JOHN DE FELICE, APPELLANT,
v.
MOSS MANUFACTURING, INC., APPELLEE
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Florida appellate court affirmed summary judgment dismissing employment contract salary claim based on at-will employment doctrine, but reversed and remanded the guaranteed bonus claim because the contract did not clearly condition the bonus on continued employment through December 1981.
An employment contract without a definite term is terminable at will and does not support a salary claim, but a guaranteed bonus must be remanded for trial when the contract does not clearly condition payment on continued employment.
[1] An employment contract lacking a definite term is terminable at will and does not support a claim for salary, but a guaranteed bonus claim must proceed to trial when the…
Previewing 1 of 1 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the employment contract between the parties does not specifically obligate them for a definite term of employment, is therefore terminable at will, and does not support DeFelice's claim for salary”
Court's affirmance of summary judgment on salary claim
De Felice was employed by Moss Manufacturing under a contract that did not specify a definite term of employment and included a guaranteed bonus of $2…
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PER CURIAM.
The summary judgment entered in favor of Moss Manufacturing, Inc. on its counterclaim is affirmed. The summary judgment entered in favor of Moss on De-Felice’s complaint is affirmed insofar as it adjudges that the employment contract between the parties does not specifically obligate them for a definite term of employment, is therefore terminable at will, and does not support DeFelice’s claim for salary. See Maguire v. American Family Life Assurance Co., 442 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), rev. denied, 451 So. 2d 849 (Fla.1984); Roy Jorgensen Associates, Inc. v. Deschenes, 409 So. 2d 1188 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982). See also Wright & Seaton, Inc. v. Prescott, 420 So. 2d 623 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982).
However, we reverse the summary judgment insofar as it precludes DeFelice from recovering the “guaranteed bonus” of $2,000, which, according to the contract, was “to be paid during December 1981,” since the contract does not clearly and unequivocally provide that DeFelice would be entitled to the bonus only if he was employed through December 1981, and Moss has not otherwise conclusively shown that such was the intent of the parties.
Accordingly, DeFelice’s claim for the bonus amount is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
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Patwary v. Evana Petroleum Corp., 18 So. 3d 1237 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009)…2004) (“[I]t is only an action for breach of employment that is barred when the contract of employment is terminable at will; other contractual provisions may not be affected by the at-will employment rule.”); see also De Felice v. Moss Mfg., Inc., 461 So. 2d 209, 210 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984) (holding that while an employee under a contract for at-will employment could not maintain an action against his employer for wrongful termination, he could maintain an action for recovery of the bonus earned while the contra…
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Disa v. Ashley Furniture Indus., Inc. (M.D. Fla. 2015)
Authorities Cited
- Wright & Seaton, Inc. v. Prescott, 420 So. 2d 623 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)
- ROY Jorgensen Assocs., Inc. v. Deschenes, 409 So. 2d 1188 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)
- Jaffe v. Adolph Schwartz, 442 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
- West v. State, 442 So. 2d 321 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983)
- Stern v. Stern, 409 So. 2d 1188 (Fla. 4th DCA 1982)