Jered L. Gibbs v. Porterville Water Association Board of Directors
2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 706
| Miss. Ct. App. | 2016Background
- Gibbs was hired Jan 29, 2014 by the Porterville Water Association Board as a class-D water operator trainee; he was not yet certified. The Board paid for his certification course, which he passed, but required ten months’ supervised work to complete certification.
- Gibbs was a U.S. Coast Guard Reservist who had sought to cancel a prior retirement request; he later retired from the Reserve, forfeiting reserve pay he would otherwise have received.
- On September 9, 2014 the State Bureau informed the Board Gibbs needed ten more months under supervision; the Board terminated Gibbs that same day. Gibbs sued for wrongful termination and claimed breach of an oral employment agreement and detrimental reliance, seeking lost wages and lost reserve income.
- The Board moved for summary judgment, submitting affidavits from board members, meeting minutes, bylaws, the personnel manual, Gibbs’s interrogatory and admission answers, and other documents. The circuit court granted summary judgment for the Board; Gibbs appealed.
- Gibbs admitted there was no written employment contract in his responses to requests for admission; he asserted an oral, open-ended employment agreement and argued estoppel based on his retirement from the Reserve in reliance on the Board’s promise.
- The trial court concluded the employment was at-will (no written contract; statute of frauds bars enforceability of an alleged oral contract for employment longer than one year) and that Gibbs’s remedy lay with unemployment compensation; summary judgment for the Board was affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether an enforceable employment contract existed (removing at-will status) | Gibbs: an oral agreement to employ him until certification created enforceable contract; he relied to his detriment | Board: no written contract; admissions show no written agreement; any oral agreement unenforceable under statute of frauds if >1 year | Held: No enforceable contract; employment was at-will and oral agreement unenforceable under statute of frauds |
| Admissibility/weight of Board affidavits, meeting minutes, and Gibbs’s interrogatory answers | Gibbs: affidavits lack proper "personal knowledge" of Board as a whole; minutes unsigned and hearsay; interrogatory answers not under oath | Board: affiants attended meeting and attested to personal knowledge; certified minutes provided to Gibbs | Held: Court considered the evidence and denied Gibbs’s motion to strike; affidavits/minutes were sufficient for summary judgment |
| Estoppel / detrimental reliance based on Gibbs’s retirement from the Reserve | Gibbs: he retired forfeiting reserve pay in reliance on Board’s promise to employ him through certification, so Board should be estopped from terminating him | Board: at-will doctrine applies; no written promise; remedy not via breach of oral contract; public policy claim not pleaded | Held: Estoppel/detrimental reliance insufficient to overcome at-will employment and statute of frauds; claim fails |
| Whether plaintiff pleaded/warranted a wrongful discharge in violation of public policy (military/reservist protection) | Gibbs: alleged wrongful and unexpected termination; argued reliance linked to military retirement | Board: termination lawful under at-will doctrine; Gibbs did not plead wrongful discharge based on protected military status | Held: Because complaint did not allege termination for a statutorily protected reason, court did not reach a public-policy wrongful discharge remedy; summary judgment affirmed |
Key Cases Cited
- Stribling v. Rushing’s, Inc., 115 So.3d 103 (Miss. Ct. App. 2013) (de novo review and Rule 56 standard on summary judgment)
- Byrne v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 877 So.2d 462 (Miss. Ct. App. 2003) (summary judgment standards)
- Moore ex rel. Moore v. Miss. Valley Gas Co., 863 So.2d 43 (Miss. 2003) (movant’s burden on summary judgment)
- Doe v. Stegall, 767 So.2d 201 (Miss. 2000) (view evidence in light most favorable to nonmoving party)
- Kelly v. Miss. Valley Gas Co., 397 So.2d 874 (Miss. 1981) (Mississippi employment-at-will doctrine)
- Perry v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 508 So.2d 1086 (Miss. 1987) (contracts define exceptions to at-will rule)
- McArn v. Allied Bruce-Terminix Co., 626 So.2d 603 (Miss. 1993) (public-policy exception to at-will termination)
- Bobbitt v. The Orchard, Ltd., 603 So.2d 356 (Miss. 1992) (employee manuals can create protections against discharge when no contrary contract exists)
- Senseney v. Miss. Power Co., 914 So.2d 1225 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005) (disclaimer in employee manual preserves at-will status)
- Davis v. Biloxi Pub. Sch. Dist., 937 So.2d 459 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005) (common law: indefinite-term employees may be discharged at will)
- Cmty. Care Ctr. of Aberdeen v. Barrentine, 160 So.3d 216 (Miss. 2015) (wrongful discharge in violation of public policy is an independent tort, not an unwritten contract)
- Galle v. Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc., 180 So.3d 619 (Miss. 2016) (at-will employees cannot be terminated for reasons that are legally impermissible)
- Cash Distrib. Co. v. Neely, 947 So.2d 286 (Miss. 2007) (burden of proof on nondiscriminatory reasons for termination)