California Supreme Court Reaffirms The At Will Doctrine
The California Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Dore vs. Arnold Worldwide, Inc. strengthens employers’ ability to terminate employees without cause. The Court ruled that an employee’s offer letter stating that his employment was “at will” and that his employment could be terminated “at any time,” means what it says.
Dore, who was living in Colorado, began negotiations with AWI for a job based in Los Angeles. He claimed that during negotiations AWI had told him that it had a new account that someone was required to manage on a long-term basis, that he would “play a critical role in growing the agency,” that AWI was looking for “a long-term fix, not a Band-Aid,” and that AWI employees were treated like family.
After the negotiations, AWI sent Dore a confirming letter stating:
Brook, please know that as with all of our company employees, your employment with Arnold Communications, Inc. is at will. This simply means that Arnold Communications has the right to terminate your employment at any time just as you have the right to terminate your employment with Arnold Communications, Inc. at any time.
When Dore was later terminated without cause, he attempted to argue that the language in the offer letter was ambiguous because it failed to specifically mention whether his termination could be with or without cause. Furthermore, he argued that there was an implied-in-fact contract that arose out of the comments made to him about the stability of his job, leading him to believe that he could only be terminated for cause.
The Court dispensed with Dore’s argument that the letter was ambiguous:
We disagree with Dore that the verbal formulation “at any time” in the termination clause of an employment contract is per se ambiguous merely because it does not expressly speak to whether cause is required. As a matter of simple logic, rather, such a formulation ordinarily entails the notion of “with or without cause.
The Court continued to explain:
An at-will employment may be ended by either party ‘at any time without cause,’ for any or no reason, and subject to no procedure except the statutory requirement of notice.” (Guz v. Bechtel National, Inc., supra, 24 Cal.4th at p. 335.) For the parties to specify—indeed to emphasize—that Dore’s employment was at will (explaining that it could be terminated at any time) would make no sense if their true meaning was that his employment could be terminated only for cause. Thus, even though AWI’s letter defined “at will” as meaning “at any time,” without specifying it also meant without cause or for any or no reason, the letter’s meaning was clear.
The majority’s ruling is very helpful for employers who have clear “at-will” language in either their new hire packages and/or employee handbooks. However, Justice Moreno also notes in a concurring opinion that language authorizing termination “upon notice,” or after a specified notice period could leave the door open for an implied-contract argument.
The employer in Dore used seemingly clear language in its offer letter yet it had to go all the way to the California Supreme Court to have this language enforced. This ruling should be a reminder to employers in California to review the language contained in the offer letters, employee handbooks, and other documentation setting forth the status of employment to ensure that there is no room for doubt concerning the at will status of their employees.