Bahl

Plaintiff Asha Bahl filed suit against defendant Bank of America on various causes of action arising out of the termination of her employment and defendant’s alleged use of her check imprinting idea without compensating her. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff requested a continuance because discovery was still ongoing; e.g., transcripts of depositions essential to justify opposition had not yet been received from the court reporter, and defendant produced over 600 pages of documentation after plaintiff filed her opposition to the motion. The court denied the requests for continuance and granted the motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff’s right to a jury trial was infringed when the trial court refused a continuance. Public policy dictates that disposition on the merits be favored over judicial efficiency. We reverse and remand.

I

Facts

Plaintiff was employed as a bank teller at Security Pacific National Bank. Security Pacific had an idea exchange program, which provided cash awards for original ideas that resulted in monetary savings to Security Pacific. On February 20, 1991, plaintiff submitted an idea to the program. Her idea was to use a…