Christopher Shellnutt and 49 other firefighters the “Firefighters” from the City of Savannah appeal the trial court’s grant of a motion to dismiss and motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by the Mayor and Alderman of the City of Savannah the “City” and Stephanie Cutter, the Savannah city manager, as to their claims for breach of contract.1 The Firefighters asserted in their “First Amended and Recast Complaint” that the City’s written “Pay Policy” created a contract between the City and the Firefighters and that the City breached that contract by paying them less than they were owed under the terms of the Pay Policy.
In considering the trial court’s decision on a motion to dismiss and/or a motion for judgment on the pleadings, we apply a de novo review and thus “owe no deference to the decision of the court below.” Pryce v. Rhodes, 316 Ga. App. 523, 523 729 SE2d 641 2012 motion for judgment on pleadings. See also Liberty County School Dist. v. Halliburton, 328 Ga. App. 422, 423 762 SE2d 138 2014. Moreover, we must consider all well-pled material allegations on the Firefighters’ complaint as true, with all doubts resolved in their favor. Ewing v. City of Atlanta, 281 Ga. 652, 653 2 642 SE2d 100 2007 motion to dismiss; Early v. MiMedx Group, Inc., 330 Ga. App. 652, 654 768 SE2d 823 2015 motion for judgment on the pleadings. “We may also consider any exhibits attached to and incorporated into the complaint and the answer, also construing them in the appellant’s favor.” Stafford v. Gareleck, 330 Ga. App. 757, 758 769 SE2d 169 2015 motion to dismiss. See also Early, 330 Ga. App. at 654 motion for judgment on the pleadings. Nevertheless, a court should not grant a motion to dismiss unless “the allegations of the complaint disclose with certainty that the claimant would not be entitled to relief under any state of provable facts asserted in support thereof.” Citation omitted. Austin v. Clark, 294 Ga. 773, 774-775 755 SE2d 796 2014. And “a motion for judgment on the pleadings should be granted only if the moving party is clearly entitled to judgment.” Citation and punctuation omitted. Sherman v. Fulton County Board of Assessors, 288 Ga. 88, 90 701 SE2d 472 2010.
