Opinion ID: 2456
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Plaintiff's Contract and Quasi-Contract Claims

Text: Plaintiff next argues that the district court erred by dismissing her breach of contract and breach of implied contract claims, premised on the allegation that the ILR School had an unofficial policy granting senior extension associates job security on par with that of tenured faculty that it violated by failing to renew her contract. She also contends that the district court improperly dismissed her claims for quantum meruit and unjust enrichment arising from work she performed as an academic advisor after her term of employment ended. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the district court dismissing all contractual and quasi-contractual claims, as plaintiff failed to raise any genuine issues of material fact on critical elements of those aforementioned causes of action.
In reversing the district court's initial dismissal of plaintiff's breach of contract claims, we determined that plaintiff properly pled a breach of contract claim by alleging that an unofficial Cornell policy granting lifetime employment to senior extension associates created a contractual relationship between the parties that Cornell breached in failing to renew her contract. As a threshold matter, it is unclear whether plaintiff appeals the district court's dismissal of both her breach of contract claim and her implied-in-fact contract claim arising from this alleged unofficial policy, or simply the latter cause of action. [7] However, as plaintiff has failed to produce any evidence substantiating the existence of an express contract, be it oral or written, guaranteeing her lifetime job security, the Court affirms the dismissal of her breach of contract claim. Thus, we turn to plaintiff's implied-in-fact contract claim. Under New York law, [a] contract implied in fact may result as an inference from the facts and circumstances of the case, although not formally stated in words, and is derived from the `presumed' intention of the parties as indicated by their conduct. Jemzura v. Jemzura, 36 N.Y.2d 496, 369 N.Y.S.2d 400, 330 N.E.2d 414, 420 (1975) (internal citations omitted); see, e.g., Parsa v. State, 64 N.Y.2d 143, 485 N.Y.S.2d 27, 474 N.E.2d 235, 237 (1984) (an implied-in-fact contract rests upon the conduct of the parties and not their verbal or written words). A contract implied in fact is as binding as one that is express, and similarly requires such elements as consideration, mutual assent, legal capacity and legal subject matter. Maas v. Cornell Univ., 94 N.Y.2d 87, 699 N.Y.S.2d 716, 721 N.E.2d 966, 970 (1999). However, [i]t is an elementary principle of contract law that, where there exists an express contract for compensation, an action outside that contract will not lie. Stissi v. Interstate & Ocean Transp. Co. of Phila., 814 F.2d 848, 851 (2d Cir.1987); see Clark-Fitzpatrick, Inc. v. Long Island R.R. Co., 70 N.Y.2d 382, 521 N.Y.S.2d 653, 516 N.E.2d 190, 193 (1987) (A `quasi contract' only applies in the absence of an express agreement....). As defendants have correctly noted, plaintiff's employment was governed by a series of appointment letters stating the definite term of her appointment. Although plaintiff argues that the letters do not constitute express contracts because they do not bear her signature and are contingent upon funding, we disagree. To form a valid contract under New York law, there must be an offer, acceptance, consideration, mutual assent and intent to be bound. Register.com, Inc. v. Verio, Inc., 356 F.3d 393, 427 (2d Cir.2004) (internal quotations omitted). Plaintiff seems to suggest that the absence of her signature on the letter indicates that she did not assent to be bound by the terms contained therein. However, [t]he manifestation or expression of assent necessary to form a contract may be by word, act, or conduct which evinces the intention of the parties to contract. Maffea v. Ippolito, 247 A.D.2d 366, 668 N.Y.S.2d 653, 654 (1998) (emphasis added) (citing 22 N.Y. Jur.2d, Contracts, § 29). A party's conduct indicates assent when he intends to engage in the conduct and knows or has reason to know that the other party may infer from his conduct that he assents. Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 19(2) (1981). It is undisputed that plaintiff performed teaching services pursuant to the terms of the letter appointments, indicating her assent to be bound by them. Her signature is not required to demonstrate assent. Likewise, the budgetary contingency provision does not render the agreement invalid. Therefore, plaintiff's action for quasi-contract related to allegations of unofficial tenure must fail, in the face of valid agreements governing the same subject matter. Although we noted in our prior decision that this claim survived a motion to dismiss because plaintiff had alleged that documentation supported the existence of this unofficial lifetime appointment, or the equivalent of being a tenured professor, plaintiff has found no such documentation after full discovery to support such an allegation and contradict the express terms of the appointment letters and Cornell policy. It is undisputed that plaintiff has not put forth any written policy that conferred tenure or the equivalent of tenure for senior extension associates; in fact, the policy states precisely the contrary. Instead, plaintiff attempts to create an issue of material fact by pointing to the defendants' purported failure to follow the process in the ILR Faculty Personnel Policies for Reappointment and Promotion of Non-tenured Faculty Members. However, we find this evidence and argument unavailing. As an initial matter, the policy refers only to assistant professors (i.e., tenure-track professors) and does not reference senior extension associates and, thus, does not explicitly apply to them. In any event, the mere fact that reappointment procedures were not always followed or that reappointments were often pro forma does not support a reasonable inference that Cornell was abandoning its policy and agreements that explicitly referenced a five-year term and, instead, bestowing lifetime guarantees of employment on its non-tenured, term employees. Moreover, the hearsay statements or rumors on this issue recounted in discovery by certain Cornell employees are insufficient to undermine the explicit terms of plaintiff's appointment letters and Cornell policy. The lack of sufficient evidence to create a material issue of fact on this point is perhaps best illustrated by plaintiff's own statements and conduct. Specifically, in an e-mail to a friend in 2000, plaintiff referred to herself as just a lowly, untenured Extension person. Moreover, she asked unsuccessfully to be placed on the tenure track in 1990 and again in 1993. In sum, we find that the district court correctly determined that the terms of her reappointment letter and Cornell policy both explicitly indicated that her contract term was for five years, and plaintiff failed to produce sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude, notwithstanding those explicit terms, the existence of an unofficial tenure policy for senior extension associates. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's grant of summary judgment in defendants' favor on the contractual claims related to the alleged unofficial tenured position.
The district court also dismissed on summary judgment plaintiff's claims related to work she performed with students after she ended her employment with Cornell in December 2002. Specifically, plaintiff argued that she was entitled to compensation for her continued involvement as a Senior Honor Theses advisor to two students in the spring of 2003. As set forth below, we agree with the district court that these claims are properly subject to dismissal on summary judgment. As stated above, an implied-in-fact contract requires such elements as consideration, mutual assent, legal capacity and legal subject matter. Maas, 699 N.Y.S.2d 716, 721 N.E.2d at 970. In our prior decision, we concluded that plaintiff had failed to plead properly any mutual assent between the parties that she would be compensated for work performed after her term of employment. However, we instructed the district court to grant her leave to replead. See Leibowitz II, 445 F.3d at 593. Plaintiff amended the claim and discovery was conducted, after which the district court determined that she had failed to provide any evidence of mutual assent that Cornell agreed to pay her for her services after her retirement. Leibowitz III, 2007 WL 3019223, at  11. Specifically, the Court noted that Defendants did not consent to paying plaintiff additional compensation after she retired; plaintiff already had a pre-existing duty to perform and complete the terms of her contract. Id. (citation omitted). We agree. [8] There is no evidence that plaintiff sought permission to charge for academic advisory services performed after her employment had concluded, or that any representative of the University intended to compensate her for them. Accordingly, in the absence of any proof of mutual assent, plaintiffs implied-in-fact contractual claim for the performance of these services must fail. Plaintiff also appeals the district court's dismissal of her quasi-contractual claims, [9] based on the same nexus of facts. [10] In order to recover in quantum meruit under New York law, a claimant must establish `(1) the performance of services in good faith, (2) the acceptance of the services by the person to whom they are rendered, (3) an expectation of compensation therefor, and (4) the reasonable value of the services.' Mid-Hudson Catskill Rural Migrant Ministry, Inc., 418 F.3d at 175 (quoting Revson v. Cinque & Cinque, P.C., 221 F.3d 59, 69 (2d Cir. 2000)); see also Beth Israel Med. Ctr., 448 F.3d at 586. A claimant seeking relief under a theory of unjust enrichment in New York must demonstrate (1) that the defendant benefitted; (2) at the plaintiff's expense; and (3) that equity and good conscience require restitution. In re Mid-Island Hosp., Inc., 276 F.3d 123, 129 (2d Cir.2002) (internal quotations omitted). As with plaintiff's implied-in-fact contractual claim, we previously instructed the district court to grant her leave to replead this claim, as she had failed to allege any basis for a finding that, in the absence of contract, Cornell should be required to pay for her work as a matter of equity. Leibowitz II, 445 F.3d at 593. The district court dismissed this claim on summary judgment because plaintiff did not establish a reasonable expectation of compensation or specify the reasonable value of services provided. Leibowitz III, 2007 WL 3019223, at . Specifically, the Court noted the following: (1) plaintiff was not asked to perform the services rendered, but rather volunteered them, (2) ILR School policy was clear that teachers who were no longer employed by the University could provide advisory services on a voluntary basis only, and (3) plaintiff's $25,000 bill (which annualized to a rate of $500,000 per year) was grossly disproportionate to any actual value of the services rendered, particularly in comparison to her annual salary of $110,000, which included approximately $30,000 in gross travel expense reimbursement. Id. The Court agrees with this analysis; as stated above, plaintiff has offered no evidence that she expressed an expectation of compensation prior to the performance of the services or that anyone at the University indicated she would receive it. To that end, she has failed to establish that the rate she charged represented a reasonable value of her services, particularly when compared to the salary she received when employed by the University. Further, in the absence of any proof that plaintiff had a reasonable basis for believing she would receive compensation, and in the amount specified by the invoice submitted to Dean Lawler, it cannot be said that principles of equity require any restitution. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's dismissal of plaintiff's quasi-contractual claims.