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Bouwens v. Centrilift3/4/1999
Appeal from the District Court of Natrona County Honorable W. Thomas Sullins, Judge
NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in Pacific Reporter Second. Readers are requested to notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court, Supreme Court Building, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002, of any typographical or other formal errors in order that corrections may be made before final publication in the permanent volume.
Betty Bouwens, who was orally hired for no definite duration of employment as a field secretary by Centrilift, which specializes in the design, manufacture, and servicing of electric submersible pumps used in the oil industry, was laid off from that employment after more than eight years of service because of Centrilift's legitimate economic problems. Pointing to a layoff provision in Centrilift's employee handbook, which she received and read approximately three years after she was hired, Bouwens asserted that Centrilift broke its promise to her in that layoff provision that it would "give particular attention" to her seniority when making its selection of employees to be laid off. She filed suit against Centrilift for wrongful termination, asserting claims of breach of implied contract and promissory estoppel, both based upon the handbook's layoff provision. Centrilift moved for summary judgment, pointing to an alleged disclaimer provision in the same handbook which states that the handbook contains some guidelines of practices and policies and nothing in the handbook is intended to be understood as an employment contract between Centrilift and the employee. The district court granted Centrilift's motion, holding that the disclaimer provision was conspicuous and clear and, therefore, legally sufficient to negate the alleged contractual status of the layoff provision and that the promissory estoppel claim also failed. On appeal, Bouwens challenges those rulings. We affirm.
ISSUES
Bouwens presents these issues for our review:
A. Under Wyoming's objective theory of contract formation, is an employee handbook disclaimer ambiguous if it provides only that: "This handbook contains some guidelines of practices and policies of Centrilift" and that NOTHING IN THIS HANDBOOK IS INTENDED TO BE UNDERSTOOD AS AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT BETWEEN THE COMPANY AND THE EMPLOYEE."
B. Did the district court err in ruling that there were no genuine issues as to material fact concerning appellant's promissory estoppel claim?
Centrilift states that the issues are:
"1. Where Appellant's employment was terminated as part of a company-wide reduction in force for economic reasons, and where she admitted that she had read the disclaimer in the employee handbook, did the district court err in finding that the disclaimer language was unambiguous, and thereby precluded her cause of action for breach of implied in fact contract?"
"2. Did the district court err as a matter of law in finding that, under the circumstances, appellant had no actionable claim for promissory estoppel?"
FACTS
We state the facts in the light most favorable to Bouwens. When she was orally hired by Centrilift in February, 1986, there was no written employment contract and there was no written or oral promise of employment for a definite duration. About three years later, Centrilift distributed to its employees, including Bouwens, an employee handbook. Bouwens read it. In April, 1994, her supervisor told her that she was laid off. Others were also laid off.
Centrilift's economic problems necessitated the layoffs. Management considered employee qualifications in selecting those employees to be la
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