implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing

implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing
An implied obligation that assumes that the parties to a contract will act in good faith and deal fairly with one another without breaking their word, using shifty means to avoid obligations, or denying what the other party obviously understood.
Category: Small Claims Court & Lawsuits

Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary. . 2009.

implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing
n.
   a general assumption of the law of contracts, that people will act in good faith and deal fairly without breaking their word, using shifty means to avoid obligations or denying what the other party obviously understood. A lawsuit (or one of the causes of action in a lawsuit) based on the breach of this covenant is often brought when the other party has been claiming technical excuses for breaching the contract or using the specific words of the contract to refuse to perform when the surrounding circumstances or apparent understanding of the parties were to the contrary. Example: an employer fires a long-time employee without cause and says it can fire at whim because the employment contract states the employment is "at will." However, the employee was encouraged to join the company on the basis of retirement plans and other conduct which led him/her to believe the job was permanent barring misconduct or financial downturn. Thus, there could be a breach of the implied covenant, since the surrounding circumstances implied that there would be career-long employment.
   See also: implied

Law dictionary. . 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing — The Implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is a general assumption of the law of contracts, that people will act in good faith and deal fairly without breaking their word, using shifty means to avoid obligations, or denying what the… …   Wikipedia

  • implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing —    A general assumption of the law of contracts that a person will act in good faith and deal fairly without breaking her or his word, attempting to avoid obligations, or denying that which was clearly understood. A lawsuit based on the breach of …   Business law dictionary

  • Fair dealing — is a doctrine of limitations and exceptions to copyright which is found in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Nations.Fair dealing is an enumerated set of possible defenses against an action for infringement of an… …   Wikipedia

  • bad faith — n: intentional deception, dishonesty, or failure to meet an obligation or duty no evidence of bad faith compare good faith in bad faith: with or characterized by intentional deception or dishonesty possessor in bad faith an obligation …   Law dictionary

  • At-will employment — is a doctrine of American law that defines an employment relationship in which either party can break the relationship with no liability provided there was no express contract for a definite term governing the employment relationship and that the …   Wikipedia

  • Supreme Court of California — Seal of the Supreme Court of California Established 1849 Jurisdiction …   Wikipedia

  • List of law topics (F-M) — NOTOC Law [From Old English lagu something laid down or fixed ; legal comes from Latin legalis , from lex law , statute ( [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=law searchmode=none Law] , Online Etymology Dictionary; [http://www.m… …   Wikipedia

  • Contract — law …   Wikipedia

  • DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Kaleidescape, Inc. — DVD Copy Control Association, Inc. v. Kaleidescape, Inc. Court California Courts of Appeal Date decided Aug. 12, 2009 Ci …   Wikipedia

  • wrongful discharge — see discharge Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996. wrongful discharge …   Law dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”