Boone v. Frontier Refining, Inc.

• Decision Date: 20 September 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-362.,98-362.
• Citation: 987 P.2d 681
• Parties: Gary A. BOONE, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. FRONTIER REFINING, INC., Appellee (Defendant).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

987 P.2d 681

Gary A. BOONE, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. FRONTIER REFINING, INC., Appellee (Defendant).

No. 98-362.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

September 20, 1999.

Representing Appellant: Bruce S. Asay of Associated Legal Group, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee: Gary R. Scott of Hirst & Applegate, P.C., Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Before LEHMAN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, GOLDEN & HILL, JJ.

MACY, Justice.

Appellant Gary Boone filed several claims against Appellee Frontier Refining, Inc., contesting its termination of his employment. He appeals from the summary judgments which were granted in favor of Frontier Refining.

We affirm.

ISSUES

Boone presents several issues for our consideration on appeal:

ISSUE I: Were oral representations made to the Appellant at the time of his hiring, as well as other memoranda provided to the Appellant, sufficient to alter the presumption of at-will status?

ISSUE II: Did the District Court err in granting [s]ummary judgment on the issues of implied contract/promissory estoppel?

ISSUE III: Did the District Court err in granting summary judgment as to the Appellant's Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing claim?

ISSUE IV: Did the District Court err in granting summary judgment as to the Appellant's claim of Retaliatory Discharge?

ISSUE V: Did the District Court improperly ignore the Doctrine of Law of the Case?

FACTS

In November 1991, Frontier Refining offered Boone a job as a senior project engineer in its Cheyenne refinery. Boone accepted the offer, resigned from his position with another company, and moved his family from Texas to Cheyenne. During Boone's tenure at the refinery, Frontier Refining assigned him to a team which was working on a special project.

In June 1992, Boone observed a condition at the refinery which he considered to be unsafe. He reported the condition to the refinery operations person. Very shortly thereafter, an explosion and a fire occurred in the refinery. Several Reiman Construction Company employees were working in the area of the explosion. Some of those employees were injured by the explosion and the fire.

The Reiman Construction employees and/or their families commenced legal actions against Frontier Refining. Frontier Refining's managers conducted an investigation of the explosion. They spoke with Boone, and he told them about his observation and the report he had made of the unsafe condition. Boone claimed that, after he spoke with the managers about the explosion, they began to treat him differently. The Reiman Construction employees and/or their families eventually settled their disputes with Frontier Refining.

Frontier Refining conducted an appraisal of Boone's work performance on two occasions while he was employed by the company. Both performance appraisals indicated that Boone's work was less than satisfactory. Frontier Refining terminated Boone's employment on August 20, 1993, citing poor work performance as the basis for the discharge.

Boone filed a complaint against Frontier Refining on August 18, 1997, articulating claims for retaliatory discharge and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Frontier Refining filed a motion for a summary judgment, and the district court held a hearing on the motion. The district court subsequently granted a summary judgment in favor of Frontier Refining on Boone's claims and permitted Boone to amend his complaint.

Boone filed an amended complaint, alleging that Frontier Refining had breached the terms of an implied employment contract created by its employment manual. Frontier Refining filed a motion seeking a summary judgment on that claim. The district court held a hearing and initially denied Frontier Refining's motion, stating that the evidence suggested the parties may have entered into an oral contract for continued employment. Frontier Refining filed a motion for reconsideration, maintaining that it did not address the possibility that an oral contract existed because the only claim set out in Boone's amended complaint was that an implied contract arose from the employment manual. The district court reconsidered Frontier Refining's motion and granted it a summary judgment on Boone's employment manual claim. The district court again allowed Boone to amend his complaint.

Boone filed an additional amended complaint on July 31, 1998, alleging breach of an implied contract and promissory estoppel. Frontier Refining filed another motion for a summary judgment, and the district court granted that motion. Boone appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

Our standard for reviewing summary judgments is well known. A summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issue exists as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to be awarded a judgment as a matter of law. Marchant v. Cook, 967 P.2d 551, 553-54 (Wyo.1998); Covington v. W.R. Grace-Conn., Inc., 952 P.2d 1105, 1106 (Wyo. 1998); see also W.R.C.P. 52(c). The Wyoming Supreme Court evaluates the propriety of a summary judgment by employing the same standards and by using the same materials as the district court employed and used. Covington, 952 P.2d at 1106. We examine the record in the light most favorable to the party who opposed the motion for a summary judgment, and we give that party the benefit of all the favorable inferences that may be fairly drawn from the record. Id; Marchant, 967 P.2d at 554. We do not accord deference to the district court's decisions on issues of law. Ahearn v. Tri-County Federal Savings Bank, 948 P.2d 896, 897 (Wyo. 1997).

B. Nature of Employment Relationship

Boone asserts that the district court erred when it determined that he was an at-will employee and granted the summary judgments in favor of Frontier Refining on his employment contract claims. He argues that Frontier Refining made oral representations to him which changed his employment status from at-will to continued. Boone also maintains that an implied contract for continued employment arose by virtue of statements made in Frontier Refining's performance appraisal forms and its employment manual. Frontier Refining contends that the district court's decisions on Boone's employment contract claims were correct. We agree with Frontier Refining.

In Wyoming, employment relationships are presumed to be at-will. Davis v. Wyoming Medical Center, Inc., 934 P.2d 1246, 1249 (Wyo.1997); Loghry v. Unicover Corporation, 878 P.2d 510, 512 (Wyo.1994). In an at-will employment relationship, either the employer or the employee may terminate the relationship at any time, for any reason or for no reason at all. Wilder v. Cody Country Chamber of Commerce, 868 P.2d 211, 217 (Wyo.1994). The at-will presumption may be rebutted by a showing that the parties entered into an express or implied agreement which prohibited the employer from discharging the employee without just cause. Brodie v. General Chemical Corporation, 934 P.2d 1263, 1265 (Wyo.1997); Davis, 934 P.2d at 1249. Express contracts and implied contracts for continued employment are equally enforceable. Wilder, 868 P.2d at 217. An express contract for continued employment exists when the terms of the agreement are declared by the parties in writing or verbally. 868 P.2d at 216. An implied contract for continued employment is created by "a mutual agreement and intent to promise which is found in the acts or conduct of the party sought to be bound." Id. Employment contracts which are set out in employee handbooks or policies are implied contracts. 868 P.2d at 217.

We consider first Boone's claim that Frontier Refining made statements during his job interview which created an oral contract for continued employment. Boone testified at his deposition that Frontier Refining told him that he would possibly be chosen for a management or supervisory position within a short period of time after he began his employment with the company. Frontier Refining also apparently stated that Boone would receive regular performance appraisals and pay raises. Boone admitted, however, that he and Frontier Refining did not discuss why or under what circumstances his employment could be terminated.

The statements made by Frontier Refining during Boone's interview did not create a contract for continued employment. Its statement that Boone would possibly be chosen for a management position within a short period of time after his employment commenced did not rise to the level of being a promise, and it certainly did not create a contract for continued employment. Likewise, Frontier Refining's statement that Boone would receive regular performance appraisals and pay raises did not constitute a promise of job security. See Terry v. Pioneer Press, Inc., 947 P.2d 273, 276 (Wyo. 1997).

Boone also claims that he and Frontier Refining had an understanding that he would be employed as long as he accomplished the work that was expected of him. As evidence of this understanding, he points to Frontier Refining's statement that he would possibly be chosen for a management position. In Wilder, a discharged employee stated that his employer had made an explicit oral promise that he would be employed for as long as he accomplished the work that was required of him. 868 P.2d at 218. We ruled that, under the facts presented there, a disputed issue of material fact existed as to whether or not the parties had entered into an oral contract for continued employment. 868 P.2d at 218-19.

There is an important distinction between the facts of Wilder and the facts of this case. Unlike the employer in Wilder, Frontier Refining did not promise Boone that he would be employed as long as he did his job. In fact, Boone admitted that there was no discussion during his job interview about the circumstances under which his employment could be terminated. Boone simply assumed that he had job security. Boone's subjective belief that he could not be discharged unless just cause existed was insufficient...