DiFolco v. MSNBC
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
831 F.Supp.2d 634 (2011)

- Written by Josh Lee, JD
Facts
Claudia DiFolco (plaintiff) entered into an employment agreement with MSNBC (defendant). The agreement was for two years, from January 2005 to January 2007, with an option for MSNBC to terminate after the first year. DiFolco was unhappy with her executive producer and producer. DiFolco asserted that the producers created intolerable working conditions and mistreated her. On August 23, 2005, DiFolco emailed Rick Kaplan, MSNBC’s president, stating that she was going to work in New Jersey on the next Friday and wanted to meet to discuss exiting the employment agreement. The next day, DiFolco emailed Kaplan again to tell him that her previous email was not a resignation. Instead, DiFolco stated that the previous email was just a notice of her intention to provide time to think about alternatives for next year. A few days later, Kaplan replied to DiFolco to tell her that he considered the August 23rd email to be a resignation. DiFolco disagreed, but MSNBC terminated her employment the following month. DiFolco then sued MSNBC, alleging a breach of contract. MSNBC moved for summary judgment.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Preska, C.J.)
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