Opinion ID: 1966804
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Procedural Protection of the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing

Text: ¶ 44. Dr. LoPresti's claim that Physician Group breached the covenant by employing a bad faith process in firing him is similarly unavailing. To the extent that Physician Group provided him with a reason for his termination, [6] ostensibly that the office where he worked was being closed, he argues that this was a pretext for the real reason he was terminated  failure to refer patients to certain specialists. He argues that this alleged subterfuge deprived him of the opportunity to protect his rights, because he would have made a greater effort to explain his referral practices in hopes of reversing Physician Group's decision to terminate him. The flaw in this argument lies in Dr. LoPresti's suggestion that he had the right to permanent employment absent just cause for termination. The contract makes clear that he had no such right. ¶ 45. In Carmichael, we accepted the Restatement's view that `[s]ubterfuges and evasions violate the obligation of good faith in performance even though the actor believes his conduct to be justified.' 161 Vt. at 209, 635 A.2d at 1217 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 205 cmt. d (1981)). Again, we stress that the covenant's application varies with the context. Dicks v. Jensen, 172 Vt. at 52, 768 A.2d at 1285-86; Carmichael, 161 Vt. at 202, 635 A.2d at 1213. As a general matter, we discourage any subterfuge and evasion in employer/employee relations. Nonetheless, when, as here, the employer has no duty to provide the employee with any reason why he or she is being fired, subterfuge and evasions, though they may be reprehensible, are not actionable. Dr. LoPresti could have negotiated for terms that would have required Physician Group to provide him not only with notice prior to termination under § 1.2(c)(ii), but also with the reason for the termination decision. In fact, under Dr. LoPresti's physician's agreement § 1.2(c)(i), either party could terminate the agreement ninety days after providing the other party notice of a material breach. In that case, the alternative termination clause contemplates that, after receiving notice of a material breach, the other party will work to cure it. If the breaching party can cure the breach within thirty days, then the contract will not terminate. The bargain Dr. LoPresti struck with Physician Group left both parties with the choice of at least two means to terminate the contract. Physician Group cannot be penalized for exercising its choice as it did, even when doing so deprived Dr. LoPresti of the opportunity to change the minds of Physician Group's decisionmakers. ¶ 46. While public policy could supersede the written termination provision in this employment contract, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, as Dr. LoPresti has invoked it, will not. As we noted above, public policy restrictions on an employer's personnel decisions protect the public from conduct that transgresses widely held community values. Though the effect of its enforcement may be to protect a specific employee, its purpose is to deter conduct that is also directly or indirectly injurious to the public. To the extent that Dr. LoPresti invokes the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing to perform a like function in this case, we decline to write this redundancy into the law. If Dr. LoPresti falls short of carrying his burden on the public policy theory, we will not accept his invitation to apply the covenant as a remedy for what he sees as the unduly harsh operation of a freely bargained contractual term; in this case, the arms-length bargaining process between professionals delivered sufficient protection.