Faivre v. DEX Corp. Northeast
Ohio Court of Appeals
913 N.E.2d 1029 (2009)
- Written by Salina Kennedy, JD
Facts
DEX Corporation Northeast (DEX) (defendant) had a group of its executives and human resources personnel meet with Patrick Faivre (plaintiff), a DEX executive, to inform him that he was being fired. At the end of the meeting, a DEX representative gave Faivre a severance letter already signed by DEX and told him that the letter gave him three months’ severance pay ending on November 30, 2006. Faivre took the letter but did not agree to the three months’ severance pay. Faivre later read the letter and discovered that it erroneously stated that his severance pay would continue through November 30, 2007. Instead of informing DEX of the error, Faivre signed the letter and returned it to Alan Kheel, DEX’s general counsel. Kheel, who had drafted the letter, realized the mistake and immediately informed Faivre that DEX did not accept the letter. Kheel asked Faivre to sign a replacement page with the 2006 date, but Faivre refused. Instead, Faivre sued DEX, asserting promissory estoppel and seeking damages for breach of contract. The trial court found that DEX had made a unilateral mistake, granted summary judgment, and reformed the contract to reflect the 2006 date. Faivre appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Klatt, J.)
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