Opinion ID: 1213719
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Written Promises of Continued Employment

Text: Next, Yeager argues that written promises in the employee handbook converted his employment status into termination only for cause. [6] The employee handbook lists some general guidelines of personnel policy [7] and twenty-three modes of conduct that will absolutely result in dismissal. Among the prohibited behaviors listed are drunkenness, lewdness, fighting, and theft. From this, Yeager concludes that he could not be terminated unless he performed one of these proscribed modes of conduct. We disagree. Nothing in the handbook states that the twenty-three listed infractions are the exclusive causes for termination, nor does the handbook say that an employee will not be terminated on other grounds or for no reason at all. For example, why would Harrah's foreclose on its ability to hire and fire employees as the gaming markets expand and contract? Yeager's conclusion suggests that when market forces contract, Harrah's has to remain at full employment because market contraction is not among the listed causes for termination. It is doubtful that Harrah's would intend this result by listing certain proscribed conduct in an employee handbook. It is more plausible that Harrah's merely intended the handbook to be a guideline for employees to measure their conduct against. In support of his argument, Yeager relies on this court's holding in D'Angelo v. Gardner, 107 Nev. 704, 819 P.2d 206 (1991). In D'Angelo, the defendant, GEMCO, terminated D'Angelo for selling outdated film at a discount price without permission. The GEMCO employees' handbook contained a rule prohibiting unauthorized discounts to anyone without permission. The handbook also included a clause providing that any discharge for failing to do work as required had to be preceded by a written notice to the employee. D'Angelo was dismissed without notice. In a letter to the labor commissioner, GEMCO stated, As noted in the Handbook, which Mr. D'Angelo has read and acknowledged understanding of, deviation from this rule is considered most serious by the company and proper cause for discharge. Id. at 709, 819 P.2d at 210. This court held that there was a triable issue of fact because: GEMCO's reference to the handbook, the proclaimed understanding of the parties relative to the handbook, and GEMCO's reference to a rule violation taken from the handbook as being the cause of D'Angelo's dismissal, all tend to lead to the conclusion that the employment relationship was defined by the handbook and that both parties considered themselves bound by the handbook with reference to termination rights and processes. Id. While D'Angelo stands for the proposition that, under certain circumstances, an employee handbook can be incorporated into the employment agreement, it is not dispositive of the instant case. Unlike D'Angelo, Harrah's did not terminate Yeager for any of the twenty-three proscribed modes of conduct listed in the employee handbook. Instead, Yeager was dismissed because of corporate restructuring and because his duties duplicated those of another employee. Yeager also relies on American Bank Stationery v. Farmer, 106 Nev. 698, 799 P.2d 1100 (1990). In Farmer, this court concluded that an employee handbook rebutted the presumption that Farmer was an at-will employee because the handbook specifically said that an employee could only be terminated for cause. Id. at 702, 799 P.2d at 1102. The instant case is easily distinguishable from Farmer because Harrah's employee handbook does not proclaim that an employee can only be terminated for cause. Moreover, in Farmer this court also stated: We emphasize that this opinion does not stand for the proposition that an employee handbook explaining a company's policies regarding termination automatically transforms an at-will employee into an employee who may only be fired for cause. Such a holding could discourage companies from publishing such handbooks. Id. at 703, 799 P.2d at 1102. Finally, in D'Angelo this court declared: Just as there are cases in which handbooks and employment practices can be found to support an express or implied obligation of continued employment, so are there cases in which such an obligation is absent as a matter of law. D'Angelo, 107 Nev. at 710, 819 P.2d at 210. The instant case falls among the latter.