Morriss v. Coleman Co., Inc.

• Decision Date: 12 June 1987
• Docket Number: No. 58967,58967
• Citation: 738 P.2d 841,241 Kan. 501
• Parties: , 107 Lab.Cas. P 55,825, 2 IER Cases 844 Randy MORRISS and Debra White, Appellants, v. COLEMAN COMPANY, INC., Ralph Call, and Robert Sloan, Appellees.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Page 841

738 P.2d 841

241 Kan. 501, 107 Lab.Cas. P 55,825,

2 IER Cases 844

Randy MORRISS and Debra White, Appellants, v. COLEMAN COMPANY, INC., Ralph Call, and Robert Sloan, Appellees.

No. 58967.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

June 12, 1987.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Where it is alleged that an employment contract is one to be based upon the theory of "implied in fact," the understanding and intent of the parties is to be ascertained from several factors which include written or oral negotiations, the conduct of the parties from the commencement of the employment relationship, the usages of the business, the situation and objective of the parties giving rise to the relationship, the nature of the employment, and any other circumstances surrounding the employment relationship which would tend to explain or make clear the intention of the parties at the time said employment commenced.

2. The principle of law stated in Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 205 (1979), that every contract imposes upon each party a duty of good faith and fair dealing in its performance and enforcement, is held to be overly broad and not applicable to employment-at-will contracts.

Stephen B. Plummer, of Rumsey, Richey & Plummer, Wichita, argued the cause and was on the briefs for appellants.

William H. Dye, of Foulston, Siefkin, Powers & Eberhardt, Wichita, argued the cause, and Jeffery A. Jordan, of the same firm, was with him on the briefs for appellees.

Dwight A. Corrin, of Corrin & Krysl, Chartered, Wichita, and Jim L. Lawing, Wichita, were on the brief amicus curiae for Kansas Trial Lawyers Association.

Stewart L. Entz, of Entz, Anderson & Chanay, Topeka, were on the brief amicus curiae for Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

PRAGER, Chief Justice:

This is an action brought for wrongful discharge by two former employees against the Coleman Company, Inc., of Wichita (Coleman) and two of its supervisors, Ralph Call and Robert Sloan. The two plaintiffs, Randy Morriss and Debra White, alleged in their petition that Coleman breached an implied contract of employment: (1) By discharging them without good cause, and (2) by terminating their employment in bad faith, thus violating an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The plaintiffs further alleged that the two supervisors, Call and Sloan, had tortiously interfered with their contract rights. In addition, the plaintiffs asserted three other tort claims against the defendants which have been abandoned on appeal. The district court granted the motion for summary judgment filed on behalf of all defendants. The plaintiffs appealed.

The Court of Appeals heard the case and, in an unpublished opinion No. 58,967 filed on November 26, 1986, reversed the trial court's order granting summary judgment for tortious interference and breach of implied contract in favor of the defendants. Both the plaintiffs and defendants filed petitions for review which were granted by this court on all issues raised in the Court of Appeals.

The rules to be applied by an appellate court in a case where summary judgment was granted by the trial court are well established. Summary judgment is proper only when the pleadings, affidavits, and the discovery record show there are no genuine issues of material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Lostutter v. Estate of Larkin, 235 Kan. 154, 164, 679 P.2d 181 (1984). In reviewing a summary judgment, an appellate court must read the record in the light most favorable to the party who opposed the motion. McAlister v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 233 Kan. 252, Syl. p 4, 662 P.2d 1203 (1983). Thus, this court must give the plaintiffs the benefit of all favorable inferences arising from the record.

At the time the defendants' motion for summary judgment was granted, the plaintiffs through discovery had obtained documents and admissions from defendants and had taken a partial deposition of Robert Sloan. The depositions of both plaintiffs had also been taken, but a pretrial conference had not yet been held. The underlying circumstances of both plaintiffs' employment and termination are not in dispute although plaintiffs contend material issues of fact are still unresolved.

Viewing the evidentiary record in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the facts in the case before the trial court at the time of entry of summary judgment were as follows: The plaintiff, Debra White, was employed by Coleman in 1977 as a secretary. During her tenure, White received consistently favorable job performance evaluations and regular salary increases. Defendant Call told her she was the best secretary he had ever had and referred to her as an excellent secretary. At the time of her firing, White was the executive secretary to Call. The other plaintiff, Randy Morriss, was employed by Coleman as a production supervisor. Like White, Morriss also received consistently favorable job performance evaluations and salary increases. He was promoted to department manager and eventually to manufacturing engineer, the job he held when he was terminated in November of 1984. Morriss was married but separated from his wife at the time of his termination. The defendants concede that Morriss, as well as White, were good employees.

Robert Sloan was employed by Coleman in September 1965, and he has held various positions with the company. At the time plaintiffs were terminated, Sloan was factory manager at the "downtown" Coleman factory in Wichita. Morriss worked under Sloan, although Morriss' direct supervisor was Dan Jonker. Sloan in turn reported to Call. Thus, both White and Morriss worked under Call, but only White was directly supervised by him.

The Coleman Company is engaged in the business of manufacturing various types of recreational and outing products. Like most large companies, Coleman utilizes both formal and informal personnel policies and procedures. Supervisory personnel and representatives have disseminated these policies and made them known to their subordinates. According to Sloan, these "policies" state the "employee rights and responsibilities" and govern the conduct of both employer and employees.

There are three categories of Coleman employees:

(1) factory hourly employees, who work in the factory and are paid an hourly wage;

(2) office hourly employees, such as White, who work in clerical/secretarial positions; and

(3) monthly salaried employees, such as Morriss, who are principally supervisory employees.

Coleman disseminates to the factory hourly employees a personnel manual applicable to them. However, employees in the latter two categories, including White and Morriss, are not issued individual copies of a personnel manual. Instead, they are governed by the rules and regulations set forth in a supervisor's manual which is disseminated only to supervisory employees. The rules and regulations in the manual are made known to affected employees by their immediate supervisor. In addition, according to Sloan, each supervisor is free to promulgate rules and regulations which apply only to his or her subordinates. Coleman, in both its employees' handbook and in its supervisor's manual, states without equivocation that its purpose is to ensure "fair and uniform treatment of all employees."

The manual, which is issued to the hourly factory employees, states:

"The basic plan for us all is to build and sell quality products that people will be proud to own; to serve growing markets for the benefit of shareholders and employees; to emphasize productivity to gain an edge against competition; to strive for reasonably stable, safe, comfortable, and efficient working conditions; and receive fair treatment, wages, and benefits."

In the manual, it is stated that factory employees are entitled to receive respectful, honest, and fair treatment from supervisory employees; to have an opportunity to build a career with a company that values increasing skills, experience, and loyalty; to have an opportunity to contribute their ideas, problems, and complaints in effective ways; and to work with a company whose products, policies, and practices they can respect and thereby be proud to contribute their talents and their efforts. The manual stresses the team concept and contains a section governing disciplinary actions. That section states:

"Any group of people needs a set of rules to work and live by. These rules need to be simply stated, consistently applied; and there needs to be a system to provide, where necessary, interpretation and resolution of disputes."

It states that, since no one is perfect, disciplinary action is merited at times. The section then sets forth the procedure for disciplinary action by written notice, suspension, or discharge. It states that a written reprimand will be used first unless the facts or circumstances warrant suspension or discharge. Whenever an employee with seniority status is to be discharged, he or she shall first be suspended without pay for not more than five work days and notified in writing on the reprimand form that discharge will occur at the end of the suspension period. If an employee feels that he or she has been improperly disciplined, then he or she may initiate a complaint in writing through the Employee Relations Counselor and action may be taken to reduce or rescind a suspension or discharge. A number of specific violations are set forth which may result in suspension or discharge. Certain violations of the rules are to result in immediate discharge. The clear implication from the factory employees' manual is that Coleman and its employees are all working together and the rights of all will be respected.

The supervisor's manual, which is applicable to nonfactory employees such as Morriss and White, states that its purpose is to ensure fair and uniform treatment of all employees. This manual is in the form of a number of bulletins that are issued from time to time and which...