Jarboe v. Landmark Community Newspapers of Indiana, Inc., 62A04-9212-CV-454

• Docket Nº: No. 62A04-9212-CV-454
• Citation: 625 N.E.2d 1291
• Case Date: December 21, 1993
• Court: Court of Appeals of Indiana

Page 1291

625 N.E.2d 1291 Tearle J. JARBOE, Appellant-Plaintiff,
v.
LANDMARK COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS OF INDIANA, INC., and News
Publishing Company, Inc., Barbara Friedman, Individually and
in her capacity as General Manager of News Publishing
Company, Inc., Appellees-Defendants. No. 62A04-9212-CV-454. ¹ Court of Appeals of Indiana,
First District. Dec. 21, 1993.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 28, 1994.

Page 1292

Michael C. Kendall, Kendall Law Office, Indianapolis, for appellant-plaintiff.

Richard A. Bierly, Barbara W. Gernert, Wyatt, Tarrant, Combs & Orbison, New Albany, for appellees-defendants.

BAKER, Judge.

Today we decide whether a person who has an oral employment contract unenforceable under Indiana's Statute of Frauds may pursue a wrongful discharge claim under the doctrine of promissory estoppel.

Appellant-plaintiff Tearle J. Jarboe (Jarboe) challenges the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of appellee-defendants Landmark Community Newspaper of Indiana and News Publishing Co. (collectively Landmark) in an action for unjust dismissal in breach of a one-year oral employment contract. ²

FACTS ³

The facts most favorable to Jarboe are the Tell City News and Cannelton News

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hired Jarboe as a full-time employee in the advertising composition department in November 1972. At that time, the general manager told Jarboe that he had a one-year employment contract, that he would be discharged for good cause only, that he would be reviewed every year, that if his performance was satisfactory he would have a secure job for another year, and that if his performance was unsatisfactory, he would be placed on probation for 30 to 60 days after which he would be retained or fired. Although the manager evaluated Jarboe on approximately an annual basis, the reviews were not performed on Jarboe's November anniversary or any other specified date. The time period for annual reviews ranged from eight to fourteen months. The parties never executed a written contract incorporating their oral agreement.

In 1977, Landmark Community Newspaper, the parent of the defendant Landmark, purchased the Tell City News and Cannelton News and renamed the paper The News. At this time, Landmark told Jarboe that the terms of his employment would remain the same. Landmark continued to evaluate Jarboe the same as before, on approximately an annual basis. Each year Jarboe received a favorable review. However, the parties never executed a written employment agreement.

In 1981 and in 1984, Jarboe requested leaves of absence from Landmark in order to have orthoscopic surgery on his knee. Each time, Jarboe told Landmark that he did not know how long he would be absent from work, yet Landmark granted each leave and told Jarboe that his job would await his return. Jarboe relied on Landmark's promises and had the surgeries. Jarboe returned to his same job after approximately five months of leave in 1981 and after approximately four months of leave in 1984.

On May 5, 1988, Jarboe's surgeon, Dr. James Heinrich, advised him that he needed a total knee replacement to relieve his pain caused by severe degenerative arthritis. Dr. Heinrich expected Jarboe would be unable to work for approximately three months.

The next day Jarboe relayed his surgeon's diagnosis to Landmark's general manager, Barbara Friedman. Friedman responded by telling Jarboe to take off work as long as he needed because his health was the most important thing and that when Jarboe returned to work he would be healthier and better able to perform his job. Friedman further assured Jarboe that he would be able to return to his same job whenever he was able to return to work. ⁴ Relying on Friedman's promises, Jarboe decided to have knee surgery on June 6, 1988, instead of waiting until he could build up more sick leave.

On July 28, 1988, while Jarboe was home recuperating, Friedman unexpectedly informed Jarboe that Landmark would keep his job open only until September 6, 1988, and that if he did not return by then he would be replaced. ⁵ Jarboe objected and reminded Friedman that she had promised to keep his job open until he was medically able to return to work. In the interim, Jarboe did everything possible to rehabilitate his knee hoping to return to work in September. However, on September 7, 1988, Dr. Heinrich advised Jarboe that he could not return to work for approximately three months. That same day Jarboe advised Friedman of his prognosis. Friedman

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responded by informing Jarboe that she would have to replace him.

Jarboe's last performance evaluation on September 8, 1987, was extremely favorable. Jarboe's next evaluation was scheduled for July 1988, but was never conducted since he was on medical leave until September when Landmark fired him. Dr. Heinrich did not medically release Jarboe to return to work until December 7, 1988.

On September 6, 1990, Jarboe filed a complaint against Landmark for damages resulting from his unjust dismissal in breach of his oral one-year contract of employment. On November 13, 1992, the trial court granted Landmark's motion for summary judgment.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

I. Standard of Review

When reviewing the propriety of a grant of summary judgment we apply the same standard applicable to the trial...