Johnson v. First Carolina Financial Corp., 1697
| Decision Date | 26 August 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 1697,1697 |
| Citation | 305 S.C. 556,409 S.E.2d 804 |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
| Parties | , 6 IER Cases 1464 Neil JOHNSON, Appellant, v. FIRST CAROLINA FINANCIAL CORPORATION, Respondent. . Heard |
Hal J. Warlick, Easley, for appellant.
Kenneth E. Young, of Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough, Greenville, for respondent.
This is an action in contract for wrongful termination of employment. The employee, Neil Johnson, alleged the employer, First Carolina Financial Corporation, discharged him in violation of the written terms of his employment. First Carolina moved for summary judgment on the ground Johnson's employment was subject to termination at will for any reason or no reason at all. The circuit court granted summary judgment. Johnson appeals. We affirm.
First Carolina loans money to finance mobile home sales. It has a regional office in Greenville, South Carolina. By a letter dated August 28, 1985, the corporation offered Johnson a position as regional vice president, responsible for managing the Greenville office. Johnson accepted this offer in writing on September 3, 1985. Neither the offer nor Johnson's acceptance specified any fixed term of employment. Johnson admits he was not employed for any specific number of years and does not claim his agreement with First Carolina entitled him to stay with the corporation for the rest of his working life. He admits he was free to quit his employment at any time.
At all times material to this suit, First Carolina had an employee handbook which set forth some of the corporation's general personnel policies. At the beginning of the handbook in a section called "FOR YOUR INFORMATION," the following statement appears:
This handbook does not constitute a guarantee that your employment will continue for any specified period of time, or end only under certain conditions. Employment at our Company is a voluntary relationship, and nothing in this handbook constitutes an expressed or implied contract of employment. While we hope to have a long and mutually beneficial working relationship together, regardless of anything which may appear in this handbook or any other Company publication, policy or statement, you have the right to terminate your employment relationship for any reason, at any time, and the Company reserves the right to do the same.
In another section discussing disciplinary procedures, the handbook states:
Keep in mind, however, that our Company has no obligation to use any one or more of these forms of discipline prior to discharging employees. Any one or all of these steps can be omitted as the Company deems appropriate, in its discretion. Nothing herein constitutes a contract of employment or guarantees that your employment will continue for any specified period of time.
Finally, at the end of the handbook is the following statement:
I HAVE RECEIVED A COPY OF THE COMPANY'S EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK AND HAVE READ IT. I UNDERSTAND THAT MY EMPLOYMENT IS FOR NO DEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME AND NOTHING IN THIS HANDBOOK, IN ANY WAY, CREATES AN EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT, BUT RATHER IT IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF BENEFITS OFFERED BY THE COMPANY AND AN OVERVIEW OF ITS POLICIES AND RULES; THAT THIS HANDBOOK AND POLICIES, RULES AND BENEFITS TO WHICH IT REFERS MAY BE AMENDED, MODIFIED OR DISCONTINUED AT ANY TIME BY THE COMPANY IN ITS DISCRETION; THAT IN CONSIDERATION OF MY EMPLOYMENT I AGREE TO CONFORM TO THESE POLICIES AND RULES; AND THAT EITHER I OR THE COMPANY CAN TERMINATE MY EMPLOYMENT AT-WILL AT ANY TIME WITH OR WITHOUT CAUSE, AND WITHOUT NOTICE.
Immediately following this statement are blanks for the date, the employee's signature, and the employee's social security number. 1
On November 7, 1987, First Carolina discharged Johnson from his employment. The corporation and Johnson dispute the reason for the...
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...the handbook creates no right of employment and the company can terminate employment at any time. Johnson v. First Carolina Fin. Corp., 305 S.C. 556, 409 S.E.2d 804 (Ct.App. 1991) (citing Small A. Effect of Disclaimer We find there is a material question of fact as to whether the disclaimer......
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