Nakai

*36 INTRODUCTION

For over 20 years, plaintiff Orlando Nakai (Orlando 1 ) was employed by Friendship House Association of American Indians, Inc. (Friendship House), a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program providing treatment services to Native Americans. His employment was terminated by the program's CEO, who also happened to be his mother-in-law, after his wife informed the CEO that Orlando had a gun and was angry at Friendship House employees and she had obtained a restraining order. Orlando then filed this action for wrongful termination, claiming discrimination on the basis of his marital status and that Friendship House had failed to conduct a reasonable investigation prior to discharging him. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, ruling Orlando had failed to establish a prima facie case of marital status discrimination and failed to demonstrate his employer had a duty to investigate. We affirm.

*37 BACKGROUND

Orlando worked in Friendship House's San Francisco office, as did Helen Waukazoo (Helen), the program's CEO and Orlando's mother-in-law. Helen had begun volunteering at Friendship House when she was 19 years old. She eventually became a…