Rutherfoord v. Presbyterian-University Hosp.

• Decision Date: 14 July 1992
• Docket Number: PRESBYTERIAN-UNIVERSITY
• Citation: 612 A.2d 500,417 Pa.Super. 316
• Parties: , 77 Ed. Law Rep. 334 Bruce B. RUTHERFOORD, Appellant, v.HOSPITAL, Medical and Health Care Division of the University of Pittsburgh, and Ronald J. Forsythe, Appellees.
• Court: Pennsylvania Superior Court

Page 500

612 A.2d 500

417 Pa.Super. 316, 77 Ed. Law Rep. 334

Bruce B. RUTHERFOORD, Appellant, v. PRESBYTERIAN-UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, Medical and Health Care Division of the University of Pittsburgh, and Ronald J. Forsythe, Appellees.

Superior Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued April 23, 1992.

Filed July 14, 1992.

Bruce S. Gelman, Pittsburgh, for appellant.

Martha H. Munsch, Pittsburgh, for appellees.

Before TAMILIA, HUDOCK and HESTER, JJ.

HUDOCK, Judge.

Bruce Rutherfoord (Appellant) appeals from the grant of preliminary objections and, thereafter, summary judgment in favor of Appellees in a wrongful discharge case. We affirm.

The facts and procedural history may be summarized as follows: Appellant began employment with Appellee Presbyterian-University Hospital (Hospital), a private non-profit organization, in 1974 and advanced to the position of Security Systems Operator by 1985. In this latter position, Appellant was assigned various duties including responsibilities as a locksmith for the Hospital, maintenance of shuttle bus vehicles and responsibility for the Hospital's telecommunication system of the Safety, Security and Parking Department (the Department). At all times pertinent to the proceedings, the Medical and Health Care Division of the University of Pittsburgh (MHCD) and the Hospital were parties to a management services agreement pursuant to which MHCD was responsible for, among other things, the day-to-day operations of the Department. It is undisputed that MHCD was acting as the lawful agent of the Hospital. Appellee Ronald Forsythe (Forsythe) is a Vice President of MHCD and the individual responsible for carrying out MHCD's management services contract with the Hospital as it pertained to, among other things, the Department.

In the Spring of 1988, a senior official of MHCD received a report from employees of the Hospital's Purchasing Department indicating that Appellant had attempted to use his position with the Hospital to try to gain personal favors from a prospective vendor. The report concerning Appellant's interaction with the vendor reinforced senior management's serious concerns about Appellant's reliability, trustworthiness, and loyalty. ¹ In April 1988, Appellant was informed by the new director of the Department that he was being relieved of his responsibilities as a locksmith and was required to return his keys. Appellant was told that his name had surfaced in an investigation by a Vice President of MHCD and that his duties as locksmith were removed at the direction of Forsythe.

In May 1988, Appellant met with the Director of Human Resources at the Hospital in order to file a grievance pursuant to the regulations in Hospital's Policy and Procedure Manual. It is alleged by Appellant that Forsythe precluded the processing of his grievance under these procedures. Subsequently, Appellant's job duties were further restricted and he was denied use of Hospital vehicles in the performance of his duties. Appellant's attempts to once again use the grievance procedure established by the Hospital were allegedly frustrated by Forsythe and MHCD. In June 1988, Appellant was called to Forsythe's office at which time Forsythe informed Appellant that his employment with the Hospital was terminated immediately and that his further access to the Hospital was prohibited. Upon inquiry, Appellant was informed that he had no right to file a grievance concerning his termination.

In August 1989, Appellant filed a five-count complaint in trespass and assumpsit against Appellees. In the complaint, Appellant alleged that he had been wrongfully and negligently discharged from his employment with the Hospital (Counts I and V), that the Appellees had defamed him (Count II), had intentionally interfered with his employment relationship with the Hospital (Count III), and had conspired to demote and discharge him (Count IV). On October 13, 1989, the trial court sustained the Appellees' preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer as to Counts IV and V, and the Hospital's preliminary objection in the nature of a demurrer as to Count III. The trial court also sustained the Appellees' preliminary objection in the nature of a motion for a more specific pleading as to Count II and gave Appellant leave to amend Count II, which he did.

Following the issuance of this order, the Appellees timely filed their answer and new matter and the parties engaged in discovery as to the following remaining claims: (i) the claim in Count I that Appellant was wrongfully discharged in breach of an implied contract of employment; (ii) the claim in Count I that he was wrongfully discharged with specific intent to harm him; (iii) the claim in amended Count II that he was defamed; and (iv) the claim in Count III that MHCD and Forsythe intentionally interfered with his employment relationship with the Hospital. Upon motion of the Appellees, and after submission of briefs and oral argument, the trial court entered summary judgment against Appellant as to these remaining claims. Appellant then filed the present appeal from both orders below, claiming that the trial court erred in granting the Appellees' preliminary objections and summary judgment.

Initially, we set forth our standards of review with regard to the grant of preliminary objections and the grant of summary judgment. For the sake of simplicity, we will thereafter discuss the propriety of the trial court's particular action as to each count of Appellant's complaint.

A preliminary objection in the nature of a demurrer admits every well-pleaded fact and all inferences reasonably deducible therefrom; it tests the legal sufficiency of the challenged complaint and will be sustained only in those cases where the pleader has clearly failed to state a claim for which relief may be granted. If there is any doubt as to whether a claim for relief had been stated, the trial court should resolve it in favor of overruling the demurrer. Creeger Brick and Bldg. Supply Inc. v. Mid-State Bank and Trust Co., SEDA, 385 Pa.Super. 30, 560 A.2d 151 (1989) (citations omitted).

Rule 1035 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment is to be entered only if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Pa.R.C.P. 1035(b), 42 Pa.C.S. (Purdon 1987). In deciding whether the moving party had met this burden, the court must examine the record in the light most favorable to the moving party. Giannini v. Carden, 286 Pa.Super. 450, 429 A.2d 24 (1981). The court's responsibility is merely to determine whether such an issue of material fact exists; the court does not resolve the issue on its merits. Moreover, the court should not enter summary judgment unless the case is free from doubt. Weiss v. Keystone Mack Sales, Inc., 310 Pa.Super. 425, 456 A.2d 1009 (1983).

Appellant first claims that the trial court erred in granting Appellees' motion for summary judgment with regard to Count I of his complaint because a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether the Hospital's Policy and Procedure Manual (Manual) modified the at-will status of Appellant's employment and as to the Hospital's intentions in discharging Appellant. We do not agree.

The appellate courts of Pennsylvania have provided a significant body of law analyzing various issues relating to termination of employment, and, in particular, issues related to the application of the at-will employment doctrine. From these cases, certain principles or rules of law have become well-settled. First and foremost is the principle that, absent a valid contract providing to the contrary or other recognized exception, "employees may be discharged at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all." Darlington v. General Electric, 350 Pa.Super. 183, 188, 504 A.2d 306, 309 (1986) (citations omitted); see also, Geary v. United States Steel Corp., 456 Pa. 171, 175, 319 A.2d 174, 176 (1974) ("[a]bsent a statutory or contractual provision to the contrary, the law has taken for granted the power of either party to terminate an employment relationship for any or no reason."). Moreover, because the at-will doctrine is a presumption, the burden of proving that one is not employed at-will rests squarely upon the employee. Greene v. Oliver Realty, Inc., 363 Pa.Super. 534, 526 A.2d 1192, alloc. den'd., 517 Pa. 607, 536 A.2d 1331 (1987).

The clearest manner in which a party can overcome the at-will doctrine is where the employer and the employee have entered into a contract which expresses a definite term of employment and forbids discharge in the absence of "just cause" or without first utilizing an internal dispute resolution mechanism. A clear and definite intention to overcome the presumption must be expressed in the contract. Scott v. Extracorporeal, Inc., 376 Pa.Super. 90, 545 A.2d 334 (1988); Veno v. Meredith, 357 Pa.Super. 85, 515 A.2d 571 (1986). It is undisputed in the present case that Appellant did not enter into a contract of employment with the Hospital. Instead, Appellant claims that the existence of the Hospital's Manual, and the fact that it was the Hospital's custom and practice to utilize the procedures provided therein, modified his at-will employment and created an implied contract of employment. In other words, Appellant claims that the discipline and grievance procedures contained within the Manual allow only "just cause" termination. Such a claim places even a larger burden upon Appellant to overcome the at-will presumption. "In cases involving implied contracts of employment, the litigant will be able to reach the jury only if he can clearly show that he and the employer intended to form a contract." DiBonaventura v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 372 Pa.Super. 420, 425, 539 A.2d 865, 868 (1988) (citation...