⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Tenth Circuit hears a dispute over why Todd Andra lost his job at MobileOne. In 2022, MobileOne bought The Mobile Source, a phone retailer owned by Andra's brother, and hired Andra under a three-year contract to manage its Rockies region. The contract allowed termination for cause without severance, but required written notice and time to cure a material breach; a separate clause addressed poor performance after counseling and clear objectives. After Andra sent disparaging messages about company leaders to a subordinate, MobileOne warned him in July; later complaints about his management brought further notices and coaching. He sent more disparaging texts during that process, and MobileOne fired him for cause in January 2023. Andra sued, arguing that the company shortchanged his contractual chance to improve and exercised its discretion unfairly; a Utah federal judge entered summary judgment for MobileOne. Summary judgment means the judge found no genuine dispute of material fact requiring a trial; this appeal asks whether a jury should instead decide the contested issues. When counsel mentions Sections 5.1.4 and 5.1.5, those are clauses of the employment contract, not statutes. The panel also considers the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing: whether MobileOne used its contractual discretion in a way that unfairly denied Andra the contract's benefit. Michael Stanger of Strong and Hanni will argue first for Andra that the notice and cure conditions were unmet and his criticism was not necessarily disloyal. Michelle Quist of Buchalter will argue for MobileOne that it gave ample warning and time to cure, and that Andra's later messages breached his duty of loyalty.

Andra v. MobileOne (No. 25-4134) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, argued September 16, 2026.