Palmateer v. International Harvester Co.

Defendant International Harvester Company (IH) appeals the grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff, Ray Palmateer (Palmateer). We reverse.

Palmateer brought this action against IH alleging retaliatory discharge. The gravamen of the complaint is that IH fired Palmateer, an at-will employee, for cooperating with the police in investigating a possible theft suspect. An earlier motion to dismiss was granted by the trial court and affirmed by this court. (Palmateer v. International Harvester Co. (1980), 85 Ill. App. 3d 50, 406 N.E.2d 595.) The supreme court reversed, finding that the…