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Raymond v. Pacific Chemical12/13/1999
Terry and Carmella Raymond appeal the dismissal of their wrongful discharge claims against Terry Raymond's employer, Pacific Chemical, and his managers and supervisors. The Raymonds contend that the trial court erred in dismissing their claims based on Terry's reliance on provisions in an employee handbook and Pacific Chemical's assertion of a non-competition covenant following Terry's termination. They also contend that the trial court erred in dismissing their discriminatory discharge claims against Terry's Pacific Chemical supervisors. We affirm.
FACTS
Terry Raymond was a sales representative for Pacific Chemical, a division of Pace International, L.P., from 1973 to 1977, 1980 to 1982, and 1992 to 1996. In May 1992, Terry was working as a sales representative for Wesmar, a Pacific Chemical competitor, when Pacific Chemical rehired him by offering him the opportunity to increase its sales in Alaska.
On his return to Pacific Chemical in 1992, Terry signed a "Salesman Agreement" that set forth the employment relationship between the parties. The agreement states:
As part of my application for employment with Pacific Chemical, hereinafter called "Company", as a salesman and/or trainer of salesmen, I achknowledge {sic} that I have been advised of the terms of employment which follow. If I am employed, in consideration of said employment, I agree to these terms:
10. That my employment hereunder is terminable at the will of either the Company or myself.
Shortly thereafter, Terry received a handbook describing the company's policies and benefits, which was issued to all employees of Pace International. A second edition of the handbook, substantially unchanged, was issued to Pace employees in February 1994. The handbook's introduction refers to employees' "rights and . . . responsibilities while employed at Pace." Under the heading "PROBATION AND TERMINATION," the handbook contains the following provision:
Prior to discharge, other than for reasons of severe breaches of discipline, an employee will be advised in writing that an unsatisfactory condition exists and be given a reasonable and definite period of time to clearly demonstrate improvement.
If the warning does not produce satisfactory performance within the period designated in writing, the employee may be discharged.
In July 1996, shortly before Terry left on a planned vacation, he was told that the company was reassigning him from the southeast Alaska sales region to a region in Seattle. Terry was also notified that the company was changing the way in which he would be compensated. Previously, Terry had received commissions on his sales and a guaranteed minimum salary of $3,900 per month, resulting in earnings of approximately $66,800 in 1995. Under the new compensation plan, Terry would receive a base salary of approximately $54,720, a stipend for gas, and bonuses that reflected his sales performance. Although Pacific Chemical asserted that the new plan did not represent a substantial change in Terry's compensation, Terry believed that the company had conditioned the bonuses on unrealistically high levels of performance and that the new plan would result in a substantially reduced salary.
Pacific Chemical terminated Terry five weeks after he returned from vacation, citing his attitude toward the company and its managers and insubordination regarding his reassignment. In a formal statement identifying the reasons for dismissal, the company indicated that it considered Terry's behavior to be severe breaches of discipline that warranted termination as outlined in the Pace International handbook. Pacific Chemical subseque
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