Knights

Plaintiff Frank Knights appeals the judgment entered after the trial court granted summary judgment to defendants Hewlett Packard (HP) and several of its managerial employees. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c.) In this wrongful termination suit plaintiff contends on appeal that a contract existed between the parties requiring good cause to terminate, and that there were triable issues of fact as to good cause, defeating the summary judgment motion. We affirm for the reasons stated below.

Facts

Knights began working at HP as a custodian on March 1, 1984. In May of 1985 he was given a written warning about his performance and attendance problems. The written warning said Knights had to be more dependable or further disciplinary action up to and including termination would be taken. Knights improved his attendance and was taken off probation in September of 1985.

On October 31, 1985, Knights injured his knee when he slipped and fell while cleaning a rest room at work. His supervisor, defendant Virgil Ganiban, helped Knights to the lobby where he called a taxi to take Knights to an emergency clinic. The physician who examined Knights released him to return to work on November 20,…