Sullivan

Delta Air Lines, Inc., (Delta) appeals from a judgment entered on a jury verdict awarding damages to Joseph A. Sullivan (Sullivan) for wrongful termination in violation of the public policy found in Labor Code section 1025 of the Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Act (ADRA) (Lab. Code, § 1025 et seq.), for violation of section 1025, and for tortious intrusion into privacy. In the published portion of the opinion, we hold that a violation of section 1025 cannot support a cause of action for tortious wrongful termination. In the unpublished portion, we hold that Sullivan did not exhaust his administrative remedies as required before making a direct claim under section 1025, and that the claim for intrusion into privacy was filed after the one-year statute of limitations had run. Consequently, the judgment must be reversed.

Factual and Procedural Background

Sullivan was employed by Delta until his discharge in 1991. In the two years before his discharge, Sullivan struggled with alcohol and drug abuse and was diagnosed as HIV positive. With Delta’s financial support, Sullivan participated in two successive, progressively more intensive inpatient alcohol rehabilitation…