Case Name: Sara BROWN, Appellant, v. INTER-CITY FEDERAL BANK FOR SAVINGS, Appellee
Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1999-01-26
Citations: 738 So. 2d 262
Docket Number: No. 97-CA-00868 COA
Parties: Sara BROWN, Appellant, v. INTER-CITY FEDERAL BANK FOR SAVINGS, Appellee.
Judges: BEFORE THOMAS, P.J., DIAZ and SOUTHWICK, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 738
Pages: 262–267

Head Matter:
Sara BROWN, Appellant, v. INTER-CITY FEDERAL BANK FOR SAVINGS, Appellee.
No. 97-CA-00868 COA
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
Jan. 26, 1999.
Rehearing Denied April 20, 1999.
Certiorari Denied July 1, 1999.
Victor I. Fleitas, Tupelo, Attorney for Appellant.
Taylor B. Smith, Columbus, Attorney for Appellee.
BEFORE THOMAS, P.J., DIAZ and SOUTHWICK, JJ.

Opinion:
DIAZ, J.,
for the Court:
¶ 1. Sara Brown appeals the lower court's grant of summary judgment in-favor of the appellee, Inter-City Federal Bank for Savings. She argues that the circuit court erred in determining there were no genuine issues of material fact with regard to (1) the breach of her employment contract and (2) her intentional infliction of emotional distress claim. Finding no merit in these assignments of error, we affirm the judgment of the lower court.
FACTS
¶ 2. Sara Brown began her employment with Inter-City Federal Bank for Savings (hereinafter "Inter-City") in 1972 or 1973. She was promoted to loan officer in 1987 and became branch manager in 1993. During this period of time, Brown reported directly to the bank president, Terry Woods. According to Brown, Woods periodically asked her how old she was and when she was going to retire. He would often remark that the bank needed young people. Brown also maintains that Woods removed her from the main office location in 1993 because he claimed he needed a man to help him. In 1995, Woods terminated Brown's employment with the bank.
¶ 3. On October 27, 1995, Brown filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Winston County, alleging intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of the bank's written personnel policies. Brown also filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging age and sex discrimination. The federal court subsequently dismissed Brown's federal claims and remanded her state law claims to the Winston County Circuit Court. Inter-City then filed its motion for summary judgment. The circuit court granted the motion finding that Brown presented no viable claims against InterCity. It is from this order that Brown now brings forth her appeal.
DISCUSSION
I. DID THE CIRCUIT COURT ERR IN DISMISSING BROWN'S BREACH OF CONTRACT CLAIM?
¶ 4. Sara Brown claims that her employment with Inter-City was terminated in violation of the bank's personnel manual which provided as follows:
Equal Employment Opportunity
It is the policy of Inter-City Federal Savings Bank to grant equal opportunity to all qualified persons without regard of race, color, age, sex, religion or national origin. To deny one's contributions to our efforts for any reason other than his or her capability of performing the job is an injustice not only to the individual, but to Inter-City as well. It is the intent and desire of Inter-City that equal opportunity be provided in employment, wages, promotion, benefits and all other privileges, terms and conditions of employment.
Probation
Employees are hired on a three (3) month probation, during which the new staff member may evaluate his or her interest in the position and the manager may evaluate the ability of the new employee. At the end of the probation period, a written evaluation will be made of the employee's attitude, ability and capacity to determine whether the employee shall continue.
Dismissal
We believe the fewer rules the better. Therefore, we have a minimum of rules and regulations for your guidance. In most cases, your own good judgment will tell you what is right and what is wrong. Actions outside your normal job responsibilities which could adversely af- feet Inter-City Federal Savings Bank's relationship with its membership and the business community will be cause for dismissal.
Brown interprets the provisions in the personnel manual as removing her employment from at-will status. She claims that the equal employment language obligated Inter-City to abide by that policy and that the probation and dismissal provisions allowed Inter-City to terminate its employees for cause only.
¶ 5. Brown's appeal to this Court focuses not on her constitutional right to be free from age and sex discrimination but rather on whether or not Inter-City breached its employment contract with her. As such we will examine Brown's contract claim to determine if the trial judge erred in concluding that Brown's employment with Inter-City was subject to the at-will doctrine.
¶ 6. We begin our inquiry by recognizing that Mississippi has followed the employment at-will doctrine since 1858. Coleman v. Mississippi Employment Sec. Comm'n, 662 So.2d 626, 628 (Miss.1995). Where there is either no employment contract or the contract fails to specify the length of the worker's employment, either party may terminate the employment at-will. Perry v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 508 So.2d 1086, 1088 (Miss.1987). This means that the employee is entitled to quit or the employer is entitled to terminate the employee for a good reason, a wrong reason, or no reason at all. Solomon v. Walgreen, 975 F.2d 1086, 1089 (5th Cir.1992). The Mississippi Supreme Court created an exception to the at-will doctrine in Bobbitt v. Orchard, Ltd., 603 So.2d 356, 361 (Miss.1992). The court in that case held that when an employer furnishes its employees with a manual which sets forth specific procedures to be followed in reprimanding, suspending, or discharging its employees, then the employer is obligated to follow its own provisions. Id. Our inquiry then must focus on whether or not the terms of the Inter-City manual were specific enough to impose contractual liability upon the bank.
¶ 7. The employment manual in Bobbitt provided an extensive list of minor, major, and intolerable offenses along with procedures to be used in administering disciplinary action, Id. at 359-60, whereas the manual in the present case contained vague provisions governing dismissal. The fact that the dismissal portion of the manual stated that "[a]ctions outside your normal job responsibilities which could adversely affect Inter-City Federal Savings Bank's relationship with its membership and the business community will be cause for dismissal" did not indicate that those acts were the only permissible grounds for termination. Hartle v. Packard Elec., a Div. of General Motors Corp., 626 So.2d 106, 110 (Miss.1993).
¶ 8. Therefore, it is this Court's opinion that Inter-City's personnel manual did not change Brown's status from an at-will employee to one protected by an employment contract. When the indefinite language in the Inter-City personnel manual is compared with the contractual language in Bobbitt, it is clear that the bank's policy was non-binding and did not create a contractual obligation on the part of Inter-City. Accordingly, we find that the circuit court judge committed no error in granting Inter-City's motion for summary judgment.
II. DID THE CIRCUIT COURT ERR IN DISMISSING BROWN'S INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS CLAIM?
¶ 9. Brown next argues that Woods's conduct caused her such anguish that she was entitled to recover damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress. However, in order to prevail, the conduct must have been "so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency, and to be regarded as atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community." Pegues v. Emerson Elec. Co., 913 F.Supp. 976, 982 (N.D.Miss.1996) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 cmt. d. (1965)). "The liability clearly does not extend to mere insults, indignities, threats, annoyances, petty oppression, or other trivialities." Lawson v. Heidelberg Eastern, 872 F.Supp. 335, 338 (N.D.Miss.1995) (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 46 cmt. d. (1965)). "[I]t is the nature of the act itself-as opposed to the seriousness of the consequences-which gives impetus to legal redress." Pegues, 913 F.Supp. at 982 (quoting Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Devers, 405 So.2d 898, 902 (Miss.1981)). Furthermore, damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress are usually not recoverable in mere employment disputes. Pegues, 913 F.Supp. at 982. "Only in the most unusual cases does the conduct move out of the 'realm of an ordinary employment dispute' into the classification of 'extreme and outrageous,' as required for the tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress." Prunty v. Arkansas Freightways, Inc., 16 F.3d 649, 654 (5th Cir.1994) (citations omitted).
¶ 10. Although Woods's treatment of Brown may have been upsetting and inappropriate, no reasonable juror could conclude that it rose to the level of "extreme and outrageous." More is required to support an intentional infliction of emotional distress recovery than the usual age discrimination claim. Wilson v. Monarch Paper Co., 939 F.2d 1138, 1144 (5th Cir. 1991). We, therefore, agree with the lower court that Brown's claim could not survive Inter-City's motion for summary judgment. As such, we find no cause to reverse the lower court's order.
¶ 11. THE JUDGMENT OF THE WINSTON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT IS AFFIRMED. COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO THE APPELLANT.
BRIDGES, C.J., and McMILLIN and THOMAS, P.JJ., KING, and SOUTHWICK, JJ., concur.
PAYNE, J., dissenting with separate written opinion, joined by COLEMAN, J.
IRVING and LEE, JJ., not participating.