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P worked for D on November 5, 1973, as one of its law book sales representatives. The employment agreement stated no definite period during which the parties remained obligated to each other. P developed into a commendable employee who reached or exceeded the goals set for him by his employer. On July 24, 1980, P's territory was reduced. P was told that he would be terminated if he failed to achieve in his new territory the same sales goals that had been set for the territory he worked in prior to the September 1 change. He did not meet the goals and was fired on January 8, 1981. The letter placing P on probation states that if P meets his goals, he will be 'restored to the same status of acceptable sales performance as other D sales representatives.' P alleges that this letter created a contract for continuous employment conditioned upon acceptable sales performance, which D breached by firing him even though he met or exceeded the requirement of acceptable sales performance. D moves to dismiss P’s complaint. P claimed that 'D maliciously manipulated circumstances to make P’s job impossible [and that t]his bad faith conduct of Matthew Bender is actionable . . .' P alleges that as a participant in D's pension plan, he was to become fully vested after eight years of employment, but that he was fired ten months before the vesting date. He charges that D breached its duty of fair dealing by its bad faith termination, intended to deprive P of his benefits. P also sued for breach of an implied contract created by D's promise of continued employment and P's detrimental reliance on it. He prays for relief including an award of $8,410; an injunction ordering D to put him back to work; an award of $70,000 for lost compensation; punitive damages; and attorneys' fees.

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