Court Opinion

ID: 9849354
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:38:48.017315+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:18.948422
License: Public Domain

Lockett, J.,
dissenting: Fettke filed a tort action against his employer for damages caused by a breach of his employment contract. The district court, and now the majority, has failed to recognize it as a contract action, instead applying tort law principles. A tort is a violation of a duty imposed by law. Mills v. City of Overland Park, 251 Kan. 434, Syl. ¶ 4, 837 P.2d 370 (1992). A contract is an agreement between two or more parties creating a binding obligation. Railsback v. Raines, 110 Kan. 220, 222-23, 203 Pac. 687 (1922). On breach of an employment agreement, parties are entitled to such damages as are a necessary result of the breach. Spencer v. Agnew, 112 Kan. 182, 184, 210 Pac. 485 (1922). Application of tort law to a contract action is legally impermissible under Ford Motor Credit Co. v. Suburban Ford, 237 Kan. 195, 699 P.2d 992, cert. denied 474 U.S. 995 (1985). Therefore, I respectfully dissent.
The employment relationship between the City of Wichita (city) and Fettke was governed by the police department Policies and Regulations Manual (Manual). As such, it governs the contractual duties of both parties in their employment relationship. This fact is acknowledged by the majority in the second sentence of its opinion, which states, “The claim is based on a violation of police department policy, i.e., releasing the officer’s name to the news media after a fatal shooting.”
*638Because this is a contract action based upon alleged employment rights created under a city policies and regulation manual, it should be analyzed under the rationale of Morriss v. Coleman Co., 241 Kan. 501, 738 P.2d 841 (1987). In Morriss, former employees brought an action against their employer and two of its supervisors for wrongful discharge. The former employees claimed the employment manual set forth certain employment rights; therefore, they were not employees-at-will. The employer asserted that because the manual stated nothing in the manual should be construed as a guarantee of employment, the former employees were employees-at-will. The district court granted the employer s motion for summary judgment.
The Morriss court observed that where it is alleged that an employment contract is one to be based upon a theory of “implied in fact,” the understanding and intent of parties is to be ascertained from several factors, which include written or oral negotiations, the conduct of the parties from the commencement of the employment relationship, the usages of the business, the situation and objective of the parties giving rise to the relationship, the nature of the employment, and any other circumstances surrounding the employment relationship which would tend to explain or make clear the intention of the parties at the time the employment commenced. It noted that every employment contract imposes upon each party a duty of good faith and fair dealing in its performance and enforcement. 241 Kan. 501, Syl. ¶¶ 1, 2.
The Morriss court then reversed the district court’s granting of summary judgment, finding that “there was a legitimate issue of fact whether ... an employee would not be terminated except for just cause” because other facts gave rise to the possibility of the existence of an implied employment contract. 241 Kan. at 513-14.
In the Manual, the city agreed not to release the names of its officers involved in critical incidents. Despite this agreement, the city released Fettke’s name after he was involved in a critical shooting incident. Fettke filed a tort action against the city based on breach of the employment contract (the Manual).
*639Because Fettke filed a tort claim against a governmental entity, the district court mistakenly believed the action was governed by the Kansas Tort Claims Act and determined the Act exempted the city from such claim.
The majority has also been similarly led astray by Fettke’s mischaracterization of his claim when filing suit. The confusion caused by the tort claim Fettke mistakenly brought and the breach of contract action he should have brought adds to the trend of Kansas courts to decide all claims against a governmental entity under the Kansas Tort Claims Act umbrella. See Brock v. Richmond-Berea Cemetery Dist., 264 Kan. 613, 957 P.2d 505 (1998) (holdings governmental entity engaged in private proprietary activity exempt from statutorily imposed liability under Kansas Tort Claims Act).
Applying the majority’s reasoning, contractual relationships between governmental entities and their employees are governed not by employment contracts, but rather by the Kansas Tort Claims Act. Application of tort law to a contract right interferes with governmental employees’ contract rights and is unconstitutional. See U.S. Const., art. I, § 10.