diff --git a/src/components/employees/EmployeeDetail.tsx b/src/components/employees/EmployeeDetail.tsx
index 6e29dfd..b164884 100644
--- a/src/components/employees/EmployeeDetail.tsx
+++ b/src/components/employees/EmployeeDetail.tsx
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import {
   getReviewsForEmployee,
   getEnpsForEmployee,
 } from '../../lib/tauri-commands';
+import { useResolvedManagerName } from './detail/useResolvedManagerName';
 
 // Subcomponents
 import { PrepBriefModal } from '../people_map';
@@ -69,6 +70,14 @@ export function EmployeeDetail() {
   const { selectedEmployee, selectedEmployeeId, openEditModal, employees } =
     useEmployees();
 
+  // Resolve the manager's name, fetching by ID when the manager isn't in the
+  // filtered/capped loaded list (issue #150). Called unconditionally, before
+  // the early return below, to satisfy the Rules of Hooks.
+  const managerName = useResolvedManagerName(
+    selectedEmployee?.manager_id,
+    employees
+  );
+
   // Performance data state
   const [ratings, setRatings] = useState<PerformanceRating[]>([]);
   const [reviews, setReviews] = useState<PerformanceReview[]>([]);
@@ -122,9 +131,6 @@ export function EmployeeDetail() {
   // Derived data
   const latestRating = ratings[0];
   const latestEnps = enpsResponses[0];
-  const manager = selectedEmployee.manager_id
-    ? employees.find((e) => e.id === selectedEmployee.manager_id)
-    : null;
 
   const hasPerformanceData =
     ratings.length > 0 || enpsResponses.length > 0 || reviews.length > 0;
@@ -145,7 +151,7 @@ export function EmployeeDetail() {
         {/* Info sections */}
         <DetailsSection
           employee={selectedEmployee}
-          managerName={manager?.full_name}
+          managerName={managerName}
         />
         <DemographicsSection employee={selectedEmployee} />
         <TerminationSection employee={selectedEmployee} />
diff --git a/src/components/employees/detail/useResolvedManagerName.test.ts b/src/components/employees/detail/useResolvedManagerName.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9c902d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/employees/detail/useResolvedManagerName.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+import { renderHook, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { mockCommands } from '../../../test/tauri';
+import type { EmployeeWithLatestRating } from '../../../lib/tauri-commands';
+import { useResolvedManagerName } from './useResolvedManagerName';
+
+function emp(
+  overrides: Partial<EmployeeWithLatestRating> = {}
+): EmployeeWithLatestRating {
+  return {
+    id: 'emp-1',
+    email: 'a@example.com',
+    full_name: 'Ada Example',
+    status: 'active',
+    is_sample: false,
+    created_at: '2026-01-01',
+    updated_at: '2026-01-01',
+    ...overrides,
+  };
+}
+
+describe('useResolvedManagerName', () => {
+  it('resolves the name from the loaded list when the manager is present', () => {
+    const employees = [emp({ id: 'mgr-1', full_name: 'Priya Raman' })];
+    const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+      useResolvedManagerName('mgr-1', employees)
+    );
+    expect(result.current).toBe('Priya Raman');
+  });
+
+  it('fetches the manager by ID when it is absent from the filtered/capped list', async () => {
+    // #150: manager exists but is not in the loaded (filtered, limit-200) list.
+    mockCommands({
+      get_employee: (args) => {
+        expect(args.id).toBe('mgr-hidden');
+        return emp({ id: 'mgr-hidden', full_name: 'Priya Raman' });
+      },
+    });
+    const employees = [emp({ id: 'emp-2', full_name: 'Someone Else' })];
+    const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+      useResolvedManagerName('mgr-hidden', employees)
+    );
+    // Not in the list -> undefined initially, resolved after the fetch settles.
+    expect(result.current).toBeUndefined();
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current).toBe('Priya Raman'));
+  });
+
+  it('returns undefined when there is no manager', () => {
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useResolvedManagerName(undefined, []));
+    expect(result.current).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to undefined (raw-ID caller path) when the fetch fails', async () => {
+    mockCommands({
+      get_employee: () => {
+        throw new Error('not found');
+      },
+    });
+    const { result } = renderHook(() =>
+      useResolvedManagerName('mgr-dangling', [emp({ id: 'emp-2' })])
+    );
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current).toBeUndefined());
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/components/employees/detail/useResolvedManagerName.ts b/src/components/employees/detail/useResolvedManagerName.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5fbddba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/employees/detail/useResolvedManagerName.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
+import type { Employee } from '../../../lib/types';
+import {
+  getEmployee,
+  type EmployeeWithLatestRating,
+} from '../../../lib/tauri-commands';
+
+/**
+ * Resolve a manager's display name for the employee detail panel.
+ *
+ * The loaded employee list is filtered and capped (`listEmployeesWithRatings`
+ * runs with the active filter/search and a limit of 200), so a manager can
+ * legitimately be absent from it — e.g. the list is filtered to active staff
+ * while the manager is on leave, or the org exceeds the page cap. Before, the
+ * panel fell back to rendering the raw manager ID in that case (issue #150).
+ *
+ * When the manager is present in the loaded list we use it directly; when it is
+ * not, we fetch it by ID via the existing `get_employee` command (no backend
+ * change). Returns `undefined` until a name is available, so the caller only
+ * falls back to the raw ID for a genuinely dangling reference.
+ */
+export function useResolvedManagerName(
+  managerId: string | null | undefined,
+  employees: EmployeeWithLatestRating[]
+): string | undefined {
+  const managerInList = managerId
+    ? employees.find((e) => e.id === managerId)
+    : undefined;
+
+  const [fetchedManager, setFetchedManager] = useState<Employee | null>(null);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    // Resolvable from the loaded list, or no manager at all — nothing to fetch.
+    if (!managerId || managerInList) {
+      setFetchedManager(null);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    // Reset before fetching: without this, switching to another employee whose
+    // manager also needs a fetch would briefly show the PREVIOUS employee's
+    // fetched manager while the new request is in flight.
+    setFetchedManager(null);
+
+    let cancelled = false;
+    getEmployee(managerId)
+      .then((emp) => {
+        if (!cancelled) setFetchedManager(emp);
+      })
+      .catch(() => {
+        // Genuinely dangling reference — leave null so the caller falls back
+        // to the raw ID (mirrors the backend's skip-not-fatal behavior).
+        if (!cancelled) setFetchedManager(null);
+      });
+
+    return () => {
+      cancelled = true;
+    };
+  }, [managerId, managerInList]);
+
+  return (managerInList ?? fetchedManager)?.full_name;
+}