Connecticut Employment Lawyer & Attorney : Daniel Schwartz : Stamford, Hartford New Haven, CT

The Connecticut Appellate Court today unofficially released a Per Curium decision that affirms the general principle that a contract for an indefinite term is a contract for at-will employment, even in the apparent absence of express terms. 

In Ward v. Distinctive Directories, Inc., (officially released on October 23, 2007), the Court was asked to review a lower court's decision finding at an at-will employment existed and that the Plaintiff has failed to present evidence of misrepresentation.

The facts are straightforward:

The plaintiff accepted an offer for employment as a sales representative on a commission basis. The defendant agreed to guarantee that the plaintiff’s income would be at least $4583.33 per month for the first six months of employment. The defendant terminated the plaintiff’s employment after less than three months for nonperformance. The plaintiff construed the employment contract as entitling her to compensation for six months, whether or not her relationship with the defendant had been terminated.

The court notes that because the contract was for an indefinite duration (despite highlighting her compensation for the first six months), she was an at-will employee for the company. (The company produces items such as The Valley Book and West Hartford Book.) The court readily disposes of rest of the Plaintiff's claims that she had been misled.

It suffices to note that the plaintiff had the opportunity to persuade the trial court that she had been misled and misused. She does not claim that the court made evidentiary rulings that precluded her from proving her case. She does not deny the authority of the court to make determinations of credibility. Because we are not persuaded that any of the court’s findings were clearly erroneous, we cannot sustain the plaintiff’s appellate claims.

The Court, however, reserved its harshest criticism for the Plaintiff's apparent failure to understand the significance that an at-will employment finding has on her employment claims.

As Judge Bryant noted, the plaintiff’s appeal manifests her failure to grasp the significance of [an earlier] ruling that, as a matter of law, her employment contract with the defendant was terminable at will. Having agreed to such a contract, the plaintiff took the risk that her employment would end earlier than she had anticipated. The defendant did not have to justify its termination of their relationship.

The case is a good reminder for practitioners that although the at-will doctrine may be eroded in some instances, it is far from a toothless doctrine.  Moreover, for HR professionals, the decision is a reminder that an at-will disclaimer on any offer letters is a best practice worth following. 

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In Connecticut, the loyalties between the Red Sox and Yankees are about evenly split.   So, for now, it's baseball nirvana here in the state.   If both win their divisional series, there will be many late nights here in Connecticut watching a Yankees-Red Sox matchup.

In honor of the baseball playoffs beginning this week, I thought I would pass along some materials regarding the employment contracts of some baseball players.  And where would I turn for such information? 

It turns out the Baseball Hall of Fame has a whole website discussing the Labor History of Baseball.   Its a fascinating site that outlines a whole educational program that high schools or colleges can run about baseball's labor history, complete with profiles and source documents.  I'm certain that if my school had such a course, I would've been the first to sign up.  (Ithaca College -- near the Hall of Fame -- has run such a course over the years.)

Hidden on that site are some nuggets: the actual employment contracts of some baseball players.  Given my love of the Yankees, I thought I would post a few: Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and portions of Derek Jeter's. 

As you will see, these are not your "standard" employment contracts.  After all, how many contracts do you know that have a limitation on the athlete playing impromptu billiards or darts?

Of course, the labor history of baseball is much more than just about the contracts.  Cases such as the Curt Flood litigation regarding free agency have set precedent for employment of athletes in all of sports. And there are even arbitration procedures for companies set up to follow "baseball arbitration" or "night baseball arbitration". 

As you watch the playoff games this month, the Baseball Hall of Fame's website is nice compliment to that experience.  And you can thank baseball for its involvement in setting precedent in the employment law arena

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When I first started practicing, each attorney used to keep their "form" files.  What were these? Copies of key documents that could be used over and over again.  Now, with the advent of computer databases, sharing information within a firm is routine and easy.

But suppose you wanted to find out what other attorneys or companies were doing; wouldn't it be great if you could see the work product of others for free?  Turns out you can --- you just need to know where to look.

Here are four websites that I routinely peek at to see what others are doing and for inspiration.

1.  Suppose that a client asks for a copy of the latest executive employment agreements.  Did you know that major corporations are required to file many of those agreements agreements with the SEC and are available for free?  In other words, you too can review contracts that were done by attorneys at all the largest US lawfirms.  One excellent (if slightly outdated) resource  that compiles such SEC filings is OneCLE.com. 

2.  Similarly, the Footnoted blog, routinely digs up nuggets from SEC filings.  On Friday, a new blogger for Footnoted, Wendy Fried, had an intriguing post about the employment agreement for Cosi's new president.  Wendy's other site, Proxyland, reviews other SEC filings, like Compensation Discussions and Analysis, such as this one for Gymboree.  Of course, you could just look up the SEC filings, but we're all a little stretched for time.

3.  Although not technically "free", court databases are a great resource for lawyers is to look at what other lawfirms are filing in federal court cases.  For example, suppose you'd like to see how a lawfirm drafted a winning summary judgment motion, how do you go about doing that without knowing the case name? Two straightforward steps. First, go to the Connecticut District court opinions website and browse recent decisions by topic.  Once you locate a name or number, go to the District Court's Electronic Court Filing system and type in the case name or number. (Registration and a nominal fee of 8 cents per page is required.)  You can easily find a motion for summary judgment in the docket listings for a case.  You can also look up exhibits that are filed as well.

4. One buzzword of late has been to set up "best practices" for employers. The EEOC issued a report a few years ago that is as valuable for ideas as ever, called, "Best Practices of Private Sector Employers".  For in-house counsel and outside counsel coming up with ideas for improving a corporations internal practices and policies, this document can provide a valuable head start. 

What are the websites that you use to get a head start on a contract or other form? Any other hidden treasures out there on the Internet?

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