Opinion
November 19, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Oneida County, Parker, J.
Present — Pine, J.P., Fallon, Boomer, Davis and Boehm, JJ.
Order unanimously affirmed with costs. Memorandum: Supreme Court properly denied defendants' motions for summary judgment. In opposition to the motions, plaintiff submitted proof of an express limitation on the right to terminate her employment with defendant Forensic Mental Health Institute, Inc. That proof was sufficient to demonstrate that there is an unresolved material issue of fact whether she was an "at-will" employee (Weiner v McGraw-Hill, Inc., 57 N.Y.2d 458, 465-466; see, Myers v Coradian Corp., 92 A.D.2d 643). Supreme Court erred, however, in ruling that the Statute of Frauds issue raised by defendants presents an issue of fact. The employment agreement does not fall within the Statute of Frauds. New York courts have narrowly interpreted one-year provisions and have found unenforceable only those contracts that "by their very terms have absolutely no possibility in fact and law of full performance within one year" (D N Boening v Kirsch Beverages, 63 N.Y.2d 449, 454). Further, the Statute of Frauds does not apply to "`cases in which the performance of the agreement depends upon a contingency which may or may not happen within the year'" (North Shore Bottling Co. v Schmidt Sons, 22 N.Y.2d 171, 176). Plaintiff offered proof that her position could be terminated if the Institute lost its funding, a contingency that is sufficient to render the Statute of Frauds inapplicable (cf., Warner Whitney v Union Camp Corp., 166 A.D.2d 776).