Lakeside v. Freightliner Corporation, Civ. No. 83-1259-FR.

• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Oregon
• Citation: Lakeside v. Freightliner Corporation, 612 F.Supp. 10 (D. Or. 1984)
• Decision Date: 03 December 1984
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 83-1259-FR.
• Parties: Lea R. LAKESIDE, Plaintiff, v. FREIGHTLINER CORPORATION, Defendant.

612 F. Supp. 10

Lea R. LAKESIDE, Plaintiff, v. FREIGHTLINER CORPORATION, Defendant.

Civ. No. 83-1259-FR.

United States District Court, D. Oregon.

December 3, 1984.

David J. Sweeney and Mark B. Weintraub, Gilbertson, Brownstein, Rask, Sweeney, Kerr & Grim, Portland, Or., for plaintiff.

Susan P. Graber and Susan M. Hammer, Stoel, Rives, Boley, Fraser & Wyse, and Paul C. Hurd, Freightliner Corp., Portland, Or., for defendant.

OPINION AND ORDER

FRYE, District Judge.

The matters before the court are the defendant's motion for partial summary judgment and plaintiff's motion for leave to file a second amended complaint.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

On August 19, 1983, plaintiff, Lea R. Lakeside, filed this action pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. Lakeside alleges that the defendant, Freightliner Corporation, maintains unlawful policies and practices which discriminate against female employees in compensation, promotion, layoffs, pay schedules, and demotions. Lakeside alleges that Freightliner maintains an unlawful employment practice and policy of harassment of female employees who make internal complaints regarding unlawful employment practices. Lakeside alleges that on numerous occasions she gave notice to superiors of unlawful sex discrimination and that as a result of said notice, she was subjected to retaliatory harassment by male superiors and male coworkers in an effort to induce her to resign. As a result of retaliatory harassment, Lakeside claims, she was laid off without being offered a lower position as company policy provides and denied recall from layoff status.

On April 9, 1984, plaintiff was allowed leave to file an amended complaint which added a second claim for relief for breach of contract. In her second claim for relief, Lakeside alleges as follows: (not a quotation)

She had a contractual relationship with Freightliner. The agreement required Freightliner to give appropriate consideration to in-house applicants for lateral or promotional opportunities; to give preferential consideration to inside applicants unless no qualified inside applicants existed; to consider other alternatives, such as demotion or transfer, before terminating an employee in a reduction in force; and to rehire employees not terminated for cause. Freightliner breached this agreement in that it failed to reasonably consider her for positions for which she was qualified; failed to give her first and preferential treatment over outside candidates; terminated her through reduction in force without exploring alternatives; and failed to rehire her for a position for which she was qualified.

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Freightliner moves for summary judgment on Lakeside's second claim for relief on the grounds that the only basis for Lakeside's contract claim is the company's undistributed personnel manual and that Freightliner's personnel manual is not a part of Lakeside's employment agreement.

Freightliner claims that Lakeside cannot establish an offer or promise by Freightliner sufficient to support her contract claim and that Freightliner is therefore entitled to prevail as a matter of law. In support of its position, Freightliner relies upon the fact that the company never distributed the manual to employees and never informed Lakeside that the manual was a part of the terms and conditions of her employment. Freightliner contends that the manual was intended as a policy guide for managers and no more. Freightliner asserts that Lakeside has offered no evidence that Freightliner ever informed her of any of the four provisions of the manual she alleges Freightliner breached and cannot maintain a contract claim on the basis of the manual.

Lakeside claims that the intent to incorporate the provisions of the personnel manual into the terms and conditions of her employment can be inferred by the conduct of the employer under the facts of this case. In support of her position, Lakeside relies upon the fact that she and all other employees were given free access to the manual and a 1979 letter from Freightliner's president to all employees expressing a desire for teamwork that results from "well designed and documented procedures which are followed by the people responsible." In addition, Lakeside points to an incident where she complained to the Vice President of Freightliner regarding the policy manual's provisions for company payment of educational expenses. Lakeside alleges that the Vice President responded that the manual contained the company's position on the issue and that he hoped that the departments were complying consistently across the board with what the manual stated. Lakeside contends that this conduct by the company raises a genuine issue of fact as to whether the manual was intended to be a part of her employment contract.

It is generally recognized under Oregon law that, in the absence of a contract or statute to the contrary, an employer may discharge an employee at will. Nees v. Hocks, 272 Or. 210, 216, 536 P.2d 512 (1975). Under some circumstances, the provisions of a policy handbook may be a part of a contract of employment. In Yartzoff v. Democrat-Herald Publishing Co., 281 Or. 651, 576 P.2d 356 (1978), the plaintiff received a "handbook for new employees" two days after she was hired. The Oregon Supreme Court held that viewed in the...