Gordon v. Matthew Bender & Co.
United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
562 F. Supp. 1286 (N.D. Ill. 1983)
Gordon (plaintiff), a law-book sales representative for Matthew Bender (defendant) under an employment agreement with no specified duration, was placed on probation via a letter stating he would return to acceptable status if he met his sales goals; when he failed to meet them, the company terminated him. Gordon sued for breach of contract, arguing the probationary letter's "acceptable performance" language transformed his at-will arrangement into one where he could only be fired for actual performance-based cause, and that his performance had in fact been acceptable.
Whether language in an employment contract conditioning continued employment on satisfactory or acceptable performance transforms an at-will employment relationship into one that can only be terminated for cause.