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Employment — breach of contract

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 9, 2014//

Employment — breach of contract

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//September 9, 2014//

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U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit

Civil

Employment — breach of contract

Where the employer offered the employee the agreed-to position, but the employee claims it assigned him different duties, summary judgment was properly granted to the employer.

“In the employment discrimination context, we have recognized that it would not be prudent for a court to micro-manage an employer’s need for flexibility in assigning specific job duties, at least where they do not materially and adversely alter an employee’s position for discriminatory reasons. See e.g. Barton v. Zimmer, Inc., 662 F.3d 448, 457 (7th Cir. 2011); Stephens v. Erickson, 569 F.3d 779, 790–92 (7th Cir. 2009); Herrnreiter v. Chicago Housing Auth., 315 F.3d 742, 744–46 (7th Cir. 2002). Abraham is before us with a contract claim, and not an employment discrimination claim, but the policy considerations can be extrapolated. Washington Group entered into a contractual agreement to give Abraham a specific salary and job title at the Weston project. There are many reasons why an employer might decline to elaborate specific job duties in a contract, and the need for flexibility in managing the tasks of any particular project would be chief among them. It is the court’s job to respect the terms of the contract and not manufacture additional terms that are missing. Seitzinger v. Comty Health Network, 676 N.W.2d 426, 41 (Wis., 2004)”

Affirmed.

13-2050 Abraham v. Washington Group International, Inc.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Crabb, J., Rovner, J.

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