Opinion ID: 714649
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Refusal to Admit Employment At-Will Disclaimer

Text: 46 Halliburton argues that the district court erred in refusing to admit a disclaimer signed by Touchet providing for employment at-will. Again, evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion, and will not be disturbed unless we have a definite and firm conviction that the district court made a clear error or exceeded the bounds of permissible choice under the circumstances. Gilbert, 989 F.2d at 402. 47 Halliburton sought to admit the disclaimer as evidence that Touchet's employment with Halliburton was at will, and there was no employment contract between the parties. Thus, without a contract for employment, Halliburton could not have breached any obligation to Touchet. The district court ruled that, because the disclaimer was not conspicuous, it was not relevant to the issue of whether a contract existed. The district court also stated that, in light of the overwhelming and uncontroverted evidence that the defendant's policies were contrary to that document, the evidence could be excluded under Rule 403. Order Denying Defendant's Post Trial Motions at 44. We agree with the district court that the disclaimer evidence was irrelevant and, even if relevant, was more prejudicial than probative and properly excluded under Fed.R.Evid. 403. 48 The Wyoming Supreme Court has stated that for a disclaimer to be effective if must be conspicuous. McDonald v. Mobil Coal Producing, Inc., 820 P.2d 986, 988 (Wyo.1991) (McDonald II ). Whether a disclaimer is conspicuous is a matter of law for the court to decide. Id. The disclaimer statement at issue was contained in an agreement between Touchet and Halliburton signed in 1963. Under the agreement, Touchet granted to Halliburton the rights to certain intellectual property he might develop in connection with his job, [i]n consideration of the agreement of the company to employ or continue to employ the undersigned, it being understood that such employment may be terminated at the will of the Company. Appellant's App. at 524 (emphasis added). The district court held that this disclaimer was not conspicuous, and we agree. 49 Halliburton argues that, even if the disclaimer was not conspicuous, it should have been admitted to assist the jury in its overall determination of whether there was an employment contract between Touchet and Halliburton. In support of this argument, Halliburton relies on subsequent language from McDonald II stating that even inconspicuous disclaimers figure in determination of the factual question of whether an employment contract existed. 50 In McDonald II, the court first reviewed the employer's attempted disclaimers in the employment application and the employee handbook, and held that they were insufficiently conspicuous to be binding on [the employee]. 820 P.2d at 989. However, the court then addressed the question of whether, under the objective theory of contracts, the employer made sufficient objective manifestations of intent to contract. Id. at 990. The disclaimers at issue were relevant to the question of whether the employee was objectively reasonable in assuming the employer was inviting his assent to contract. Id. In McDonald II, the employee's allegations of the existence of a contract were based upon representations in the employee handbook itself, McDonald v. Mobil Coal Producing, Inc., 789 P.2d 866, 868 (Wyo.1990) (stating facts of case) (McDonald I ), modified, McDonald II, 820 P.2d 986, and the legally inconspicuous disclaimers were in the handbook and within an employment application signed when the employee was hired and just one year before his termination. McDonald I, 789 P.2d at 867-68. Thus, disclaimers made in connection with the recent hiring of the employee and the handbook that formed the basis of the employee's claim were relevant to the objective reasonableness of the employee's belief that the employer intended to contract--irrespective of whether they were conspicuous. 51 However, the disclaimer in the case before us is distinguishable from that in McDonald I & II. Touchet signed the agreement containing the disclaimer in question at the time he was hired. 8 However, the disclaimer related specifically to consideration in exchange for his agreement to turn over certain intellectual property to Halliburton--as opposed to inclusion in a general application for employment--and the disclaimer was signed 29 years before Touchet's termination. Touchet's claim as to the existence of an employment contract is based upon subsequent events, as well as Halliburton's Employee Handbook dated July, 1987. Standing alone, this inconspicuous disclaimer from and agreement regarding intellectual property, signed in 1963, has little if any relevance to the issue of whether there was a contract between Touchet and Halliburton in 1992. Thus, we cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in excluding the disclaimer because it was irrelevant or, at least, more prejudicial than probative.