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Wood v. Utah Farm Bureau Insurance Company2/8/2001
eports indicating his progress in meeting the goals contained in his letter, reference to the goals alone is not specific enough, especially when viewed in light of the clear at-will Contract provision, to revive the portion of the letter dealing with termination. See Hodgson, 844 P.2d at 334 (stating asserted implied-in-fact contract terms must be construed in light of any clear at-will provision). Setting and reviewing performance goals is a standard business practice, but the existence of goals does not ensure continued employment until the time set for completion of those goals if the employment relationship is at-will. Although Wood and Tanner may have subjectively believed that the terms of the letter governed their relationship, such belief was not reasonable without a more specific manifestation of Farm Bureau's "clear and unequivocal intention to relinquish the right to fire" Wood or Tanner. Sanderson v. First Sec. Leasing Co., 844 P.2d 303, 307 (Utah 1992) (finding oral statement that "the job would be there" when employee recovered from his illness was a clear manifestation of intent not to terminate); see also Hodgson, 844 P.2d at 334 (finding employee's subjective belief that she would not be fired was not reasonable without a sufficiently definite offer of employment other than at-will).
Stokes, however, has established a question of fact as to whether an implied-in-fact contract existed. In his affidavit, Stokes states that the Farm Bureau manager "in our weekly review sessions after I signed the 1994 Career Agent Contract, affirmed to me that I would not be terminated unless I failed to meet the goals in the October 15, 1993 letter." Stokes's deposition, although somewhat equivocal on the issue, supports his affidavit when read in the light most favorable to him. In his deposition, Stokes claims a Farm Bureau manager told him, "It's going to take me nine months to twelve months to even get around to hiring anybody to replace you, so you've got plenty of time to get out there and write your business." Taking these statements as true, a reasonable jury could conclude that an implied-in-fact contract existed between Farm Bureau and Stokes and that Farm Bureau breached that contract by terminating Stokes on March 23, 1994. Therefore, the trial court improperly granted summary judgment on Stokes's wrongful termination claim.
B. Syphus
Syphus signed a Contract on February 22, 1994. His Contract contained the same termination clause as the Contracts signed by Wood, Tanner, and Stokes. However, Syphus asserts that the June 30, 1994 letter created an implied-in-fact contract, which promised a continued working relationship if Syphus met his production goals by September 30, 1994. He further claims Farm Bureau breached that agreement by terminating him on September 12, 1994.
Unlike the 1993 letters to Wood, Tanner, and Stokes, the June 30, 1994 letter to Syphus does not make any statement regarding retention if Syphus met his goals. In fact, the letter simply states, "Knowing these requirements and expectations to be necessary; if they are not met, retirement or career contract termination will be the alternative as of 9/30/94." Syphus incorrectly reads this conditional promise to terminate him as a conditional promise not to terminate him. The two are distinct and separate promises. Perhaps Syphus subjectively understood the language to mean that he would not be terminated prior to September 30, but the language of the letter does not contain the requisite manifestation of Farm Bureau's "clear and unequivocal intention to relinquish the right to fire" Syphus at any time, with or without cause. Sanderson, 844 P.2d at 307.
Other than the lett
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