A recent 8th Circuit case, affirming a District Court decision, chose how many claims can come out of what might otherwise be considered a simple termination. The employee had been with The Travelers Company for some time, but had had a number of issues come up concerning her handling of her supervisory responsibilities. The last straw, however, was her failure to disclose attendance of family members at various business meetings, and this resulted in her termination because of “continuing issues.” She went on to make the following claims against Travelers:

· Breach of unilateral contract to pay performance bonus;

· Failure to timely pay wages after discharge of violation of Minnesota Statutes;

· Age discrimination; and

· Interference with her rights to employee benefits in violation of Section 510 of ERISA.

We discussed the defenses to these types of claims on a number of occasions, but it is interesting to look at the breach of contract and unpaid wage claim. There she had received a communication from Travelers that she would be eligible for a bonus of $30,000 for work in 2007, and she argued that the failure to pay that bonus was a breach of her unilateral contract and also was the basis of the unpaid wages claim. Travelers’ written performance-based compensation plan expressly provided that bonuses were discretionary awards used to reward superior performance, and the fact that this was clearly stated made this bonus other than one that created a unilateral contract. Therefore, the wage claim also is foreclosed by a determination that she was not contractually entitled to the bonus. In all other respects, the Court otherwise affirmed the District Court decision granting Travelers summary judgment. Chambers v. The Travelers Companies (8th Cir.. 2012).