Peterson v. State

OPINION

WINFREE, Justice.

I. INTRODUCTION

A State of Alaska employee was discharged. With union representation, the employee challenged his termination in grievance proceedings; he was unsuccessful. When he later filed suit for wrongful termination, the State subpoenaed the union representative to appear for a deposition with the union's grievance file. The superior court denied the employee's privilege-based request for a protective order. We granted the employee's petition for review to consider whether a union-relations privilege exists in Alaska. We conclude the privilege exists by…