Jeffers v. Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hosp., 85-205

• Decision Date: 30 May 1986
• Docket Number: No. 85-205,85-205
• Parties: , 105 Lab.Cas. P 55,651, 1 IER Cases 621 Sandra M. JEFFERS, Appellant, v. BISHOP CLARKSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, a Nebraska Corporation, Appellee.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Page 692

387 N.W.2d 692

222 Neb. 829, 105 Lab.Cas. P 55,651, 1 IER Cases 621

Sandra M. JEFFERS, Appellant, v. BISHOP CLARKSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, a Nebraska Corporation, Appellee.

No. 85-205.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

May 30, 1986.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Employment Contracts: Termination of Employment. When employment is not for a definite term, and there are no contractual or statutory restrictions upon the right of discharge, an employer may lawfully discharge an employee whenever and for whatever cause it chooses without incurring liability.

2. Employment Contracts. Simply because the employee does not have an employment contract for a specific term does not deprive her of the benefit of grievance procedures as set forth in an employee handbook.

3. Employment Contracts: Termination of Employment. Except in cases where an employee is deprived of constitutional or statutory rights or where contractual agreements guarantee that employees may not be fired without just cause, the law in this state continues to deny any implied covenant of good faith or fair dealing in employment termination.

John B. Ashford of Ashford & Bowie, P.C., Omaha, for appellant.

Andrew E. Grimm and Dale E. Bock of Nelson & Harding, Omaha, for appellee.

KRIVOSHA, C.J., and BOSLAUGH, HASTINGS, CAPORALE, SHANAHAN, and GRANT, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

This appeal arises from an order of the Douglas County District Court sustaining the appellee's demurrer and dismissing the appellant's petition. We reverse and remand.

In her petition appellant alleged that from September 1971 to July 1984 she was employed at Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). At the time of hire Jeffers was supplied with an employee handbook outlining the terms and conditions of employment and the benefits afforded Clarkson employees. The handbook also included procedures to be followed by both employee and employer in processing grievances. At the time it hired Jeffers, Clarkson also made oral representations to her with respect to her compensation.

On July 21, 1984, Clarkson nursing personnel officials discharged Jeffers after discovering that she had allegedly misrepresented to them that she had renewed her LPN license for 1984. Clarkson became aware of the status of Jeffers' LPN license after the state Board of Nursing informed the hospital that the license had not been renewed for 1984. The hospital asked Jeffers to produce her 1984 LPN license. Instead, she produced a canceled check as proof that she had renewed her LPN license for 1984. The hospital discovered that the canceled check was actually the payment for her 1983 LPN license renewal. The hospital subsequently fired Jeffers because of her alleged dishonesty in the matter.

Immediately after she was fired, Jeffers initiated a grievance action according to the procedures in the employee handbook. In a letter attached to the petition, dated August 8, 1984, Clarkson's area manager responded to the grievance by informing Jeffers that her dishonesty was the reason she was fired and denying her request for reinstatement. The letter stated that "[n]o further action will be taken in your implied grievance action unless you can validate, without question, that your LPN license was renewed and was current as of January 1, 1984."

In her petition Jeffers alleged that she was wrongfully discharged because the employee handbook and the oral representations constituted an employment contract between her and the hospital, the terms of which were not adhered to by the hospital when it fired Jeffers. Pursuant to Neb.Rev.Stat. § 25-"806(6) (Reissue 1985), the hospital generally demurred to Jeffers' petition. Clarkson argues that Jeffers' petition failed to state a cause of action because it did not allege that the employment contract prohibited the hospital from discharging her without cause, nor did it allege that Jeffers' termination was done in bad faith, with a retaliatory motive, or in violation of state law or public policy. The district court sustained the hospital's demurrer, plaintiff failed to amend her petition, and the court dismissed the petition. Jeffers appeals, assigning as her sole error the trial court's sustaining of the hospital's general demurrer and dismissing of her petition.

In reviewing the sustaining of a demurrer, this court must treat the facts alleged in the petition as undisputed. Morris v. Lutheran Medical Center, 215 Neb. 677, 340 N.W.2d 388 (1983). We consider only the facts set forth in the petition, and we do not consider extrinsic matters in determining whether a pleading states a cause of action. Heinzman v. County of Hall, 213 Neb. 268, 328 N.W.2d 764 (1983). Further, a general demurrer admits only such facts as are well pleaded and does not admit mere conclusions of the pleader. Hall v. Cox Cable of Omaha, Inc., 212 Neb. 887, 327 N.W.2d 595 (1982).

In her petition Jeffers alleges that an employment contract existed between her and the hospital, consisting of the terms and conditions specified in the employee handbook as well as hospital officials' oral representations. Paragraph X of Jeffers' petition states:

That Plaintiff's termination [sic] by the Defendant was contrary to the terms and conditions of the Employee Handbook in the following particulars:

(a) The Plaintiff was not guilty of dishonesty as alleged by the Defendant as the reason for termination [sic].

(b) Defendant was...