Breiner v. Olson
Breiner v. Olson
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from a judgment of the District Court for Holt County, Nebraska, affirming a judgment of the county court of that county.
The action arose from a contract of employment by which the appellee had performed services for the appellant for the years 1969 through August 14, 1972. The record shows that the parties made an initial oral agreement for the employment of appellee as a farm manager upon the appellant’s farms with compensation to appellee of a salary, pick-up rental, and a place to live. In subsequent years, new agreements were made and when operations began to include custom farming, the
Appellee testified that for the year 1972, his salary remained at $525 per month and his pick-up rental was increased by $25 to $130 per month, and that at a later time, when discussing additional operations, he asked for more money, “something like $3,000” and an additional tractor, to which appellant replied “you do the work and we will get along — no problem.” Appellant testified that he had never discussed or promised to pay a bonus of $3,000 and that during the previous 3 years, he had made a determination of an appropriate bonus for appellant in view of general operations and yields for the year under consideration. For reasons which are not clear from the record, the trial court found that the amount of $1,320 was due appellee for “earned bonus.”
The contract is severable, both by its terms and the theory of the parties. Judgment was properly entered for the items and amounts stipulated between the parties. Such judgment is modified to show a finding and judgment in favor of appellant as to any bonus and will be affirmed as to the remainder thereof.
Affirmed as modified.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.