Griffin v. Elkhart General Hospital, Inc.

585 N.E.2d 723, 1992 Ind. App. LEXIS 166, 1992 WL 23211
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 11, 1992
DocketNo. 50A03-9108-CV-264
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 585 N.E.2d 723 (Griffin v. Elkhart General Hospital, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Griffin v. Elkhart General Hospital, Inc., 585 N.E.2d 723, 1992 Ind. App. LEXIS 166, 1992 WL 23211 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

STATON, Judge.

Patrick Griffin appeals the entry of summary judgment in favor of Elkhart General Hospital (“Hospital”) in his action for breach of contract of employment, raising [724]*724the sole issue of whether the trial court properly entered summary judgment.

We affirm.

In August of 1988, Griffin, who had been employed by Hospital since 1979 as a Director of Plant Operations, was offered a position at Hospital as a Director — Construction Management overseeing the construction of the new Energy Center Complex. The terms of his promotion are set out in a memorandum sent to him by Kevin Britt, a vice president of Hospital, which states:

Pursuant to our discussion of August 8, 1988, wherein you requested an opportunity to depart from the role of Director-Plant Operations and Maintenance to assume the newly created position of Director-Construction Management, I am prepared to approve your request for said change, under the following terms and conditions:
a) The position, as we discussed, is projected to enjoy a duration of APPROXIMATELY THREE (3) YEARS. I am unable to guarantee a specific timeframe for the position, nor predict a precise termination point.
b) Your ability to maintain this position will, as with all positions at EGH, be predicated on your performance in this new capacity.
c) The position will report directly to the Vice President-Operations, who will complete the annual performance review.
d) Your current salary and benefits will transfer to this new capacity; your salary will be frozen at the current level for the duration of your role as Director-Construction Management.
e) Appropriate office space and clerical support will be provided you in this new role.
I understand and agree to the points defined herein.
8/11/88
Date
/s/ Patrick T. Griffin Patrick T. Griffin
Record, 373 (emphasis in original).

Griffin was terminated in May of 1989 and brought this lawsuit, alleging his termination was a violation of the above employment contract. Hospital moved for summary judgment, and the motion was granted by the trial court, which found that the memorandum “did not promise employment to [Griffin] for a fixed period of time so as to convert his status from that of an employee at will to that of a contractual employee.” Record, p. 78. This appeal followed.

On an appeal from a summary judgment, we must determine whether the record reveals a genuine issue of material fact and whether the trial court correctly applied the law. Shuamber v. Henderson (1991), Ind., 579 N.E.2d 452, 454. Any doubt as to a fact, or an inference to be drawn, is resolved in favor of the nonmoving party. Id. Summary judgment will be affirmed if it is sustainable upon any theory supported by the record. Kolczynski v. Maxton Motors, Inc. (1989), Ind.App., 538 N.E.2d 275, 276, transfer denied.

Griffin argues that the inter-office memorandum was not the complete expression of the employment agreement between the parties, and therefore a question of fact remained as to the terms of the agreement rendering summary judgment inappropriate. Hospital counters that even if the memorandum was not the complete agreement between the parties, the representations which Griffin alleges were made to him do not establish that Griffin was more than an at-will employee. Hospital is correct.

The employment at will doctrine states that where the tenure of service of an employee is indefinite or cannot be determined by the terms of the employment; contract, employment is presumptively terminable at the will of either party. Streckfus v. Gardenside Terrace Co-op., Inc. (1987), Ind., 504 N.E.2d 273, 275; Tri-City Comprehensive Comm. Mental Health v. Franklin (1986), Ind.App., 498 N.E.2d 1303, 1305. The employee at will may be [725]*725discharged by his employer for any cause whatsoever, or for no cause, without giving rise to an action for damages. Tri-City, supra, at 1305.

On its face the memorandum, even when viewed in the light most favorable to Griffin, does not purport to grant Griffin a fixed and definite tenure of employment. However, Griffin contends that his deposition testimony, when viewed in the light most favorable to him, establishes an issue of fact as to whether the contract of employment had a definite term. Griffin argues that his deposition testimony establishes that the term of his employment was tied to the completion of the Energy Center. He points to the following testimony:

Q Did you sign it [the memo] in the same conversation with him [Britt]?
A No. He told me to take it and review it and think about it. I expressed concerns about the time frame. He guaranteed me and gave me his verbal guarantee, “You will be here for three years. No problem. If the Energy Center goes longer, you’ll be here to the completion of the Energy Center.”

Record, p. 208. However, Griffin also testified as follows:

Q Did you read [the memo] before you signed it?
A Oh, yeah.
Q Did you have any problem understanding anything in it?
A No. I understood it perfectly.
Q Did you think it accurately reflected what your agreement was?
A As far as what the hospital’s requirements were and what they were offering me and what I was accepting from the hospital, yes.
Q So you think it accurately reflected what your understanding, yours and the hospital’s, was about you going into this position?
A Right. This told me exactly what the hospital was guaranteeing me.

Record, p. 209. With regard to the date of termination, he testified:

Q Paragraph A of [the memo] says that the position, referring to the director of construction management, is projected to enjoy a duration of approximately three years, and it says, “I am unable to guarantee a specific time frame for the position nor predict a precise termination point.”
That’s referring to the fact that the idea was that it would match however long it took to do the Energy Center; is that right?
A A minimum of that. It could have lasted longer, 10 years, 12 years.
Q If they decide to do some other construction or something like that?
A Yeah.
Q So really, it was an indefinite duration at that time depending on what other construction was going to be done?

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Bluebook (online)
585 N.E.2d 723, 1992 Ind. App. LEXIS 166, 1992 WL 23211, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/griffin-v-elkhart-general-hospital-inc-indctapp-1992.