Chipman v. Northwest Healthcare Corp.

¶32 I dissent from the Court’s holding that no contract exists regarding the CIB policy. A disclaimer in an employee handbook, standing alone, cannot support summary judgment dismissal of this contract claim. The District Court reads the handbook’s disclaimer as proof that the Employers never meant to be bound by the benefits. But the conduct of a party may manifest assent even though it does not, in fact, intend to assent. Restatement 2d Contracts § 19(3) (1981). The question, as the majority states, is whether the Employers’ outward manifestations could cause a reasonable person to conclude…