Superior Insurance v. Browne
Superior Insurance v. Browne
Opinion of the Court
On February 10, 1986, appellee-plaintiff became an at-will employee of appellant. As a “new employee” under the provisions of the handbook for appellant’s employees, appellee earned several days of paid vacation during 1986 and, when she voluntarily resigned on January 29, 1987, appellant paid her for the one vacation day that she had earned in 1986, but had not yet taken. However, appellee insisted that, under the terms of the employees’ handbook, she was entitled to be paid for an additional 10 days of vacation that she had earned in
In Case No. A90A0463, appellant appeals pursuant to our grant of its application to bring a discretionary appeal from the $961.50 summary judgment that was granted in appellee’s favor. In Case No. A90A0464, appellant appeals directly from that same order.
Case No. A90A0464
1. Appellant is not authorized to bring a direct appeal from the trial court’s grant of the $961,50 summary judgment in favor of appellee. Jarrett v. Ford Motor Credit Co., 178 Ga. App. 600 (344 SE2d 440) (1986). Accordingly, this unauthorized direct appeal is dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
Case No. A90A0463
2. With regard to appellee’s entitlement to be paid for an additional 10 days of vacation, appellant enumerates as error the denial of its motion for summary judgment and the grant of summary judgment in favor of appellee.
“It is the accepted law of this state that an additional compensation plan offered by an employer and impliedly accepted by an employee, by remaining in employment, constitutes a contract between them. . . . [Cits.]” Fletcher v. Amax, Inc., 160 Ga. App. 692, 695 (288 SE2d 49) (1981). “ ‘Where no matter of fact is involved, the construction of a plain and definite contract, if needed, is a matter of law for the court; a contract is not ambiguous, even though difficult to construe, unless and until an application of the pertinent rules of interpretation leaves it uncertain as to which of two or more permissible meanings represents the true intention of the parties. (Cit.)’ [Cit.]” Shannon v. Huntley’s Jiffy Stores, 174 Ga. App. 125, 126 (329 SE2d 208) (1985).
The handbook for appellant’s employees provides that “[v]acation is earned according” to a listed schedule of “calendar years of service” and that for those employees having one-to-four “calendar years of service” 10 days of “[v]acation is earned. . . .” It
3. Appellant also enumerates as error the grant of summary judgment in favor of appellee as to Standard Plan’s claim for abusive litigation.
Since Standard Plan is apparently a separate entity which asserted its own separate abusive litigation claim against appellee, appellant has no standing to raise this issue on appeal. See generally Shackelford v. Green, 180 Ga. App. 617 (349 SE2d 781) (1986), aff’d 257 Ga. 9 (356 SE2d 27) (1987).
Judgment reversed in Case No. A90A0463. Appeal dismissed in Case No. A90A0464.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.