An at-will employee was fired for taking unpaid medical leave while his physician was trying to determine whether he had contracted tuberculosis.

The employee claimed that the company’s human resources director had told him that he “needed to take time off from work” pending the outcome of the tests. The company retorted that, while it did not dispute that the statement was made by the human resources director, the employee handbook stated that medical leaves and other unpaid leaves could only be granted in writing by enumerated company officials, specifically “by one of the principals, vice president of finance, or vice president of personnel.”

The employee contended that because the human resources director told him to stay home until he had the test results, the company was stopped from asserting the handbook provision in support of its subsequent decision to terminate his employment for failing to get written leave authorization.

Is the employee right? See Honorable v.

American Wyott Corporation [11 P.3d 928

(Wyoming Supreme 2000)].