Clint Shannon Gessner v. Southern Company

Summary

The Supreme Court of Florida resolved a certified district-court conflict over the showing required under section 448.102(3) of the private-sector Whistle-Blower's Act, holding that an employee suing under section 448.103 must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the employer's activity, policy, or practice to which he objected is, definitionally, in violation of law — neither a completed unlawful act or adjudicated violation nor a good faith, objectively reasonable belief of illegality will suffice. Reading the word 'is' in its definitional sense, the court rejected the 'actual violation' construction of the First, Second, and Fifth Districts insofar as it demands a completed act or adjudication, and rejected the Fourth District's Title VII-inspired reasonable-belief standard, approving the former decisions in part and disapproving the latter. Applying that standard, the court affirmed final summary judgment for Gulf Power and Southern Company because Gessner offered only safety complaints, his subjective beliefs, and conclusory OSHA General Duty Clause assertions he had abandoned on review. Chief Justice Muñiz concurred in the result only, writing separately to urge restraint from deciding hypothetical applications involving conduct that had not yet occurred, and Justice Labarga also concurred in the result.