Opinion ID: 720997
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Breach of Contract and Covenant.

Text: 17 IBM argues that even if there were an express contract, there is no breach because it had good cause to remove Mancinelli as the branch manager of the Sacramento facility. 4 IBM also argues that there is no evidence of bad faith to support the jury's finding that IBM breached its covenant of good faith and fair dealing. IBM claims: 1) it followed its own company policies by investigating Mancinelli's personal relationship with a co-worker; 2) it had significant evidence that Mancinelli's relationship with the co-worker caused disruption and discord; and 3) the alternate jobs offered to Mancinelli were more than appropriate for someone with his qualifications. 18 It is not, of course, our job to reweigh the evidence. We can only determine whether there was substantial evidence that IBM's actions were trivial, capricious, unrelated to business needs or goals, or pretextual. Wilkerson v. Wells Fargo Bank, 261 Cal.Rptr. 185, 192 (Cal.App.1989). 19 To that end, Mancinelli presented evidence that he performed his job well and his employees liked him. Although IBM had a general policy to protect the private lives of its employees, IBM nonetheless investigated his. Moreover, other IBM employees in Sacramento dated or were married to co-workers without company intervention. The evidence also revealed that while IBM removed Mancinelli as branch manager, the other party to the relationship received a promotion and pay raise. Finally, although IBM allowed other executives to go on special assignment while looking for a suitable new position, Mancinelli was given only three days to decide whether to accept one of two out-of-state positions, which were steps down in grade level, pay and responsibility. 20 Reasonable minds could accept this evidence to support a conclusion that IBM's proffered reasons for removing Mancinelli as branch manager were pretextual, and made in bad faith. See Rulon-Miller v. International Business Mach. Corp., 208 Cal.Rptr. 524 (Cal.App.1984) (affirming jury verdict that IBM acted pretextually in firing employee allegedly because of her romantic relationship with employee of competitor). 21