Forrest Perkins v. Memorial Hospital of South Bend

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court reversed summary judgment for Memorial Hospital and remanded because the record did not establish that Perkins voluntarily testified at an unemployment hearing rather than acting under an actual or constructive legal duty. The Court held that testimony compelled by subpoena or other statutory duty is protected by the public-policy exception to employment at will, and that Perkins’s attendance could constitute a reasonable attempt to cooperate with service despite the absence of a physical subpoena. The Court did not create a broad exception for voluntary witness testimony or for reasonable mistakes of fact.