Akers(P-employee) v. J. B. Sedberry, Inc.(D-bank)
Court of Appeals of Tennessee, Middle Section, at Nashville
39 Tenn. App. 633, 286 S.W.2d 617 (1955).

SM: The UCC is not involved in this case. The SM is regarding the offer and possibility of an acceptance of an employee’s resignation.

F: Sedberry (D), through majority shareholder Mrs. Sedberry, entered into a contract with Akers (P) whereby Akers would serve as Chief Engineer for five years. Sedberry entered into a similar five year employment contract with Whitsitt (P). Akers and Whitsitt were to perform their duties at the Jay Bee Manufacturing Company in Tyler, Texas.
Mrs. Sedberry later purchased stock in Jay Bee owned by Jay Bee’s general manager, who was then replaced by Sorenson. Ps had difficulty working with Sorenson and Jay Bee owed large amounts of money to a bank whose officials were concerned the company would fail under Sorenson. The bank addressed its concerns to Ps, who then met with Sedberry without Sorenson’s knowledge to discuss possibilities for the refinancing of Jay Bee. As a show of good faith, Ps offered their resignations on ninety days notice; Sedberry refused. Ps returned to Jay Bee with instructions; however, the next day Mrs. Sedberry informed Ps that their resignations were accepted effective immediately.
Ps sued D for breach of their employment contracts and contended that Mrs. Sedberry had refused their resignations and that no offer remained open. The trial court awarded damages to Ps and D appealed.
I: Whether complainants offer to resign from their employment accepted in a reasonable time, or were they wrongfully discharged by defendants; and if there was a breach of contract what are the complainants entitled to recover?
H: No, Judgment affirmed for the plaintiffs for breach of contract.
The court held that in this case Ps’ face to face offer was terminated when