Guz

This case presents questions about the law governing claims of wrongful discharge from employment as it applies to an employer’s motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff John Guz, a longtime employee of Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI), was released at age 49 when his work unit was eliminated and its tasks were transferred to another Bechtel office. Guz sued BNI and its parent, Bechtel Corporation (hereinafter collectively Bechtel), *326 alleging age discrimination, breach of an implied contract to be terminated only for good cause, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The trial court granted Bechtel’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the action. In a split decision, the Court of Appeal reversed. The majority found that Bechtel had demonstrated no. grounds to foreclose a trial on any of the claims asserted in the complaint.

Having closely reviewed the Court of Appeal’s decision, 1 we reach the following conclusions:

First, the Court of Appeal used erroneous grounds to reverse summary judgment on Guz’s implied contract cause of action. The Court of Appeal found triable evidence (1) that Guz had an actual agreement, implied in fact, to be…

I concur in the majority opinion. I write separately to clarify what may appear to be an inconsistency between parts II and IV of that opinion.

In part II, the majority hold that there was insufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could conclude that Bechtel National, Inc.’s (BNI) business reorganization was merely a pretext to terminate John Guz. There is therefore no triable issue that BNI breached its implied contractual obligation by failing to follow the “progressive discipline” policy promised in its policy manual to its employees before they are discharged for poor performance. The majority do not decide, however, whether there is a triable issue regarding BNI’s breach of its own layoff policies, and leave this question to the Court of Appeal on remand. If the Court of Appeal concludes there is *371 such a triable issue, and if Guz is able to prove at trial that these policies were breached, and that if he had been fairly considered for a position as dictated in the policies, he would more likely than not have retained his job, then Guz will have proved a contractual wrongful termination and be eligible for the usual damages associated with such a termination.

In…

I agree with the majority. I write separately to state another reason the trial court correctly granted summary judgment against plaintiff John Guz on the age discrimination claim: Even after “extensive discovery” (maj. opn., ante, at p. 327), Guz has produced no credible evidence that defendants Bechtel National, Inc., and Bechtel Corporation (collectively Bechtel) discharged him because of his age. Bechtel, the moving party on summary judgment, has met its burden of showing that Guz cannot state a prima facie age discrimination case. Accordingly, Bechtel had no duty even to rebut Guz’s age discrimination claim, although I agree that it also did so.

*372 I. The Legal Standard for Summary Judgment

To prevail at trial, indeed, to avoid a nonsuit, the plaintiff bears the burden of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination. (See generally McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green (1973) 411 U.S. 792 [ 93 S.Ct. 1817 , 36 L.Ed.2d 668 ]; maj. opn., ante, at pp. 354-355; Caldwell v. Paramount Unified School Dist. (1995) 41 Cal.App.4th 189, 203-204 [ 48 Cal.Rptr.2d 448 ].) I agree with the majority regarding what this prima facie burden is. It is not onerous, but the plaintiff must show…

California statutory law prohibits employers from discriminating against workers over the age of 40. In this case, an employee sued his employer after it eliminated his job in the wake of a corporate reorganization and then passed him over in favor of younger workers when other positions became available. At the time of his discharge, the employee had worked for his employer 22 years, and he was 49 years old.

The employee’s various causes of action included one for age discrimination, on which the trial court granted summary judgment for the employer. The Court of Appeal disagreed. Unlike the majority here, I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal. I agree, however, with the majority’s resolution of the employee’s other causes of action.

I

This matter comes to us after the trial court granted defendant employer’s motion for summary judgment. Under California law, a moving party is entitled to summary judgment only when no “triable issue of material fact” remains for trial. (Code Civ. Proc., § 437c, subd. (o)(l) & (2).) In reviewing an order granting or denying summary judgment, “we examine the facts presented to the trial court and determine their effect as a matter…

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, Paul Grossman, Paul W. Cane, Jr., John C. Oakes, Los Angeles; Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges, Thelen Reid & Priest, Curtis A. Cole, Janet F. Bentley, Clarice

C. Liu, Michael Hallerud and Thomas M. McInerney, San Francisco, for Defendants and Respondents.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Pamela L. Hemminger and Kathleen M. Vanderziel, Los Angeles, for California Chamber of Commerce as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents.

Law Offices of Steven Drapkin and Steven Drapkin, Los Angeles, for the Employers Group as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents.

Lloyd C. Loomis, Los Angeles, for California Employment Law Council as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Respondents.

BAXTER, J.

This case presents questions about the law governing claims of wrongful discharge from employment as it applies to an employer's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff John Guz, a longtime employee of Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI), was released at age 49 when his work unit was eliminated and its tasks were transferred to another Bechtel office. Guz sued BNI and its parent, Bechtel Corporation (hereinafter collectively Bechtel), alleging…