Kaye Miller v. Sevamp, Inc.

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed an order sustaining SEVAMP's demurrer to a discharged employee's two-count motion for judgment. Count I (breach of contract) failed because the employment was at will: the hiring statement that Miller would remain RSVP director as long as 'adequate federal funding' continued hedged against a contingency beyond both parties' control rather than fixing a term, and the personnel manual's clause permitting dismissal 'at the discretion of the Executive Director' expressed at-will intent. Count II (tortious retaliatory discharge) failed because Virginia recognizes only a narrow exception to the employment-at-will doctrine for discharges violating the public policy underlying existing laws; retaliation for testifying at an internal grievance hearing implicates only private rights created by the employer's own regulations, and the court declined to recognize a generalized tort, leaving substantial alteration of the doctrine to the General Assembly.