Preti Flaherty’s trial team of Chris Nyhan and Jeff Peters recently won a
resounding victory for Bath Iron Works Corporation in a case in which plaintiffs
sought to redefine Maine’s employment-at-will doctrine. The plaintiffs in
this case were laid off in February 1996 after being hired in the fall of
1995. During their interview they were told that Bath Iron Works
Corporation had a backlog of work, but that the employment security clause in
the collective bargaining agreement that would control their employment would
not apply to them. Plaintiffs brought suit claiming that an employment
contract had been created outside of the collective bargaining agreement and
that their being informed of Bath Iron Works Corporation’s backlog of work
created a promise of long-term employment for each of them. Attorneys
Nyhan and Peters successfully defeated plaintiffs’ contract based claims at
summary judgment, and tried the remaining claims in Superior Court.
Plaintiffs waived their jury request on the eve of trial. After a
seven-day bench trial in which more than thirty witnesses were presented, the
Court found for Bath Iron Works Corporation on all counts.
Chris Nyhan’s and Jeff Peters’ victory prevented the imposition of new duties
on employers during the employee interview process. Under Maine’s
employment-at-will doctrine, if there is no employment contract in effect,
either employer or employee may terminate an employee’s employment without
cause. If plaintiffs had prevailed, they would have voided the
employment-at-will doctrine by turning discussion of future business predictions
with a prospective employee into an enforceable promise of long-term employment
for that employee. This case emphasizes that attention must be paid to the
hiring process as interviewees may seek to assert claims based upon statements
made during interviews. If you have any questions about the creation of
liability during the hiring process contact Jeff Peters at jpeters@preti.com
Preti Flaherty has offices in Portland, Bath and Augusta, Maine, Concord, NH and Boston, MA. With more than 80 attorneys, the firm counsels clients in the areas of business law, energy, environmental, estate planning, health care, intellectual property, labor and employment, legislative and regulatory, litigation, technology and telecommunications.
