant to part 24 of the Public Health Code that prohibits an employer from discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise retaliating against an employee for exercising his or her right to a smoke-free working environment mandated by the regulation does not violate the public policy of recognizing the right to terminate employment at will (MCL 333.2401 et seq.). Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith, P.C. (by Samuel J. Frederick), for Scott Way and Jeff Legato. Young, Graham, Elsenheimer & Wendling, P.C. (by James G. Young and Dennis M. LaBelle), for Northwest Michigan Community Health Agency. Amici Curiae: Cohl, Stoker, Toskey & McGlinchey, P.C. (by Peter A. Cohl and Richard D. McNulty), for the Michigan Association of Counties and the Michigan Association for Local Public Health. Bauckham, Sparks, Lohrstorfer, Thall & Seeber, P.C. (by John H. Bauckham and Robert E. Thall), for the Michigan Townships Association. WEAVER, J. At issue in this case is whether MCL 333.2441(1) authorizes a local health department to create, and a county board of commissioners to approve, regulations that control smoking in the workplace. Additionally at issue is whether such a regulation, providing employees with a private cause of action to seek its enforcement, interferes with Michigan’s at-will employment doctrine. I. THE COURT OF APPEALS DECISION The Court of Appeals concluded that the regulation at issue is authorized by statute and was promulgated in a manner consistent with the statutory requirements. Furthermore, the Court of Appeals concluded that the private cause of action created by the regulation fits within public policy exceptions to Michigan’s at-will employment doctrine. We agree with the Court of Appeals’ conclusions. In affirming, we adopt as our own the Court of Appeals’ opinion, McNeil v Charlevoix Co, 275 Mich App 686; 741 NW2d 27 (2007): In this action for declaratory relief, plaintiffs appeal as of right the trial court’s order denying their motion for summary disposition. We affirm. I. BASIC FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Defendant Northwest Michigan Community Health Agency (NMCHA) is a multicounty district health department organized by Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet, and Otsego counties under Part 24 of the Public Health Code (PHC), MCL 333.2401 et seq. In purported furtherance of its duty to protect the public health and welfare in its district, the NMCHA promulgated what it entitled the Public Health Indoor Air Regulation of 2005 (the regulation). In addition to prohibiting smoking in all public places, the regulation requires employers who do not wholly prohibit smoking at an enclosed place of employment to designate an NMCHA-approved smoking room, which is required by the regulation to be “a separate enclosed area that is independently ventilated so that smoke does not enter other non-smoking areas of the worksite.” The regulation additionally prohibits an employer from discharging, refusing to hire, or otherwise retaliating against an employee for exercising his or her right to the smoke-free environment afforded by the regulation. After the regulation was approved by each of the four counties, plaintiffs, each of whom resides or operates a business within defendant Charlevoix County, brought this action to invalidate the regulation by judicial declaration that the NMCHA was without authority to promulgate such a regulation and that the regulation itself was preempted by Part 126 of the PHC, MCL 333.12601 et seq., which prohibits smoking in buildings used by the public except in designated areas. In seeking summary disposition on these grounds, plaintiffs argued that nothing in Part 126 of the PHC, which is also known as the Michigan Clean Indoor Air Act (MCIAA), authorizes a local health department to enforce or augment the smoking restrictions set by the MCIAA. Plaintiffs further argued that § 12605 of the MCIAA, MCL 333.12605, grants owners and operators of public places the discretion to choose whether to maintain a smoking section or remain smoke-free, and that this discretion to permit smoking in public places constitutes a statutorily conferred right that a local health department cannot annul by regulation. Moreover, plaintiffs argued, where the owner or operator of a public place chooses to have a designated smoking area, § 12605 requires only that existing physical barriers and ventilation be used to minimize the toxic effects of smoking. Thus, insofar as the NMCHA regulation requires that smoking be restricted to a separate, enclosed area with independent ventilation, it conflicts with the MCIAA and must be found to be invalid Citing this Court’s decision in Michigan Restaurant Ass’n v City of Marquette, 245 Mich App 63; 626 NW2d 418 (2001), plaintiffs further asserted that smoking is an issue better suited to regulation on a statewide basis, and that local regulation must therefore yield to the preemptive provisions of the MCIAA. Plaintiffs additionally argued that, to the extent the regulation impinges on the common-law right of an employer to discharge an employee at will, the regulation violates public policy and is void. The trial court, however, disagreed and denied plaintiffs’ motion. This appeal followed. II. ANALYSIS Plaintiffs assert that the trial court erred in denying their motion for summary disposition. In doing so, plaintiffs again argue that the NMCHA lacked the authority to promulgate regulations restricting smoking and that local regulation was, in any event, preempted by the MCIAA. We disagree. A. STANDARD OF REVIEW Resolution of the questions presented on appeal requires the interpretation of statutes, which is a question of law that this Court reviews de novo. See Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners v Ferndale, 256 Mich App 401, 405; 662 NW2d 864 (2003). When interpreting a statute, this Court’s goal is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the Legislature by applying the plain language of the statute. Gladych v New Family Homes, Inc, 468 Mich 594, 597; 664 NW2d 705 (2003). B. OVERVIEW OF THE MICHIGAN CLEAN INDOOR AIR ACT The MCIAA, enacted in 1986 as Part 126 of the PHC, prohibits smoking “in a public place or at a meeting of a public body, except in a designated smoking area.” MCL 333.12603. Although seemingly broad in scope, “public place,” as defined by the MCIAA, renders the act inapplicable to most private-sector workplaces and public areas that are not themselves enclosed. See MCL 333.12601(m). Also exempt from the requirements of the act are food service establishments, MCL 333.12603(3), private educational facilities “after regularly scheduled school hours,” MCL 333.12603(4), and enclosed private rooms or offices occupied exclusively by a smoker, “even if the room or enclosed office may be visited by a nonsmoker,” MCL 333.12601(2). Further, the MCIAA expressly does not apply to “a room, hall, or building used for a private function if the seating arrangements are under the control of the sponsor of the function and not under the control of the state or local government agency or the person who owns or operates the room, hall, or building.” MCL 333.12603(2). In all other public places in which smoking is not “prohibited by law,” the MCIAA permits a “person who owns or operates a public place” to designate a smoking area. MCL 333.12605(1). In those public places in which an owner or operator elects to designate a smoking area, the act requires that “existing physical barriers and ventilation systems shall be used to minimize the toxic effect of smoke in both smoking and adjacent nonsmoking areas.” MCL 333.12605(1). The act further requires that seating within the public place be arranged “to provide, as nearly as practicable, a smoke-free area,” MCL 333.12607(b), and that the owner or operator develop, implement, and enforce “a written policy for the separation of smokers and nonsmokers which provides, at a minimum,” for a procedure to receive, investigate, and take action on complaints, and that ensures that nonsmokers will be located closest to the source of fresh air and that special consideration will be given to individuals with a hypersensitivity to tobacco smoke, MCL 333.12605(3); see also MCL 333.12607(c). C. AUTHORITY OF THE NMCHA TO PROMULGATE SMOKING REGULATIONS In challenging the validity of the regulation promulgated by the NMCHA, plaintiffs assert that nothing in Part 126 of the PHC authorizes a local health department to enforce or augment the smoking restrictions set by the MCIAA. Plaintiffs argue that, pursuant to MCL 333.12613, implementation and enforcement of the act and rules promulgated thereunder is a power within the exclusive province of the Michigan Department of Community Health. Plaintiffs’ argument in this regard, however, is not sustained by the plain language of § 12613(2) of Part 126, which expressly provides that “the department may authorize a local health department to enforce this part and the rules promulgated under this part.” MCL 333.12613(2). Moreover, even if the responsibility for the implementation and enforcement of the restrictions established by Part 126 had been exclusively granted to the Department of Community Health, that would not, by itself, deny a local health department the authority to promulgate, implement, and enforce similar regulations of its own making. As previously noted, Part 24 of the PHC authorizes the creation of local health departments such as the NMCHA. See MCL 333.2415 and 333.2421. Pursuant to § 2433 of Part 24, such departments are charged with the duty to “continually and diligently endeavor to prevent disease, prolong life, and promote the public health through organized programs, including prevention and control of environmental health hazards; prevention and control of diseases; prevention and control of health problems of particularly vulnerable population groups; development of health care facilities and health services delivery systems; and regulation of health care facilities and health services delivery systems to the extent provided by law. [MCL 333.2433(1).]” The regulation at issue is consistent with these duties and is authorized to be promulgated by the NMCHA under §§ 2435 and 2441 of Part 24, which provide that a local health department may “[a]dopt regulations to properly safeguard the public health,” MCL 333.2435(d), or regulations that “are necessary or appropriate to implement or carry out the duties or functions vested by law in the local health department,” MCL 333.2441(1). See also MCL 333.2433(2)(a) (which provides that a local health department “shall... [implement and enforce' laws for which responsibility is vested in the local health department”). As argued by defendants, the only limitation placed by the Legislature on the promulgation and adoption of such regulations is that they “be at least as stringent as the standard established by state law applicable to the same or similar subject matter.” MCL 333.2441(1). The regulation at issue here, being more restrictive than the standards set by the MCIAA, meets this requirement We recognize plaintiffs’ argument that, under a plain reading of § 2433(1), the fulfillment of the duties imposed by that section on local health departments is arguably limited to the institution of programs. The section must, however, be read in context and in light of the purpose of both Part 24 and the PHC in general. See Macomb Co Prosecuting Attorney v Murphy, 464 Mich 149, 159; 627 NW2d 247 (2001). As noted earlier, MCL 333.2435(d) expressly grants a local health department authority to “[ajdopt regulations to properly safeguard the public health.” Plaintiffs assert that the Legislature has also granted local health departments more specific powers. However, that does not lessen the general duty and authority of those agencies to protect the public health, MCL 333.2433(
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