Appeal
from Lauderdale Circuit Court (CV-15-900394).
Nickolas J. Steles , Tuscumbia, for appellant.
Regina
F. Cash and Julie M. Hudson of Luther, Collier, Hodges &
Cash LLP, Mobile, for appellee.
MITCHELL,
Justice.
Lonnie
Beal sued his former employer, Shoals Extrusion, LLC, an
aluminum-extrusion business in Florence, after his employment
there was terminated in November 2015. Beal alleged that
Shoals Extrusion breached the terms of his employment
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agreement by refusing to give him severance compensation and
benefits to which he claims he was entitled. The Lauderdale
Circuit Court entered a summary judgment in favor of Beal and
awarded him $80,800. This appeal followed. We reverse the
summary judgment and remand the cause for further
proceedings.
Facts
and Procedural History
In late
2014, Beal was working at an extrusion business in Florence
when his supervisor, Wilbur Craven, asked him if he would be
interested in becoming the plant manager for Shoals
Extrusion, a new business Craven and other individuals were
starting.[1] Beal responded in the affirmative,
and, in early 2015, he began formal discussions with Craven
and Wade Gilchrist, another owner of Shoals Extrusion, about
the new business and what the terms of his employment would
be. After an agreement was reached in principle, Beal
requested that Shoals Extrusion prepare a written employment
agreement memorializing the agreed-upon terms.
On
March 27, 2015, Beal and Craven executed a five-year
employment agreement that obligated Shoals Extrusion to pay
Beal a $20,000 signing bonus and a first-year salary of
$70,000. Shoals Extrusion also agreed to pay Beal's
health-insurance premiums. In return, Beal agreed that
"[t]he work week shall be [a] 40 plus hour work week and
the days and the time shall be as set by [Shoals
Extrusion]." The agreement further provided that, if
Shoals Extrusion terminated Beal's employment during the
five-year term of the agreement, it would pay Beal his
"wages and benefits for the term of [one] year."
For his part, Beal agreed that, if he chose to leave Shoals
Extrusion before the five-year term of the agreement expired,
he would pay back the $20,000 signing bonus within 30 days of
leaving the employ.
On
April 1, 2015, Beal began working for Shoals Extrusion. In
July 2015, Shoals Extrusion opened its facility and started
production with one shift beginning at 7:00 a.m. and
continuing for approximately 8 to 10 hours, depending on the
volume of orders. In August 2015, Shoals Extrusion began
operating a second shift. According to Craven, the employees
voted to move the start time of the first shift up to 6:00
a.m. so the second shift did not have to work as late. Beal,
however, refused to change his schedule and continued to
arrive at the facility at 7:00 a.m. or later.
Craven
and Gilchrist spoke with Beal on multiple occasions about
Beal working additional hours to increase production at the
facility. Craven and Gilchrist stated, however, that Beal
repeatedly indicated that he was not willing to work more
hours than he was working unless he received an ownership
interest in Shoals Extrusion. They stated that Beal further
told them that he would, in fact, reduce the hours he was
working unless he received the ownership interest he was
seeking. Craven stated that he eventually learned that Beal
was also telling certain individuals in the industry that
Shoals Extrusion was having financial problems. Shoals
Extrusion subsequently decided to terminate Beal's
employment.
On
November 23, 2015, Craven and Gilchrist met with Beal and
terminated his
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employment with Shoals Extrusion. During the meeting, they
asked Beal to execute a "severance and general release
agreement" that would, by its terms, obligate Shoals
Extrusion to pay Beal's salary through December 31, 2015,
in return for Beal's releasing any claims he might have
against Shoals Extrusion. Beal declined to sign the proposed
severance agreement. Shoals Extrusion thereafter made no
further payments to Beal, despite his demand that it owed him
...