Vanegas v. American Energy Services

In this case, we are asked to decide the enforceability of an employer’s alleged promise to pay five percent of the proceeds of a sale or merger of the company to employees who are still employed at the time of the sale or merger. The employer, American Energy Services (AES), argues that because these were at-will employees, any promise was illusory and therefore not enforceable — the company could have avoided the promise by firing the employees at any time. The employees respond that the promise represented a unilateral contract, and by staying on with the company until AES Acquisition,…