Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 39-2-503 (2026)

Repealed

✓ current as of May 2026
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TITLE 39. LABOR

CHAPTER 2. THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP

Part 5. Termination of Employment

Repealed

39-2-503. Repealed. Sec. 4, Ch. 583, L. 2001.

History: En. Sec. 2703, Civ. C. 1895; re-en. Sec. 5274, Rev. C. 1907; re-en. Sec. 7789, R.C.M. 1921; Cal. Civ. C. Sec. 1999; Field Civ. C. Sec. 1029; re-en. Sec. 7789, R.C.M. 1935; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 245, L. 1969; R.C.M. 1947, 41-304; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 397, L. 1979.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 27 cases, 1981–2020 · leading case: Dare v. Montana Petroleum Mktg. Co., 687 P.2d 1015 (Mont. 1984).
Dare v. Montana Petroleum Mktg. Co., 687 P.2d 1015 (Mont. 1984). · cites it 30× “2d 1063 , "modified" section 39-2-503, MCA. That section states: "An employment having no specified term may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to the other.”
Gates v. Life of Montana Ins., 668 P.2d 213 (Mont. 1983). · cites it 24× “Section 39-2-503, MCA, provides that employment, having no specified term, may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to each other.”
Reiter v. Yellowstone Cnty., 627 P.2d 845 (Mont. 1981). · cites it 30× “In granting respondents' motion for summary judgment, the District Court found that section 39-2-503, MCA, providing that an employment with no specified term may be terminated at the will of either party was controlling and that Reiter had no constitutional right to a hearing.”
Boreen v. Christensen, 930 P.2d 67 (Mont. 1996). · cites it 44× “In addition, Montana has an "at will" employment statute, § 39-2-503, MCA, which has been construed as providing no property interest in employment absent a "specified term" of employment.”
Boreen v. Christensen, 884 P.2d 761 (Mont. 1994). · cites it 17× “The State counters that Boreen was an “at will” employee and that, pursuant to § 39-2-503, MCA, and applicable case law, she has no property interest in continued employment.”
Crenshaw v. Bozeman Deaconess Hosp., 693 P.2d 487 (Mont. 1984). · cites it 12× “Appellant next claims error by the court’s refusal of section 39-2-503, MCA, instruction of the “at will” statute.”
Med. Horse v. Trs., Big Horn Cnty. Sch. Dist. No. 27, 823 P.2d 230 (Mont. 1991). · cites it 18× “Section 39-2-503, MCA. We have concluded that an "at will" employee is one whose term of employment has no specific duration.”
Gates v. Life of Montana Ins., 638 P.2d 1063 (Mont. 1982). · cites it 6× “; 3) intentional infliction of emotional distress; 4) violation of section 39-2-503, MCA, by failing to give notice prior to discharge; 5) violation of section 39-51-3204, MCA, by failing to disclose material facts to the Unemployment Compensation Division; 6) fraud and deceit…”
Whidden v. John S. Nerison, Inc., 1999 MT 110 (Mont. 1999). · cites it 14× “In September, 1994 Nerison gave Whidden a notice of termination, advising her that she was being terminated as an at-will employee under § 39-2-503, MCA. Whidden filed a complaint in March, 1995 and an amended complaint in January, 1996, claiming that she had been discharged…”
Flanigan v. Prudential Fed. Sav. & Loan Assoc., 720 P.2d 257 (Mont. 1986). · cites it 6× “Justice Weber, writing for the majority, said: The presence of such facts [long-term employment] indicates that the term of employment has gone beyond the indefinite period contemplated in the at will employment statute, section 39-2-503, MCA, and is founded upon some more…”
Hobbs v. Pac. Hide & Fur Depot, 771 P.2d 125 (Mont. 1989). · cites it 10× “The presence of such facts indicates that the term of employment has gone beyond the indefinite period contemplated in the at will employment statute, section 39-2-503, MCA, and is founded upon some more secure and objective basis.”
Meech v. Hillhaven West, Inc., 776 P.2d 488 (Mont. 1989). · cites it 4× “The Act's provisions on discharge also limit the operation of § 39-2-503, MCA, Montana's "at-will" statute.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.