Cocchiara v. Lithia Motors, Inc.

Michael Cocchiara (plaintiff) worked for a Lithia Motors, Incorporated (defendant) Dodge dealership for eight years. He worked a sales job that negatively affected his health. Cocchiara sought a less-stressful job with shorter hours. He received a suitable offer of employment for a sales-representative position with Medford Mail Tribune. Cocchiara told his supervisor, Summers, that he received an offer from Medford Mail Tribune that suited his health needs. Summers told Cocchiara to decline the offer because he was “too valuable” to Lithia Motors. Summers told Cocchiara that a job suitable for his health needs was open at the corporate offices. Summers called the corporate offices and told Cocchiara he would be going in the next day to fill out paperwork as a “mere formality.” Cocchiara then told Medford Mail Tribune he was declining its offer. Cocchiara met with a representative at the corporate offices the next day. The representative informed Cocchiara that the meeting was an interview. Cocchiara did not get hired, so he attempted unsuccessfully to accept the offer he previously declined. Cocchiara ended up employed in a corporate job with Lithia Motors, but the job paid less than the job originally promised by Summers. Cocchiara brought a claim based on promissory estoppel to enforce the employment terms offered by Summers. The trial court granted Lithia Motors’s motion for partial summary judgment on the estoppel claim. The appellate court affirmed the trial court judgment because an employee cannot reasonably rely on a promise of at-will employment as a matter of law. Cocchiara appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court.