Nicosia v Wakefern Food Corporation – Contract Law Cases

There are many facets to employment law in New Jersey. Perhaps the many changes that occur in the employment and contract law world are what keeps lawyer Ty Hyderally interested in the field.  And perhaps this is why he has employment law practices in both New York and New Jersey areas. One such case of interest that was heard before the New Jersey Supreme Court is Anthony Nicosia vs. Wakefern Food Corporation.

The debate has been ongoing for many years as to whether or not an employee handbook constitutes a contractual agreement between an employee and a company. There are cases, such as this one, in which there is an implied contract written within the employee manual that is distributed to their employees.

Nicosia was a lower level shift supervisor who was fired to mishandling some of the company’s merchandise. He denied that the company had the right to let him go without cause, since he denied the allegations as well. The manual he received at the time of his employment clearly set forth how terminations were to be handled. He maintained that it was an implied contract and termination without cause was not allowed.

On the other hand, the Wakefern Food Corporation held to the fact that Nicosia was an “at-will” employee. This meant that they could fire him at anytime with no warning and with or without a single reason. They refuted the wrongful termination accusation by saying that the evidence they had against Nicosia was grounds for an immediate dismissal.

Nicosia continued to maintain that the proper steps that were drawn out in the employee handbook were not followed properly at his termination. He stated that the 11 page document which laid out the details of termination was not followed in the proceedings. He also asserted that the 160 page manual that was given him upon hiring constitutes an implied employee contract and when Wakefern terminated him without going through the proper proceedings they breached this contract.

Wakefern agreed that the progressive discipline policy was intact during the time that Nicosia was terminated, however, they stated that there were certain actions that required immediate termination and he was allegedly involved in them. They also argued that the manual was not distributed to most and so it could not constitute an implied contract.

In this case the courts ruled in favor of the employee and stated that the employee manual did indeed serve as an implied contract between the employee and the company.

Terrio v Millinocket Community Hospital – Contract Law Cases

Tayeb Hyderally is very experienced in New Jersey Employment law. He has developed his expertise through many years of successful litigation and thorough study in the field of employment law. It is the wide variety of topics in the subject that has kept Mr. Hyderally interested in the field for all these years. Of the many cases he has studied Terrio v. Millinockey Community Hospital has been one of the most interesting.

June Terrio was a highly trained medical technician and worked in the medical laboratory of Millinockey Community Hospital. When she was first employed she was the only personnel who worked in the laboratory and was solely responsible for making all necessary purchases and performing all lab testing. She reportedly delivered high quality work and those who worked with her vouched for her competence even while she was in a supervisory position. Through the years the hospital continued to award her periodic raised and there was never any question of her performance and its quality.

A resident pathologist was placed in charge of the lab and some witnesses stated that Ms. Terrio had been insubordinate and was not doing satisfactory work. During this same time frame she was given an increase in pay and was also allowed to choose better working hours and was reassured that her job was secure as stated by hospital authorities. The new pathologist threatened to resign unless Ms. Terrio was let go, the hospital administrator decided to terminate her employment. She was then 58 years old and had been working for the hospital for about 20 years.

Ms. Terrio pursued a law suit on the basis that she was dismissed without cause and it constituted a breach of contract based on the verbal agreement with the administrator previously. The oral contract and her employment record lined up with the “Personnel Policy” and the “Employees Retirement Plan” to form an enforceable contract. This was defined to be in place until the time of retirement, the age of 65.

The hospital tried to argue that there was not a written contract to be broken and evidence was sparse. When Ms. Terrio won her case the hospital filed an appeal based on the lack of evidence but it was denied by the court. This case set the precedent that substantiates the validity of a verbal contract between employer and employee.