Case Title: Dykes v. Lane Trucking, Inc.

Citation: 652 So. 2d 248

Docket Number: 1931399

State: alabama

Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Date: 1994-12-16T00:00:00Z

Document:
652 So. 2d 248 (1994)
Jimmy DYKES
v.
LANE TRUCKING, INC., et al.
1931399.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
December 16, 1994.
Donald C. McCabe, Daleville, for appellant.
John F. McDaniel, William J. McDaniel and Jack M. Bains, Jr., Birmingham, for appellees.
HOUSTON, Justice.
The plaintiff, Jimmy Dykes, appeals from a summary judgment for the defendants, Lane Trucking, Inc., and one of its employees, Tommy Andrews, in this action seeking damages for an alleged wrongful termination of employment. We affirm.
Dykes, a truck driver, alleged that Andrews had fraudulently induced him to accept employment with Lane Trucking by misrepresenting to him that he would not be required to drive an excessive number of hours. He further alleged that Lane Trucking had terminated his employment after he refused to make a delivery that, he says, would have placed him in violation of guidelines issued by the United States Department of Transportation restricting the number of hours *249 that truck drivers can drive within a certain period of time. The defendants contend that Dykes was an employee-at-will and, therefore, that the trial court could have properly based its judgment on Dykes's employment status.
After carefully reviewing the record, we conclude that the summary judgment was proper. It is undisputed that Andrews, who was the only person who dealt directly with Dykes during the hiring process, did not personally offer Dykes lifetime employment or employment of any definite duration. Furthermore, the "Employee Personnel Policy Handbook," upon which Dykes partially relies in an attempt to come within the rule recognized in Hoffman-La Roche, Inc. v. Campbell, 512 So. 2d 725 (Ala.1987), provided, in pertinent part, as follows:
When this Court held in Hoffman-La Roche that language contained in an employee handbook could create a unilateral contract of employment for a definite duration or under particular circumstances, it was careful to explain that the language used in the handbook had to be sufficiently clear and specific, so as to constitute an actual offer rather than a mere statement of policy:
512 So. 2d  at 734.
Whether the language of an employee handbook is sufficiently clear and specific to constitute an offer of a unilateral contract is a question of law to be determined by the court. Campisi v. Scoles Cadillac, Inc., 611 So. 2d 296 (Ala.1992). Based on the language of the employee handbook, we hold that Dykes was an at-will employee and, therefore, that his employment was subject to termination with or without cause. Because an at-will employee is, with certain statutory exceptions, see Ala.Code 1975, § 12-16-8.1 and § 25-5-11.1, subject to dismissal for any reason or for no reason, this Court, in Salter v. Alfa Ins. Co., 561 So. 2d 1050 (Ala.1990), held that the mere showing of a loss of employment is legally inadequate to establish the element of damage in a fraud claim by an at-will employee. We reasoned that because such an employee is terminable at will, even for a malicious reason, there can be no legally compensable injury resulting from the employer's terminating the employment. See, also, Burrell v. Carraway Methodist Hospitals of Alabama, Inc., 607 So. 2d 193 (Ala. 1992). The record indicates that the only damage Dykes could have suffered would have stemmed from his loss of employment with Lane Trucking. The record does not support his assertion on appeal that Andrews's alleged misrepresentation induced him to leave his former job, and thus it does not bring this case within the holding of Kidder v. AmSouth Bank, N.A., 639 So. 2d 1361 (Ala.1994). In this regard, Dykes testified as follows:
We also note Dykes's suggestion that we should carve out a public policy exception to the employee-at-will doctrine; however, we again decline to modify the employee-at-will doctrine by recognizing such an exception to it in this case. Historically, this Court has deferred to the judgment of the legislature as to the need for such an exception. See, e.g., Howard v. Wolff Broadcasting Corp., 611 So. 2d 307 (Ala.1992), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 113 S. Ct. 1849, 123 L. Ed. 2d 473 (1993), and the cases cited therein.
We decline to address Dykes's argument that the employee-at-will doctrine violates the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. *251 Dykes argues in general terms that application of the employee-at-will doctrine in this case is unconstitutional because it "essentially [deprives him], or other employees similarly affected, of the protection commanded by the federal [Department of Transportation] regulations." Dykes cites no cases in which any court has held the employee-at-will doctrine to violate the equal protection guarantee of the Fourteenth Amendment. Neither does he specifically address whether judicial enforcement of the employee-at-will doctrine is sufficient "state" action to invoke the Fourteenth Amendment; why the doctrine should be declared unconstitutional, given the fact that all employees in this state, except those who enter into employment contracts to the contrary, are equally subject to it; and how Article I, § 10, of the United States Constitution, which prohibits the states from passing any law impairing the obligations of contracts, factors into this analysis. This last consideration is of particular importance, because the "evil" that Dykes seeks to eliminate by the creation of a civil cause of action for damages within the context of this case is the absence of a restriction on the freedom to contract. We have unequivocally stated that it is not the function of this Court to do a party's legal research or to make and address legal arguments for a party based on undelineated general propositions not supported by sufficient authority or argument. Spradlin v. Spradlin, 601 So. 2d 76 (Ala.1992). We conclude that, for purposes of review, Dykes has not adequately presented any issues relating to the constitutionality of the employee-at-will doctrine.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
MADDOX, ALMON, INGRAM and COOK, JJ., concur.
KENNEDY, J., dissents.
[1]  The "Driver's Handbook and Safety Manual," referred to by Dykes in his brief and in his memorandum in opposition to the motion for summary judgment, does not appear in the record. In any event, we note that the excerpts from that manual that are set out in Dykes's memorandum in opposition to the motion for summary judgment do not indicate that the manual would bring this case within the rule of Hoffman-La Roche.