Opinion ID: 720997
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Just Cause Contract.

Text: 14 IBM maintains that there is not substantial evidence of a just cause employment contract. California employment relationships are presumptively at-will. Cal.Lab.Code § 2922. Under an at-will employment relationship, employers can fire or demote employees for any reason or for no reason. Foley v. Interactive Data Corp., 254 Cal.Rptr. 211, 214 (Cal.1988). This presumption can be overcome, however, by evidence that the parties have entered into an express oral or written agreement specifying the length of employment or the grounds for termination. Id. at 223. 15 Mancinelli testified that when he interviewed for a position with IBM in 1967, he expressed concerns about job security and career potential. In response to these concerns, Mancinelli was told that IBM did not fire without a good reason. From this statement, a jury could reasonably infer that IBM had manifested an outward expression of hiring Mancinelli as a just cause employee. 3 See, e.g., Finch v. Brenda Raceway Corp., 27 Cal.Rptr. 531 (Cal.App.1994) (repeated assurances of job security during interview formed the basis of a just-cause contract). 16