Fox v. T-H Continental Ltd. Partnership

• Decision Date: 14 March 1996
• Docket Number: T-H,No. 95-2660,95-2660
• Citation: 78 F.3d 409
• Parties: 11 IER Cases 988 Judy L. FOX, Appellee, v.CONTINENTAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 409

78 F.3d 409

11 IER Cases 988

Judy L. FOX, Appellee, v. T-H CONTINENTAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Appellant.

No. 95-2660.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Dec. 11, 1995.

Decided March 14, 1996.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota; David S. Doty, Judge.

James P. Gillece, Baltimore, Maryland, argued (Laura J. Davis, on the brief), for appellant.

Donald Sidney Arbour, Minneapolis, Minnesota, argued, for appellee.

Before BOWMAN and LOKEN, Circuit Judges, and SCHWARZER, ^* District Judge.

BOWMAN, Circuit Judge.

This case involves the doctrine of promissory estoppel. The controlling substantive law is that of Minnesota. Judy L. Fox sued her former employer, T-H Continental Limited Partnership, after she was terminated from her position as director of sales at the Mall of America Days Inn in Bloomington, Minnesota. Her complaint against T-H asserted claims of sex discrimination, age discrimination, breach of contract, and promissory estoppel. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of T-H on the sex and age discrimination claims, but denied summary judgment on the breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims. The case then proceeded to trial on the latter claims. The jury found for T-H on Fox's breach of contract claim, but found that Fox was entitled to prevail on her promissory estoppel claim, and returned a verdict in her favor of $46,527.00, to which the District Court added prejudgment interest. The court denied T-H's post-judgment motion for judgment as a matter of law or, alternatively, for a new trial or to amend the judgment. T-H timely appeals, claiming that the District Court erred in denying its motion for judgment as a matter of law. We agree with T-H and now reverse. We hold that Fox failed to make a submissible case on her promissory estoppel claim and therefore that T-H's motion for judgment as a matter of law should have been granted.

I.

Fox began working for Tollman-Hundley Hotels ¹ in 1989. She was promoted several times and, by early 1992, was general manager of a hotel in Denver, Colorado. In February 1992, after Tollman-Hundley sold the hotel where Fox was employed, she was told that her job soon would be terminated. During the next two weeks, Fox was involved in tying up loose ends in the hotel transfer when she was contacted by Tom Wilson, T-H's vice-president for sales and marketing. Wilson asked Fox to join T-H as temporary director of sales at the Mall of America Days Inn. Under the terms of this interim employment agreement, Fox would receive a base salary plus commissions on rooms booked by her sales department. In addition, because the position was only temporary, T-H would allow Fox to live in the hotel, to rent a car as needed, and to be reimbursed for weekend trips back to Colorado every three weeks. Fox was told that permanent employment was conditioned on her satisfactory performance in the temporary position and a successful interview with the new general manager who had not yet been hired. Fox accepted the temporary position and began her new job on March 15, 1992. She worked as a temporary employee for the next three and one-half months. Paul Hitselberger was eventually hired as the new general manager and he offered Fox a permanent position as director of sales in June 1992.

The terms of Fox's permanent employment were negotiated over a period of months. In a June 30, 1992 memorandum, Hitselberger detailed the terms of T-H's offer of permanent employment. Under this offer, Fox's base salary and commission formula were to remain the same as her temporary position. But, because this was a permanent position, T-H told Fox that she would have to obtain her own housing, provide her own local transportation, and pay for all personal travel back to Colorado. Hitselberger explicitly stated in the memorandum that this was a "permanent position" and that he hoped Fox would "commit to a long term position." Memorandum from Hitselberger to Fox (June 30, 1992), at 1, 2. Fox was told that "with no real stretch, there is in excess of $18,000 in available commissions waiting to be earned," and, because the hotel was a "high profile property," Fox would have an opportunity to do well "both financially and professionally, by turning [the hotel] around." Id. at 2. Although Hitselberger expressed his enthusiasm for a successful employment relationship with Fox, the memorandum contained no provisions on job security and there was no promise of continued employment terminable only for cause.

In late summer, Fox advised Hitselberger that she would accept the permanent position, but the issue of reimbursement of moving expenses remained unresolved. Fox and Hitselberger had several discussions throughout the late summer concerning payment of relocation expenses. During these discussions, Hitselberger learned that Fox was considering other employment opportunities. He told Fox to stop pursuing these other employment opportunities. Hitselberger apparently was concerned that Fox would move to Minnesota at T-H's expense and then accept employment elsewhere. Consequently, Hitselberger advised Fox that T-H would pay for the moving expenses only if Fox made a written commitment to stay in the director of sales position at least three months after relocation or repay the moving expenses if she left within three months of her move. On October 7, 1992, Fox executed a written unilateral agreement committing to these terms:

This will confirm my intention to remain with Tollman-Hundley Hotels for a minimum of three months from the date of my move.

I realize that the company is going to considerable expense to pay my moving expenses and I agree to reimburse them for these expenses should I leave prior to three months after I move or if I am terminated due to theft or dishonesty.

It is certainly my intention to remain with the company for much longer than the above three months. I have enjoyed being employed by Tollman-Hundley for over three years and am looking forward to a continued long term relationship.

/s/ Judy Fox

Memorandum from Fox to Hitselberger (Oct. 7, 1992), at 1.

No one at T-H made any representations as to the duration of Fox's continued employment. In fact, at the time Fox executed this unilateral agreement, she asked Hitselberger whether he would guarantee her three months of employment. Undisputed trial testimony revealed that the following conversation occurred between Fox and Hitselberger:

She said, "Will you guarantee me three months?" And I said, "I can't guarantee you any time at all you know that." And then she laughed and said, "Well, it was worth a try."

Trans. Vol. II at 251.

While serving as director of sales, Fox and her department exceeded budgeted sales targets in nearly all categories. She also successfully negotiated a lucrative contract with United Airlines for flight crew rooms. If she had not been terminated, Fox would have received substantial commissions from the United contract. Despite the fact that Fox exceeded her sales targets in many areas, T-H maintains that she "exhibited persistent performance problems and unprofessional behavior." Appellant's Br. at 5. On many occasions, Ms. Fox failed to follow up on outside sales call reports brought in by her sales staff. The hotel was plagued by overbookings and improper utilization of the group rooms control log, which was designed to curtail this problem. ² Hotel management also felt that Fox did not manage or motivate junior members of the sales staff adequately. Indeed, Fox's sales staff complained to hotel management about mistreatment by Fox as well as her unprofessional behavior in front of customers. In addition, Fox failed to submit accurate, legible, and timely reports in accordance with hotel requirements. Fox even admitted that she was counseled by her supervisors on several occasions about these problems and received written admonitions on at least two occasions. Trans. Vol. II at 62-63, 66-70, 73; Memorandum from Hitselberger to Fox (Sept. 22, 1992), at 1 (first written warning); Memorandum from Miley to Fox (Nov. 30, 1992), at 1 (second written warning). T-H terminated Fox's employment on December 11, 1992. This lawsuit was filed a short time later.

II.

We review de novo the denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law, applying the same standards as the district court. National Farmers Union Standard Ins. Co. v. Souris River Tel. Mutual Aid Coop., 75 F.3d 1268, 1272-73 (8th Cir. 1996). A motion for judgment as a matter of law presents a legal question to the district court, in the first instance, and to this Court on review: "whether there is sufficient evidence to support a jury verdict." White v. Pence, 961 F.2d 776, 779 (8th Cir.1992). Judgment as a matter of law is proper when the nonmoving party has not offered sufficient evidence "to support a jury verdict in his or her favor." Abbott v. City of Crocker, 30 F.3d 994, 997 (8th Cir.1994). In making our determination, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, giving that party the benefit of all favorable inferences that reasonably can be drawn from the evidence. Id. This Court will not set aside a jury's verdict lightly, Nicks v. Missouri, 67 F.3d 699, 704 (8th cir.1995), nor will we "engage in a weighing or evaluation of the evidence or consider questions of credibility," Keenan v. Computer Assocs. Int'l, Inc., 13 F.3d 1266, 1268-69 (8th Cir.1994). We conclude that Fox failed to present sufficient evidence at trial to withstand T-H's motion.

In Minnesota, the "usual employer-employee relationship is terminable at the will of either" party. Cederstrand v. Lutheran Bhd., 263 Minn. 520, 117 N.W.2d 213, 221 (1962). This means that the employer can summarily dismiss an employee for any reason or no reason at all, and similarly the employee is under no obligation to remain on the job. Corum v. Farm Credit Servs., 628 F.Supp....