Bryоn MERRITT, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. EDSON EXPRESS, INC., Defendant and Appellee.
No. 16235.
Supreme Court of South Dakota.
Decided March 15, 1989.
437 N.W.2d 528
Considered on Briefs Dec. 1, 1988.
Patrick Duffy and Rebecca A. McMahon of Bangs, McCullen, Butler, Foye & Simmons, Rapid City, for defendant and appellee.
WUEST, Chief Justice.
Bryon Merritt appeals from a summary judgment dismissing his action for wrongful disсharge. We affirm.
FACTS
Edson Express, Inc. (Employer), is a Wyoming trucking company which has a terminal in Rapid City, South Dakota. In December of 1985, Employer established a new route from Rapid City to Billings, Montаna. Drivers for this route would be stationed in Rapid City. At the same time, Merritt wanted to relocate from Billings to Rapid City if he could find the “right type of job.” Merritt applied for a job with Employer at its Rapid City office and was hired to be a truck driver on the Rapid City-Billings route. There was no written employment contract or specified term of employment, and Employer has no emрloyee handbook or other company policies relating to the discharge of employees.
According to Merritt, the terminal manager who hired him told him “the job was here fоr as long as you want it.” Merritt‘s understanding of this statement was that “as long as I like Edson, they like me, I have got a position.” The application form completed and signed by Merritt contains the following language:
“It is agreed and understood that this application for employment in no way obligates the employer to employ me; and it is understood that if
hired, I may be on a prоbationary period during which I may be discharged without recourse.”
The terminal manager testified that Employer‘s standard probationary period is 90 days, although there is no written policy establishing a specific time period and the application did not state the length of the probationary period.
Shortly after Merritt was hired, Employer‘s Rapid City-Billings route began exрeriencing problems. Employer decided to restructure the route, which resulted in the elimination of Merritt‘s position. Merritt was discharged 88 days after he began working for Employer.
Merritt filed suit fоr wrongful discharge, claiming Employer assured him the job was “permanent—as long as you want it.” Merritt sought damages of $75,000 for breach of employment contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; $25,000 for emotional distress; and $150,000 in punitive damages. Employer filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted by the trial court on the grounds that Merritt was an at-will еmployee. The trial court ruled that alleged oral promises of permanent employment could not give rise to a position for the rest of Merritt‘s life.
ISSUE
Did the trial court err in dismissing Merritt‘s аction on the grounds that he was an at-will employee?
DECISION
Merritt argues that summary judgment was improper since there are two questions of fact in this case: 1) whether there was an oral сontract of employment which gave him a job for as long as he wanted it, thereby limiting Employer‘s authority to discharge him without good cause, and 2) whether Employer‘s probationary period affected Employer‘s authority to discharge him without cause. Merritt contends that the representations made by Employer‘s agent are more than sufficient evidence of an express agreement between the parties to justify submission of the case to a jury. We disagree.
Despite an ever increasing number of challenges, the employment-at-will doctrine is still the law in South Dakota.
There are exceptions, however, to the at-will doctrine. In Osterkamp v. Alkota Mfg., Inc., 332 N.W.2d 275 (S.D.1983), this court upheld a verdict for thе plaintiff in a wrongful discharge action when the employer failed to follow its own termination rules set forth in the employee handbook. In Larson v. Kreiser‘s, supra, this court ruled that an employee should have the opportunity to prove at trial the existence of specific oral promises by the employer that the employee would become president of the company. And in Johnson v. Kreiser‘s, Inc., 433 N.W.2d 225 (S.D.1988), we adopted a narrow public policy exception to the at-will doctrine: an employee has a cause of action for wrongful discharge when the emрloyer discharges him in retaliation for his refusal to commit a criminal or unlawful act.
In the present case there was no written contract, no specified term of employment, аnd no employee handbook. Therefore, the Osterkamp exception is not applicable. The alleged oral promise made
Our ruling is consistent with the decisions of оther courts which have addressed this issue. It is usually held that a promise of lifetime or permanent employment will be interpreted as indefinite and terminable at-will in the absence of some executed consideration in addition to the services being rendered. Corum v. Farm Credit Services, 628 F.Supp. 707 (D.Minn.1986); Wolfe v. Graether, 389 N.W.2d 643 (Iowa 1986); Hillesland v. Federal Land Bank, 407 N.W.2d 206 (N.D.1987); Annot., Validity and Duration of Contract Purporting to be for Permanent Employment, 60 A.L.R.3d 226 (1974). Merritt fails to show the existence оf any such additional consideration in this case. Consequently, he was an at-will employee and any argument about a 90 day probationary period is irrelevant. We have examinеd Merritt‘s other contentions and find them to be without merit.
Affirmed.
MORGAN, HENDERSON and MILLER, JJ., concur.
SABERS, J., dissents.
SABERS, Justice (dissenting).
This is another employment termination case in which the evidence is being viewed most favorably to the moving party, the employer, аnd against the non-moving party, the employee. This is contrary to all of the major South Dakota cases on summary judgment. Groseth International, Inc. v. Tenneco, Inc., 410 N.W.2d 159 (S.D.1987); Wilson v. Great Northern Railway, 83 S.D. 207, 157 N.W.2d 19 (1968).
For the purpose of summary judgment, the evidence must be viewed most favorably to the non-moving party. In viewing this evidence most favorably to Merritt, he was hired by the terminal manager who told him “the job was here for as long as you want it.” In reliance upon the hiring, Merritt moved himself and his family from Billings, Montana to Rapid City, South Dakota because drivers for this route would be stationed in Rapid City.
The employer claimed its Rapid City-Billings route began experienсing problems shortly after Merritt was hired. The employer decided to restructure the route, which resulted in the elimination of Merritt‘s position. Merritt was discharged eighty-eight days after he began working for employer. The terminal manager testified that employer‘s standard probationary period is ninety days, although there is no written policy establishing a specific time period and the application did not state the fact or the length of the probationary period.
The printed language of the application form stated: “... it is understood that if hired, I mаy be on a probationary period during which I may be discharged without recourse.” Merritt concedes that the printed language of the application form provided that emрloyment may be subject to a probationary period, but insists that there was no probationary period in his case.
Merritt also claims that the employer did not give the Rapid City-Billings route sufficient time to become successful, and that employer‘s decision to restructure the route was a pretense to eliminate Merritt‘s position. This claim is somewhat speculative. However, Merritt testified that he would have been willing to move back to Billings when the route was changed.
As the Michigan Supreme Court stated in Toussaint v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield, 408 Mich. 579, 292 N.W.2d 880 (1980), nu
- Whether the conversations between an employer and an employee rise to the level of an agreement for a contract of employment which could be terminable only for cause.
- The length and nature of the contract between the employer and the employee.
- The existence of a probationary period, if any.
- If a prоbationary period was involved, whether Merritt‘s conduct satisfied conditions of probation.
- Whether Merritt relied on statements of Edson in moving his family to Rapid City from Billings.
All of these questions present genuine issues of material fact and are sufficient to preclude summary judgment in this action. Breen v. Dakota Gear & Joint Co., Inc., 433 N.W.2d 221, 224 (S.D.1988) (Sabers, J., dissenting); Blote v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan, 422 N.W.2d 834, 838 (S.D.1988) (Sabers, J., dissenting); Groseth, supra; Wilson, supra.
In addition, termination on the eighty-eighth day of a ninety-day probationary period without any reference to Merritt‘s work performance, may violate the employer‘s obligation of good faith and fair dealing. See my special writings in Butterfield v. Citibank, 437 N.W.2d 857, 860 (S.D.1989); Breen, supra; Johnson v. Kreiser‘s, Inc., 433 N.W.2d 225, 228 (S.D.1988); French v. Dell Rapids Community Hospital, 432 N.W.2d 285, 292 (S.D.1988); Larson v. Kreiser‘s, Inc., 427 N.W.2d 833, 835 (S.D.1988); Blote, supra.