Filed April 11, 2007—Opinion by Judge William Quarles
The District Court granted Home Depot’s motions for summary judgment of a suit by Charles Frank, a former employee, for breach of contract and defamation related to his termination and certain statements made by a Home Depot employee to Frank’s potential future employer.
Home Depot had terminated Frank because he falsely stated that he had been properly licensed to operate the forklift when his license had expired. Thereafter, Lowe’s allegedly failed to hire him because of defamatory statements made by a Home Depot employee to someone at Lowe’s.
This is the second suit brought by Frank against Home Depot. In the first, Frank sued pro se, alleging retaliatory and discriminatory discharge in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and wrongful discharge in violation of Maryland law. The Court had dismissed that suit for failure to state a claim.
The instant suit alleging breach of contract and wrongful discharge was previously dismissed without prejudice and reinstated on an amended complaint that added the defamation claim. The Court determined that the first count was barred by res judicata, while the defamation claim was barred by the statute of limitations and, in any event, by a statutory and common law qualified privilege, citing Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-423 and Gohari v. Darvish, 363 Md. 42, 56 (2001).
The opinion and order are available in PDF.
Showing posts with label employment contract. Show all posts
Showing posts with label employment contract. Show all posts
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Weaver v. Schartiger (Maryland U.S.D.C.) (Not approved for publication)
Signed March 23, 2007. Memorandum and Order by Judge Catherine C. Blake (not approved for publication)
Upon consideration, the motion for partial summary judgment of the defendant ("Schartiger") is GRANTED except as to any claim for compensation due under the terms of the Agent Agreement, and the motion to compel of the plaintiff ("Weaver") is DENIED.
This case arose out of the termination of an Agency Agreement (the "Agreement") between Schartiger, owner of an insurance company, and Weaver, a former agent of the company. The Agreement was entered into to define the relationship of Weaver as an independent contractor working with, but not for, Schartiger, and set forth formulas for compensation, both during and after the term of the Agreement. The Agreement was to be "continuous", and contemplated annual review of the Agreement by the parties. When negotiations initiated by Schartiger to end the Agreement and move Weaver into an employee status were resisted by Weaver, Schartiger unilaterally terminated the Agreement, and Weaver filed suit.
The judge found that, under Maryland law, an employment contract without a stated duration is at will, terminable by either party, and thus Weaver's request for a declaratory judgment that the Agreement was not terminable must fail.
Likewise, Weaver's claim that she possessed an ownership interest in the business must fail, in light of explicit language in the agreement that Weaver was to be an independent contractor and that all policies and business produced were the exclusive property of Schartiger. Any implication that a provision in the Agreement that Weaver might receive 25% of the sale price of the company indicated an ownership interest was negated by the right of first refusal provision in the Agreement, which would require Weaver to pay the same price as a third-party bidder, indicating no such ownership interest.
The judge concluded that, except for any compensation due to Weaver under the Agreement, for which calculation sufficient information has already been provided, negating the need for further discovery, all her claims were denied.
The Memorandum and Order are available in PDF format.
Upon consideration, the motion for partial summary judgment of the defendant ("Schartiger") is GRANTED except as to any claim for compensation due under the terms of the Agent Agreement, and the motion to compel of the plaintiff ("Weaver") is DENIED.
This case arose out of the termination of an Agency Agreement (the "Agreement") between Schartiger, owner of an insurance company, and Weaver, a former agent of the company. The Agreement was entered into to define the relationship of Weaver as an independent contractor working with, but not for, Schartiger, and set forth formulas for compensation, both during and after the term of the Agreement. The Agreement was to be "continuous", and contemplated annual review of the Agreement by the parties. When negotiations initiated by Schartiger to end the Agreement and move Weaver into an employee status were resisted by Weaver, Schartiger unilaterally terminated the Agreement, and Weaver filed suit.
The judge found that, under Maryland law, an employment contract without a stated duration is at will, terminable by either party, and thus Weaver's request for a declaratory judgment that the Agreement was not terminable must fail.
Likewise, Weaver's claim that she possessed an ownership interest in the business must fail, in light of explicit language in the agreement that Weaver was to be an independent contractor and that all policies and business produced were the exclusive property of Schartiger. Any implication that a provision in the Agreement that Weaver might receive 25% of the sale price of the company indicated an ownership interest was negated by the right of first refusal provision in the Agreement, which would require Weaver to pay the same price as a third-party bidder, indicating no such ownership interest.
The judge concluded that, except for any compensation due to Weaver under the Agreement, for which calculation sufficient information has already been provided, negating the need for further discovery, all her claims were denied.
The Memorandum and Order are available in PDF format.
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