Mark Boswell v. Panera Bread Company

ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

The central issue in this contracts case is whether certain at-will employees can hold their employer, Panera, LLC, to its promise to pay them a bonus. The district court1 thought so and granted summary judgment to the employees. We agree and affirm.

In an effort to recruit and retain general managers for its restaurants, Panera created a program under which qualifying managers were eligible to receive a relatively large one-time bonus, among other emoluments. A few years after creating the program, Panera asked the managers to sign an employment agreement that…