Transforming Handbooks into Contracts in Langenkamp v. Olson
A recent summary order from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit – which exercises federal appellate jurisdiction over New York, Connecticut and Vermont — serves as a reminder that an employer’s reliance upon its employee handbook can also prove its undoing, writes Michael McKeon of Pullman & Comley in an article published on JDSupra.com.
“In Langenkamp v. Olson, the Second Circuit reversed the federal trial court’s dismissal of a breach-of-contract claim brought by a non-tenured faculty member of New York University. The appellate court held that by expressly incorporating the Faculty Handbook into its offer of employment, NYU had transformed its provisions into contractual terms,” McKeon writes.
His article explains that it is critical that employers use care when drafting and referencing such handbooks.