Employer pays for reneging on promise

An employer's statements to an at-will employee that her husband's possible employment by a competitor would not adversely affect her employment were sufficiently clear and definite to be binding, ruled the Connecticut Supreme Court (Stewart v. Cendant Mobility Services Corp., 2003) in affirming an $850,000 jury verdict. On appeal, Cendant argued that Simon's purported promise lacked the degree of clarity and definiteness required to bind the company. The company further asserted that Stewart failed to establish that she had relied to her detriment on the alleged promise.