Page:Smith v. American Greetings Corp.pdf/5

600 implication that an employee could be dismissed for cause only. In Gladden v. Arkansas Children's Hospital, 293 Ark. 130, 728 S.W.2d 501 (1987), we clarified our position stating:

[W]here an employee relies upon a personnel manual that contains an express provision against termination except for cause he may not be arbitrarily discharged in violation of such a provision. Moreover, we reject as outmoded and untenable the premise announced in ''St. Louis Iron Mt. Ry. Co. v. Matthews'', 64 Ark. 398, 42 S.W. 902 (1897), that the at will rule applies even where the employment agreement contains a provision that the employee will not be discharged except for cause, unless it is for a definite term. With those two modifications we reaffirm the at will doctrine.

We recognize that these cases bear some resemblance to Jackson v. Kinark Corp., supra, where we reversed the granting of summary judgment for a fuller development of the factual issues, noting a "possible implication" from Kinark's manual that once probation was ended, an employee could be discharged only for cause. But we have considered several employment cases since Jackson and we realize Jackson may have given the impression that an implied provision would suffice. We have come to the conclusion that an implied provision against the right to discharge is not enough

Id. at 136, 728 S.W.2d at 505.

In Gladden, supra, we considered the employment manuals of two employer hospitals. Neither employee claimed she was employed for a definite length of time. The manuals contained provisions describing methods for dismissal under certain circumstances and specifying kinds of conduct which could result in summary dismissal. We held that since neither manual contained an express provision that discharge would be for cause only, there was no error in disposing of the cases for summary judgment.

[4] Here, the plaintiff contends that one sentence in the employee's handbook provides that discharge would be for cause only. The trial judge reviewed the sentence in context and correctly held that it did not expressly so provide. As previously