Gardner v. Loomis Armored, Inc.

Gardner (plaintiff), an armored-car guard for Loomis (defendant), was under strict company policy never to leave the truck unattended. When he saw a bank manager fleeing a knife-wielding attacker, Gardner left his truck to help, then followed the attacker into the bank and helped disarm him after the attacker grabbed another victim. Loomis fired Gardner for violating the unattended-vehicle rule, and Gardner sued for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy; the federal district court certified the underlying public-policy question to the Washington Supreme Court.