## Facts

- Warren G. Fogel worked for Grinnell College (operated by the Trustees of Iowa College) as a receiving clerk and custodian in food service from August 1977 until his discharge on January 28, 1985.
- Fogel was hired at age 55 and performed duties such as unloading trucks, handling food products, and custodial work in dining and kitchen areas.
- Fogel had no written employment contract, but he received a staff handbook (later updated for food service employees).
- The handbook’s “DISMISSAL” provisions described notice practices: at least one month’s notice for nonprejudicial reasons unrelated to performance, ordinarily at least two weeks’ notice for unsatisfactory work, and immediate dismissal for dishonesty or misconduct.
- Fogel sustained several minor work injuries and a more serious back incident in September 1983 that caused him to miss work for several days.
- After his discharge, Fogel asserted claims for disability discrimination and age discrimination under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, retaliatory discharge, breach of contract based on the handbook, and breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

## Issues

1. Whether the staff handbook created an enforceable employment contract limiting the employer’s ability to terminate an otherwise at-will employee.
2. Whether Iowa recognizes a cause of action for breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in an at-will employment termination.
3. Whether Fogel generated a genuine issue of material fact to avoid summary judgment on disability discrimination and retaliatory discharge claims.
4. Whether substantial evidence supported the jury’s verdict rejecting the age discrimination claim and whether any reversible trial error occurred.

## Decision

- The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the employer on the disability discrimination, retaliatory discharge, breach of contract, and implied covenant claims.
- The court held the handbook did not manifest a sufficiently definite intent to contractually limit termination or alter Fogel’s at-will status.
- The court declined to recognize a claim for breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing as a basis for challenging an at-will discharge.
- The court affirmed the jury verdict for the employer on age discrimination, concluding the verdict was supported by substantial evidence and the trial was free from reversible error.

## Legal Principles

- In Iowa, employment is presumptively at-will unless the parties form a contract providing otherwise; an employer may terminate for any reason not prohibited by law.
- An employee handbook alters at-will status only if its language and context show sufficiently definite promises that a reasonable employee would understand as an offer of contractual rights, rather than general policy guidance.
- Iowa does not recognize an independent cause of action for breach of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing to challenge an at-will termination.
- To survive summary judgment on discrimination or retaliation claims, a plaintiff must produce evidence creating a genuine dispute on causation (e.g., that disability or protected activity was a motivating reason for discharge).
- Appellate review of a civil jury verdict is deferential; a verdict will be upheld if supported by substantial evidence and no reversible error affected the proceedings.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed judgment for the employer, concluding that the handbook did not convert at-will employment into a contract, Iowa law did not provide an implied-good-faith discharge claim, Fogel lacked evidence to take disability and retaliation claims to a jury, and the jury’s rejection of age discrimination was supported by substantial evidence.


Fogel v. Trs. of Iowa Coll., 446 N.W.2d 451 (Iowa 1989)