Can Employer Fire You for Self-Defense on the Job?

A short excerpt from Monday's long decision of the Colorado Supreme Court in Moreno v. Circle K Stores, Inc. , written by Justice Maria Berkenkotter:

Seventy-two-year-old Mary Ann Moreno … sued her employer, Circle K Stores, Inc. … for wrongful termination. She asserted that she was fired for lawfully exercising her right to self-defense after she was cornered by an armed robber during one of her shifts and that her termination violated Colorado public policy….

This court first recognized a public-policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine in Martin Marietta Corp. v. Lorenz (Colo. 1992). There, we identified a number of circumstances under which an at-will employee may bring a claim for wrongful discharge: if the employee was terminated for (1) refusing to engage in an illegal act, (2) performing a public duty, or (3) exercising an important job-related right or privilege. To serve as the basis for such a claim, the right must be clearly expressed, sufficiently public, and granted to workers….

This case requires us to decide if the right to self-defense, established either by section 18-1-704, C.R.S. (2025) ("section 704"), or by article II, section 3 of the Colorado Constitution ("article II, section 3"), meets the test we articulated in Martin Marietta . In answering the certified question, we first determine that both the statute and the constitutional provision clearly express the boundaries and extent of the right to self-defense based on their explicit language and the extensive and well-defined body of case law regarding self-defense.

Next, we decide that the right to self-defense is inherently a public right, rather than an individual proprietary right, because it is an essential, inalienable right guaranteed to all people. Finally, we conclude that the right to self-defense, as expressed by both the statute and the constitutional provision, is a right that is job-related insofar as the need to exercise the right to defend oneself from an unprovoked attack can occur anywhere, including at work.

While we conclude that this is a right granted to all people that is not left at the door simply because a person enters the workplace, we emphasize that the scope of the exception that we recognize today is narrow. It is limited, importantly, to self-defense as an essential, inalienable right. And, critically, the exception applies only when an employee lawfully exercises the right in response to an unprovoked attack at work.

It is also important to understand what this case is not about. The certified question asks us only to answer if an exception exists. We are not called on to decide whether Circle K's policy bars its employees from acting in self-defense—as Moreno claims—or whether the policy simply prohibits employees from confronting shoplifters—as Circle K claims. We also need not decide if Moreno acted in self-defense or if Circle K fired Moreno for defending herself. We offer no opinion on any of those matters….

Moreno was working at Circle K one evening when Tyler Wimmer approached the register holding several items, including two hunting knives. He placed the knives on the U-shaped counter that separated him from Moreno. After Wimmer told Moreno to get him a pack of cigarettes, Moreno asked what brand he wanted and retrieved them from the display case behind her. When Moreno began to ring up the cigarettes, Wimmer said something to the effect of, "[J]ust give them to me for free." Moreno refused.

Wimmer then picked up the knives and began to walk around the counter. Moreno twice told Wimmer, "[D]on't come back here." Undeterred, and with knives in hand, Wimmer continued to approach. When Moreno was within Wimmer's reach, Moreno extended her arms. In Moreno's telling, she instinctively did this to defend herself and to prevent Wimmer from coming closer to her. Wimmer grabbed a pack of cigarettes, left the store, and was subsequently arrested for armed robbery. {Later, Wimmer pleaded guilty to menacing with a deadly weapon.}

Circle K terminated Moreno for violating its "Don't Chase or Confront" policy. The policy instructs employees not to "confront[,] follow, pursue, track, chase, fight[,] or follow" any customer suspected of shoplifting. Moreno sued Circle K in state court, claiming, in pertinent part, that she was wrongfully discharged in violation of Colorado public policy because she was exercising her right to self-defense and trying to protect herself from being attacked.

{As previously noted, the only issue before us is the purely legal one set forth in the certified question. Moreno contends that Circle K's "Don't Chase or Confront" policy prohibits its employees from exercising their right to self-defense. Circle K contends it does not. It asserts that the company's policy aims to prevent employees from provoking encounters with shoplifters and placing themselves in situations where self-defense is necessary. For the reasons we have already explained, we express no opin…