Loghry v. Unicover Corporation

927 P.2d 706 (1996)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P was an administrative assistant to the director of concept development for D. At her hiring, P signed a disclaimer which effectively causes her reliance on any job security promise to be unreasonable. P's employment and compensation could be terminated, with or without cause, and with or without notice, at any time and that no employee, manager, or other agent of the Company other than the President of the Company, has any authority to enter into any agreement for employment for any specified period of time, or to make any agreement contrary to the foregoing. The employee handbook reaffirmed the hiring disclaimer. P developed the Lighthouse Project within the scope of her employment, but before it was marketed a competitor publicized its sale of a similar item. A vice president launched an investigation and requested that P turn over her files on the Lighthouse Project which she had at her home. P expressed her fear that she would lose her job if she turned over the files for an investigation targeting her supervisor. The V.P. assured her that she would not lose her job if she cooperated. P turned over the files to him. The V.P. informed other officers of his investigation and his assurances to P. The next Monday, the president of D, fired her for a lack of loyalty to her supervisor. P sued D, and the court determined that P was an at-will employee and gave summary judgment to D on P’s contract claim. P sued for promissory estoppel and breach of good faith and fair dealing. D got summary judgment, and P appealed.