Opinion ID: 147419
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Nattah's breach of contract claim against L-3

Text: Nattah brings a number of claims against L-3. The district court granted L-3's motion to dismiss all of them. Nattah, 541 F.Supp.2d at 233. We review the district court's dismissal for failure to state a claim de novo. See Muir v. Navy Fed. Credit Union, 529 F.3d 1100, 1108 (D.C.Cir.2008). Addressing only the claims Nattah raises on appeal, and accepting as true all factual allegations contained in his complaint, see id., we conclude Nattah's breach of contract claim is sufficient. Nattah contends he entered into an oral contract with L-3 at a career fair. First Am. Compl. ¶¶ 92-96, 281-84. He alleges agents of L-3 outlined the terms of employment and promised: (1) he would be provided certain benefits, including air-conditioned housing; (2) he would be required to work only in Kuwait; (3) he would not be sent to work in a war zone, including Iraq; and (4) he could be fired only for misconduct, lack of work due to termination or dimunition of L-3's contract with the U.S. government, or dereliction of duty. Id. ¶¶ 22, 95. He alleges L-3 subsequently breached the contract by failing to provide him the fringe benefits promised under the contract and by selling him to the U.S. military for service in Iraq. Id. ¶¶ 291-92. On appeal, L-3 argues Nattah makes contradictory allegations because he alleges he had an oral contract with L-3, yet he specifically states he signed an employment contract. L-3 Br. at 33-35. In the alternative, L3 argues Nattah's pleadings are not sufficient to state a breach of contract claim under Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007), and Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868, since he does not name which individuals made the alleged oral contract or establish they had authority to contract on behalf of L-3. L-3 Br. at 36-37. The district court concluded Nattah could not rely on the alleged oral contract. Nattah, 541 F.Supp.2d at 236. As an initial matter, the fact Nattah signed an offer letter from L-3 is not necessarily inconsistent with the existence of an oral contract. To be sure, the alleged oral contract between Nattah and L-3 may be contradicted by the offer letter to the extent Nattah was promised orally he could be terminated only for cause since the offer letter describes the relationship between L-3 and Nattah as voluntary. (J.A. 62). The offer letter, however, is silent as to the benefits Nattah alleges L-3 promised him (such as housing and meals), and, although Nattah did refer to the letter as a contract at least once in his amended complaint, First Am. Compl. ¶ 97, he also correctly acknowledged the letter explicitly stated it did not constitute either an express or implied contract. Id. ¶¶ 23, 283; (J.A. 62). Moreover, contrary to the argument of L-3's counsel, an at-will employer does not possess a unilateral right to retroactively reduce or revoke contractually agreed-upon benefits that have already vested. See 19 RICHARD A. LORD, WILLISTON ON CONTRACTS § 54:36 (4th ed.2010) (at-will employer may not retroactively deprive employee of vested rights, including employee benefits); see also Progress Printing Co., Inc. v. Nichols, 244 Va. 337, 421 S.E.2d 428, 430 (Va.1992) ([T]he [at-will] employer retains the right to alter [employment and benefit] policies at any time, although rights which have already vested in the employee are enforceable for the period of time during which those rights existed.). Modification of an at-will employment contract does not extinguish either the employee's original contract or his right to sue for its breach. See WILLISTON § 54.36. Thus, even assuming Nattah was an at-will employee, L-3 might nonetheless be obligated to provide promised benefits. Second, we conclude Nattah's amended complaint sufficiently describes his claim. Nattah alleges [a]gents of defendant [L-3] conveyed to him the terms of the oral contract, which included luxury apartment accommodations in Kuwait and assurances he would not be sent to Iraq. First Am. Compl. ¶¶ 93-94. L-3 attempts to use Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929, and Iqbal, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868, to enunciate a blanket rule that requires a plaintiff to plead every conceivable fact or face dismissal of his claim. L-3 Br. at 37. L-3, however, points to no language in Twombly or Iqbal requiring a plaintiff to identify by name which employee(s) made the agreement when pleading a breach of contract claim. See Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. at 1949 (stating Rule 8 . . . does not require `detailed factual allegations,' but it demands more than an unadorned, the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955)). Moreover, Nattah alleges with specificity the several terms of the oral contract and how L-3 breached those terms. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 92-103. Accordingly, we conclude Nattah's complaint states a claim against L-3 for breach of its oral contract with Nattah.