When Sybaritic Inc., general counsel Brian Kidwell alerted senior management to suspected illegal activity at his company, he knew the news could come back to hurt him. Before making the report, he even researched the law on whistleblowers to see what protections he might have if the company retaliated, according to his testimony later at trial.
Yet on June 24, after a four-year legal saga, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied Kidwell whistleblower protection in his wrongful discharge suit against the company. He was simply fulfilling the duties of his job as in-house counsel, the court found.
