Wisehart v. Meganck, 01CA1327 (Aug-ust 15, 2002): Plaintiff worked for a bank as a loan officer in an at-will relationship. The bank's loan policy required approval of an officer before closing, but in practice the approvals were sometimes obtained afterward. Plaintiff's superiors knew the date of a particular loan closing in advance and that plaintiff intended to proceed with it, but did not tell plaintiff that the officer did not intend to give approval. When plaintiff returned from the closing, his supervisor terminated him for failing to obtain prior approval.
Plaintiff brought a claim for fraudulent misrepresentation and concealment. The trial court dismissed the claim, and held that defendants were free to terminate plaintiff without any reason. The fact that the termination was achieved through fraud did not change the nature of plaintiff's claim.
The Court of Appeals affirmed. Plaintiff's claims arose from the termination of his at-will employment, and did not fall within any recognized exception. There was no basis to depart from the general rule that either party to an at-will employment contract may terminate the relationship for any reason, even if wrong, without giving rise to liability.

Richard Bovarnick, along with claimant's attorney Jordan Levine, is scheduled to conduct an advanced workers' compensation seminar to be held in the Denver, Colorado area on Monday, March 31, 2003. Please mark your calendars now. More details concerning the specific location and topics of the seminar will be covered in a future edition of Defense Talk.

Richard Bovarnick defeated a claim for medical benefits after maximum medical improvement before Judge Mattoon in Harrison v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Ed Hook and Harvey Flewelling teamed for an appellate victory in McMullin v. Belmar Medical Center and State Farm Fire & Casualty Company. Judge Coughlin reduced the average weekly wage she had previously adjudicated after receiving respondents' brief.

Gary Fleming collaborated with Mr. Hook and Mr. Flewelling for a victory on appeal in Wales v. Infab, Inc. and Centre Insurance Company. ICAO set aside Judge Felter's order regarding whether respondents overcame a Division IME physician's impairment rating.

Note:  Summaries and articles should not be relied upon as authoritative for a particular case. Consult your attorneys for advice on the application of all the law to the specific facts of your case or legal problem.