Regis University: Legal and Ethical Issues Assignment - Case Analysis

This assignment analyzes the case of Dorman v. Petrol Aspen, Inc., focusing on legal and ethical issues related to employment contracts. The student summarizes the case, including the applicable law of employment-at-will and the court's holding regarding ambiguities in the employment cont...Read More

Running head: LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Dorman v. Petrol Aspen, Inc., 914 P.2d 909 (Colo. 1996)
BRIEF
Applicable law or Principle
The case is considered to present the issue regarding whether any contract of employment
that has been made between the employee who is a plaintiff and the employer who is considered
to be the defendant provided an employment at will for a period that was definite. On the other
hand it can be understood that an employment contract which is considered to be for a definite
period is considered to be concluded between the employee and the employer which is in a
written form and such has a specified term and are based on the emergence regarding the
objectives of the conditions like completion of a certain work or the materialization of any
particular event. This contract is considered to be for a definite period and should not be
concluded more than once until and unless there has been an essential reason which might
necessitate the repeated contracts. Employment-at-will is considered to be the employee and
employer relationship that can be terminated at any given time. It could be terminated by either
party without any cause. With as well as without giving any kind of notice. Fortunately, it can be
understood that the wrongful termination is considered to be a major exception for the employees
against the at-will-employment (Maranto, & Johnson, 2017). There are certain exceptions that
have been stated in the case of Lorenz v. Martin Marietta Corp., Inc., 802 P.2d 1146 (Colo. App.
1990) where the exceptions to at-will employment had been laid down. If the employer
terminates on those grounds then the plaintiff could claim for wrongful termination. It could be
observed from the case of Decker v. Browning-Ferris Industries of Colorado, Inc., 931 P.2d 436
(Colo. 1997).

2LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Summary of the facts
There had been a complaint filed by Ben M. Dorman against the defendant which was
considered to be Petrol Aspen, Inc. in the Garfield County for alleging breach of contract along
with promissory estoppel and violation or breach of an alleged duty regarding good faith and
along with such fair dealing. Dorman in his complaint had contended that the defendant operates
a gas station named Amoco gasoline and a service station in Aspen, Colorado. Secondly, the
Petrol Aspen had provided an extension to an employment for an offer to the plaintiff after
certain negotiations. Thirdly, it had also been stated that relying on those statements the plaintiff
had left a gainful employment and started working for Petrol Aspen based on the negotiations
and along with such the employment offer letter, which had been received from the defendant.
Lastly, it had been stated that the defendant had terminated the contract of employment after four
months approximately and such was considered to be a breach of the employment contract.
There had been a motion filed by Petrol Aspen whereby they had asked to dismiss for failure to
state any claim upon which any such relief can be granted and asserting that the complaint made
by the plaintiff did not cost for any kind of contract other than the contract for at-will. The claims
made by the defendant had been responded by the assertion of the fact that the contract, which
had been offered for employment, was for a definite period and therefore, was not considered to
be terminable at the time of agreed employment period without any kind of cause which could be
justifiable.
Holdings of the Court
The Supreme Court had provided the opinion as such: “The contract between Dorman
and Petrol Aspen contains ambiguities regarding Dorman's term of employment. In view of these
ambiguities, Dorman should be permitted to introduce extrinsic evidence of the parties' intent

3LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
concerning that term of employment. The motion to dismiss should have been denied and
Dorman should have been permitted to present his case on the merits. In view of our resolution
of the ambiguity question, supra part IV, we do not address and express no opinion concerning
Dorman's claims regarding promissory estoppel and Petrol Aspen's breach of an alleged duty of
good faith and fair dealing. The judgment of the court of appeals is reversed, and this case is
returned to that court with directions to remand to the trial court for proceedings consistent with
this opinion.”
ANALYSIS
Rights and Responsibilities of the plaintiff or employee
The employees in an organization or in any workplace are considered to enjoy certain
rights where the employee would have a right of freedom from any kind of discrimination or the
right to discuss the wage along with the right to workers’ compensation among others. They also
have the right to safe workplace environment. The employees have certain responsibilities which
would require them to cooperate with the employer and comply to the requirements that have
been provided to the employees by the employers in the workplace. The employees should also
take reasonable care and should not affect any other employee through their acts or omissions.
The employees who are at-will employees are considered to have the right to leave the job at any
given time without any kind of reason or without facing any kind of adverse legal consequences.
In this particular scenario, the employee had the right to work without any kind of breach of
contract and without being terminated wrongfully if such fell in the category of the exceptions
which had been set in the above-mentioned case. If the contract had been for a definite duration
the employee had the right to work until and unless the specific event or the definite period had
come to an end.

4LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Rights and Responsibilities of the defendant or employer
The employers are considered to make sure that the work place or the work areas of the
employees are considered to be safe and there have been proper information along with
instruction and training with proper supervision and monitoring of the employees actions in
order to provide a better working environment for the employees. The employers have the right
to expect loyalty from the employees and ask for the right to quality of conscientious work. The
employer also has the right to contest any claim for compensability if they are given without any
kind of evidence. The employer in at-will employment is considered to have the power to
dismiss the employee for any reason without any warning and with or without providing a just
cause to the employees for such termination until and unless the reason is not considered to be
illegal. The employer under the definite duration needs to needs to specify the time or duration of
the contract in a wriiten form in the contract and after completion of such the employer has the
right to terminate the employee.
Ethical principles to avoid litigation
Kantian ethics is considered to refer to the deontological theory where it has been
ascribed that in order to act in a manner which is moral there needs to a duty given to the
individual where an individual would act out of good will and respect for the moral law. The
moral worth regarding an action is considered to be determined through the human will and such
would be considered to be the only thing which would be considered to be good without any
kind of qualification. The good will according to this theory is considered to be exercised
through the acting in accordance with the moral duty or the law. For Kant it is considered that an
act or a certain act is considered to be permissible if one of the individual is considered to be
willing for the action to be universal law. For instance, the employees have the right to work

5LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
safely in a workplace and the employers have the right to determine that the employees are
working under safe conditions. This is considered to be their duty. The universalizing on the
other hand is considered to lead to certain state of affairs which no rational being would desire.
The employees would not desire to face any discrimination therefore if such happens then it is
considered to be a logical contradiction to the theory. Therefore, the duties that an employee has
need to be fulfilled which would be considered to be moral and the action would determine
whether such duty has been fulfilled (Bird, 2016). In the case of Dorman v. Petrol Aspen, Inc.
the moral duty could have been breached if the contract was considered to be for definite
duration but based on a contract the plaintiff had been hired but after four months the plaintiff
had been terminated by the defendant due to the defendant’s claim of the contract being at-will-
employment. However, if it had been a contract at-will then the employer could have terminate
the plaintiff without any reason until and unless such fell under the exceptions or if the reason
had been illegal. In accordance with this theory, it can be analysed that the moral duty was not
fulfilled by the employer if the contract was for definite period as it had not been clearly
mentioned in the case whether the time period or the duration had been specified in the contract.
Based on the assumption, if the duration had not been specified then the moral duty of the
employer had been breached as the employment had been terminated wrongfully. Thus, in the
case of employment-at-will, the moral duty had been fulfilled if the termination was not for any
illegal reason but due to the ambiguities of the contract such can be done through assumptions.
In the case of the Profit Maximization theory or the social Darwinism theory it can be
analysed that the theory provides with human groups and the races which are considered to be
subjected to the laws which are considered to be similar for the natural selection as that of
Charles Darwin which had been perceived or viewed in plants as well as animals (Ruse, 2017).

6LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Therefore, such can be said that in the particular case it had been found that the plaintiff and the
defendant had been subjected to certain natural and similar laws regarding breach of the
employment contract through unlawful termination. However, this particular case is considered
to be different from this particular theory as there lies several ambiguities which needed to be
understood from the terms of employment contract and such could not be considered to be
similar. Therefore, it cannot be compared with this theory. It can be understood that the contract
based on the assumption had been breached if such had been a definite duration contract.
Therefore, the laws or the regulations that the individuals are subjected to would be applied as
the employer had breached the contract and therefore had conducted a moral wrong through
such. In the case of at-will employment if such had been done without any illegal reason or any
intention which was illegal then the employer had not breached the terms of the contract.
There are certain Jesuit values such as the Cura apostolica which would be considered to
be caring for the institution and along with such reframe the leadership with both the cura
personalis as well as the cura apostolica. These are considered to provide the requirement for
leadership, which would be to pay attention to the spiritual growth, as well as interior freedom
that would stretch the imaginations regarding the care for work. The values mean to care or have
a concern for the person or an individual for their development as an individual or a whole
person. There needs to be a certain kind of unity of mind as well as heart and the individuals
should aim or try to find good in all kind of things. These values are considered to drive along
with provide guidance to the individuals in the leadership. In addition to such, these values are
considered to be incorporated in manner for the leadership roles which would be used to educate
the individuals on the various Ignatian principles (Holt, 2018). This case was considered to be
based on the breach of an employment contract therefore, the exception to the at-will-doctrine

7LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
needs to be determined and the ambiguities regarding the evidence needs to be understood. The
above-mentioned two values can be used and applied in order to resolve the workplace tensions
and dilemmas as such would help in attaining spiritual growth and enhance the leadership skills.

8LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
Reference
Bird, G. (2016). Kant's Theory of Knowledge: An Outline of One Central Argument in
the'Critique of Pure Reason'. Routledge.
Decker v. Browning-Ferris Industries of Colorado, Inc., 931 P.2d 436 (Colo. 1997)
Dorman v. Petrol Aspen, Inc., 914 P.2d 909 (Colo. 1996)
Holt, P. J. (2018). Translating Ignatian Values Into a Virtual Space in Jesuit Universities and
Colleges.
Justice v. Stanley Aviation Corp., 35 Colo. App. 1, 4, 530 P.2d 984, 985 (1974)
Maranto, R., & Johnson, J. (2017). Bringing back Boss Tweed: Could at-will employment work
in state and local government and, if so, where?. In American Public Service (pp. 77-
100). Routledge.
Ruse, M. (2017). Social Darwinism. In On Human Nature (pp. 651-659). Academic Press.