Anticipatory Breach in the Employment Context

• Author: Mary Beth Currie
• Pages: 447-476



AnticipatoryBreachinthe

EmploymentContext

MaryBethCurrie*

Onth ismotion inar restof judgmentthe question ariseswhet herif

therebe anagre ementbetween Aand BwherebyBengages toem-

ployAona ndfrom afuture dayfora givenperiod ofti metotravel

withhi minto aforeign country asa couriera ndtost artwit hhim in

thatcapacity onthatdayAbeing toreceivea monthlysalar yduring

theconti nuanceofs uchservice Bmaybeforethe dayrefuseto per-

formthe agreementa ndbreak andrenou nceitso asto entitleA be-

forethedaytocommencea nactionagain stBtorecoverdamages for

breachoftheagreementAhavi ngbeenreadyandwilli ngtoperform

ittillitwasbrokenandrenouncedbyB

Thus didCa mpbellCJbegin the judgment in Hochster v. De la Tour

thefoundationof themodern lawofant icipatorybreachHea nswered

hisown questionyes andthe doctrine ofa nticipatorybreachhadits

genesis

This paperw ill focus onthe doctr ine ofant icipatorybreach in the

contextoftheemploymentrelationshipItis submiedthatthe doctrine

of anticipatorybreach applies uidly as in a commercial relationship

shoulda n employerrepudiate an agreement to hire prior to the com-

mencementoft heemploymentrelationshipbut itis morecumbersome

* MaryBethCurr ieisapartneratBe nneJonesLLPMsCurriewouldliketothan k

LeeCasseystudentatlawatBenneJonesLLPforhisdiligentrese archandas-

sistanceinprepa ringthi spaper

 EBERAllERRepatHochster

MBC

whenapplicabletoanemployeewhoisprovidedwithadvanceworking

noticeof a change to the terms of employmentCourts should encour-

ageandapplaudemployerswhoprovidenoticetoemployeesofmaterial

changesto the termsof their employmentcontractsandthose employ-

ersshould not beobliged to defendagainst civil claim sof anticipatory

breac hbye mploye eswho haver ecei vedadv ance not iceof afu ndam enta l

changetotheirtermsofemploymentWherethereisanalternatemethod

of analyzing the eect of providing advance notice of a fundamenta l

change to employmenta ndwhere suc h analysis provides a common-

senseapproachto workplaceharmonyinsteadofapplyingt hedoctrine

ofanticipatorybreachthealternateapproachistobepreferred



 

 Hoch ste rvDel aTour

Thelandmarkcaseholdingthatapartymaybringanactionfordamages

immediatelyupontheotherpartysanticipatorybreachisHoch ster

BycontractdatedAprilDelaTouragreedtoemployHoch-

sterasacou rierforath reemonthperiodcommencingJunefor

tentripspermonthOnMayDelaTourwroteHochsterthathe

hadchangedhismindthathewouldnotemployHochsterasrstprom-

isedandthathe wouldnototherwiseemployorcompensateHoch ster

Hochstersubsequentlysecuredotheremploymentoncomparableterms

butnotuntilJuly

HochstersuedonMaytendaysbeforeDelaTourwasobli-

gatedtoperformarguingthatDelaToursrepudiationofhispromise

toemployHochsterwasabreachofcontractnotwithstandingthatDela

Tourhadbreachedpriorto thetime hewasdueto performDela Tour

answeredthattherecouldbenobreachbeforeJune

The jury foundfor Hochster and De laTour soughta nonsuit or

toarrest thejudgment JusticeCampbell posedt hequestion beforethe

courtintheman nerquotedaboveatthestartofthepaper

Dela Tourargued thati fHochster wasu nwilling toagre eto dis-

solvethecontractuponDelaToursrepudiationthenHochsterwasob-

 Ibid.atAllERWherethereisacontracttodoa nactonafuturedaythere

isarelationconst itutedbetweent hepartiesint hemeantimebythec ontractand

theyimpliedlypromi sethatinthemea ntimeneitherwi lldoanythingtot he

prejudiceoftheoth erinconsistentwit hthatrelation