Mackenzie v. Miller Brewing Co.: 1997, 1999, 2000

Miller appealed the judgment to Wisconsin's 1st District Court of Appeals. The company alleged Mackenzie had failed to prove that anyone at Miller had lied to him. Moreover, Mackenzie, now 56, had not looked for a job since his dismissal.

In 1998, Mackenzie and his wife Bonnie moved to Washington State, where he eventually found work with a Seattle construction company.

In a 2-1 decision on February 22, 2000, the appeals court agreed with Miller but conceded some limits. The court said at-will workers (those who work without contracts) have no legal basis to sue if their bosses lie about their job status. However, employers cannot lie in certain situations, for example, to induce someone to take a job.

Presiding Judge Ted Wedemeyer, Jr., dissented. He wrote in his dissent, "Truthfulness and integrity in an employee-employer relationship form a foundation that allows all to thrive." Mackenzie appealed to the state supreme court.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court agreed in the summer of 2000 to review the case and heard oral arguments in November 2000. Miller lawyers said upholding the verdict in Mackenzie's favor would leave Wisconsin employers more vulnerable to lawsuits. Employers would be forced to guess what information they should disclose to employees. They added that the appeals court acted entirely within prior legal limits set by the state supreme court.

"If you're terminated and you can think of something later that your employers didn't tell you, you're a millionaire," attorney Frank Daily told reporters after the arguments.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court was expected to render its decision in late 2001.