Foley v. Interactive Data Corp.

Facts

Plaintiff is a former employee of defendant. Plaintiff received a steady series of salary increases and in 1970 defendant promoted him to branch manager of its Los Angeles office. Plaintiff alleges defendant’s officers made repeated oral assurances of job security so long as his performance remained adequate. Plaintiff also alleged during his employment, defendant maintained written “Termination Guidelines” that set forth express grounds for discharge and a mandatory step pretermination procedure. Plaintiff alleged he reasonably believed defendant would not discharge him except for good cause, and therefore he refrained from accepting or pursuing other job opportunities. When plaintiff learned that Robert Kuhne, hired by defendant, was currently under investigation by FBI for embezzlement from his former employer, he reported this to the Vice President, Earnest. In early March, Kuhne informed plaintiff that defendant had decided to replace him for performance reasons. The next day, however, Kuhne offered neither a performance plan nor an option to transfer to another position.