Gilkerson v. Nebraska Colocation Centers, No. 16-2818 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against his former employer, NCC, for breach of contract and alleging claims under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act. Applying Nebraska's two-part test to determine whether an agreement was voidable as a product of duress, the court held that there was, at least, a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the threat of termination would support a claim of duress. Therefore, the court remanded for a determination of this factual issue. The court also held that, considering all relevant circumstances then existing and viewing the facts in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the Term Sheet was unjust and thus voidable as a product of duress given the alleged pressure brought to bear on him to sign the Mutual Rescission and Term Sheet. Therefore, the district court erred by granting summary judgment for NCC on the breach of contract claim. Likewise, the district court erred in granting summary judgment for NCC on the state law claim.
Court Description: Beam, Author, with Benton and Murphy, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Contracts. Applying Nebraska's two-part test for determining whether a contract was voidable as the product of duress, the district court erred in granting the employer summary judgment based on a finding that the mutual rescission and term sheet plaintiff signed was not unjust and voidable as a product of duress given the alleged pressure brought to bear on plaintiff to sign the mutual rescission and term sheet; in light of this finding the question of whether the threat of termination would support a claim of duress is remanded for further proceedings; given the court has held that summary judgment on plaintiff's claim for breach of contract was improper, the dismissal of plaintiff's Wage Payment and Collection Act claim was also improper.
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