Personnel Manual is not a contract, says Texas Supreme Court

The Texas Supreme Court, in City of Denton v. Rushing, found that the disclaimer language in the City of Denton's personnel manual was sufficient to keep the manual from creating a contract. At issue was the City's policy regarding on-call pay. The personnel manual was amended in 2013 to provide for on-call pay, but the City refused to pay it. When the employee sued, the City defended that it had not waived immunity. The lower courts found a contract, but the Texas Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion authored by Justice Devine, found that the disclaimer language "The contents of this manual do not in any way constitute the terms of a contract of employment" sufficiently demonstrated the City's intent to not create a contract. The opinion can be found at http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1443742/170336.pdf.