Court Opinion

ID: 9760524
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 00:58:43.855937+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:26:51.901049
License: Public Domain

John I. Purtle, Justice, dissenting. This is the appropriate time to keep our promise made in Jackson v. Kinark Corp., 282 Ark. 548, 669 S.W.2d 898 (1984). After three years and several cases, we are again asked to soften the harshness of our prior decisions concerning the common law doctrine of “employment-at-will.” If we are ever to recognize and alter the harsh and unjust results of our past decisions, it should be now. After the abolishment of slavery in 1865 the employment relationship became known as “master-servant.” As late as 1968 this Court determined that a “servant” is an employee whose physical conduct is subject to the master’s right of control. Hinson v. Culberson-Stowers Chevrolet, Inc., 244 Ark. 853, 427 S.W.2d 539 (1968).We have now elevated the relationship to one of “employer-employee.” Sandy v. Salter, 260 Ark. 486, 541 S.W.2d 929 (1976). Our existing strict adherence to the employment-at-will doctrine is archaic and in need of revision. If an employee agrees to work and be bound by conditions and restrictions set out in a policy manual or employee handbook prepared by the employer, the employer should also be bound by the same guidelines. There is no equitable or just reason why an agreement such as this one should not be enforced. Our prior decisions have allowed the employer to do as he wishes in the employment relationship except that we have recognized that the employee has the right to quit at will. The employee’s right to quit at will is an unequal exchange for all he gives up for that single right. It is time to balance the equities. In the present case Loretta Samples seeks only to have her contract of employment construed in accordance with the written declarations of the employee handbook. This is not too much to ask. According to testimony presented at the trial both parties considered these written terms to be binding. At the very least there was a jury question presented at the trial level. In Jackson we remanded the case for further proceedings. Jackson involved a fact situation almost identical to the present case. We have said in the past that there must be mutuality of obligation to support the existence of a contract. J.L. McEntire and Sons, Inc. v. Hart Cotton Company, Inc., 256 Ark. 937, 511 S.W.2d 179 (1974). In the present case the pay received by the appellant for her work is ample consideration from the appellee. The employer received the following consideration from the appellant: (1) labor needed to efficiently operate the hospital; (2) dependable performance of her duties; (3) a probationary period of six months before permanent employment to determine her competence and dependability; (4) the right to discharge her if she did not abide by the rules stated in the manual; (5) the right to counsel and reprimand her or take other disciplinary action; (6) her participation in the retirement plan after one year of employment; (7) her signature acknowledging receipt and reading of the manual; and (8) a promise of a fifteen day written notice of intention to resign. It would appear that by requiring an employee to read and sign the policy manual at the beginning of employment, that such policies became terms of the employment contract. In addition, the employees were furnished copies of all changes in the handbook. This manual was written and printed by the employer. At page three it stated: “No rights are guaranteed under any personnel policies until the probationary period is completed.” There was no reason to include this statement unless it meant that after six months the rights stated in the manual were to become enforceable. The heart of the problem before us is on pages sixty-five and sixty-six of the manual where it purports to implement an attendance policy. Step one provides that counseling will be given to any employee who has three incidents of unauthorized absences within a period of twelve weeks. Step two makes the same provisions for two or more additional incidents within the following twelve weeks. Step two makes the same provisions for two or more additional incidents within the following twelve weeks. Step three calls for a three day suspension, without pay, if there are two additional unauthorized absences. Step four provides for a five day suspension, without pay, for the next two days absence during the next twelve weeks. Step five provides for termination if there are two or more unauthorized absences following step four. It is mandatory that employees comply with all portions of the manual. Employees read the manual at the time they are hired and sign a form stating that they have read it. The policy manual requires employees to give a written notice before resigning. The hospital administrator testified that he expected employees to follow the terms of the manual and that employees are justified in thinking that management will also follow the same policies. The only way for the appellee to avoid the terms of the contract is to hide behind one of the six month probation clauses. There are two such clauses contained in the manual. The first one applies to initial periods of the employment and the second one applies to periods following a transfer or promotion. The second period of probation is for the purpose of evaluating the employee’s performance of new job responsibilities. The manual states: “During this probationary period, the employee will receive all benefits he/she was entitled to before the transfer or promotion [Emphasis added].” Therefore, it is reasonable and logical to interpret the second or successive period of probation as applying only to the new responsibilities of the position to which the employee has been transferred or promoted. To construe it otherwise would, in effect, deny the employee the rights acquired upon the completion of the initial six-month probation period. The appellant did not receive the consultations as provided in the policy manual. In fact there is little, if any, proof that she violated policy. It is undisputed that she did not receive any of the benefits mandated by the five-step procedure. This five-step procedure was a part of the manual and was agreed upon before her employment began. The personnel manager for the appellee stated that after the six-month probation period the employees are guaranteed the rights stated in the manual. She also testified that employees were not told they could be fired for no reason. The employee, the employer’s administrator, and the personnel manager all testified that the manual was binding upon both parties. The hospital administrator testified that he had never told an employee that he could be fired for no reason. It is logical then to assume that an employee could not be terminated without just cause. I must, therefore, conclude that there was a jury question presented and that the trial court improperly took away the jury’s right to decide the facts presented in this case. This is the appropriate case to change the harsh consequences of the common law doctrine of employment-at-will. The majority opinion is a well reasoned and well written opinion except for the disappointing conclusion and result. Although this dissent is directed to Samples, it applies with equal force to Gladden. I would reverse and remand for a trial on the merits of the case.