Jones v. EG & G Idaho, Inc.
Decision Date | 25 August 1986 |
Docket Number | No. 16338,16338 |
Citation | 726 P.2d 703,111 Idaho 591 |
Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Parties | , 106 Lab.Cas. P 55,710 Robert JONES and Ellis Hemsley, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. EG & G IDAHO, INC., Defendant-Respondent. |
E.W. Pike, of the firm Anderson, Pike & Bush, Idaho Falls, for respondent.
Plaintiffs were discharged from the employ of EG & G for misappropriating company property (safety shoes). Plaintiffs sued for wrongful discharge, claiming that they had been authorized to requisition the shoes. The district court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment. The Court of Appeals affirmed in a per curiam opinion, 109 Idaho 400, 707 P.2d 511. This Court granted plaintiffs' petition for review. We now affirm the decisions of both the district court and the Court of Appeals, though on different grounds.
Defendant EG & G is the operating contractor for the United States Department of Energy at the Idaho Nuclear Engineering Laboratory. Plaintiffs and co-worker Peter Thornock (not a party to this action) were employed as quality control inspectors with EG & G. Plaintiffs and Thornock were discharged for each misappropriating one pair of safety shoes. Plaintiffs claimed to have authorization from their immediate supervisor, Butch Marlow, to receive the shoes.
Plaintiffs claim their duties entitled them to one pair of safety shoes each year. EG & G states that the policy permitting their immediate supervisor to authorize such a requisition was changed in 1978-79, so that authorization rested only with project manager Ken Latham.
In the spring of 1980, Latham refused plaintiffs' request for safety shoes. According to plaintiffs, Latham told them there were no funds available for shoes at the moment, but to check back. EG & G claims it was a "routine" refusal.
Thereafter, plaintiffs and Thornock became aware that the shoemobile was in their area. They obtained a requisition form from the driver. Believing that Latham was away, Thornock, with plaintiffs present, telephoned their immediate supervisor, Marlow, to inquire about the procedure for obtaining shoes. Marlow explained the form and gave Thornock the nine-digit charge number to place on the form. Plaintiffs claim Marlow told Thornock to write Latham's name in the space for "approval signature." Plaintiffs assert their belief that Marlow had authority to requisition safety shoes. EG & G asserts that neither Marlow nor Latham authorized a forgery of Latham's signature.
Latham later learned of these events. An investigation followed, resulting in the three's discharge grounded on misappropriation of company property. Under EG & G's Employee Rules of Conduct, in effect and known to plaintiffs, unauthorized use or removal of company property and the willful falsification of company records were grounds for discharge.
The question originally decided on appeal was whether a genuine issue exists as to any material fact related to the plaintiffs' alleged wrongful discharge. However, a question preliminary to whether or not the plaintiffs were wrongfully discharged and given little attention below is whether the plaintiffs can sustain such an action against the defense that the plaintiffs were mere "at-will" employees subject to discharge at any time. This Court has held:
The rule in Idaho, as in most states, is that unless an employee is hired pursuant to a contract which specifies the duration of the employment, or limits the reasons for which the employee may be discharged, the employment is at the will of either party, and the employer may terminate the relationship at any time for any reason without incurring liability. See Jackson v. Minidoka Irrigation Dist., 98 Idaho 330, 563 P.2d 54 (1977) and the cases cited therein. The only general exception to the above rule is that an employer may be liable for wrongful discharge when the motivation for discharge contravenes public policy. Jackson, supra.
MacNeil v. Minidoka Memorial Hospital, 108 Idaho 588, 589, 701 P.2d 208, 209 (1985). Apparently both the district court The extant record unambiguously points to the...
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