Davidson v. Holtzman

47 S.W.3d 445, 2000 Tenn. App. LEXIS 733
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedNovember 2, 2000
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 47 S.W.3d 445 (Davidson v. Holtzman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davidson v. Holtzman, 47 S.W.3d 445, 2000 Tenn. App. LEXIS 733 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

SUSANO, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court,

in which FRANKS and SWINEY, JJ„ joined.

The jury awarded the plaintiff, William Davidson, damages for breach of two oral contracts between Davidson and his former employer, the defendant Richard Holtzman, who, at the time the contracts were made, was the sole shareholder of the defendant Engel Stadium Corporation (“the Corporation”). 1 Defendants 2 appeal, arguing (1) that one of the agreements is barred by the Statute of Frauds; (2) that the same agreement is too indefinite to be enforced; and (3) that the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of another former employee of Holtzman. We affirm.

I. Facts

In 1984, Davidson was hired as general manager of the Midland Angels baseball team, a minor league baseball franchise in Midland, Texas. Holtzman acquired the *448 franchise in July, 1987. In 1988, Davidson and Holtzman discussed Davidson’s future with the franchise. Davidson expressed his goal of eventually owning and operating his own baseball team. He indicated that to accomplish this goal, he needed to begin acquiring equity in the Midland franchise in order to “build up some value.” In a letter to Holtzman dated September 23, 1988, Davidson indicated that for 1989, he wanted “to receive an ownership percentage of whichever club I may be affiliated with.” In December, 1988, Davidson and Holtzman had a conversation regarding Davidson’s future employment with the franchise. Davidson testified as follows:

A During that conversation [Holtzman] said things to me like, you know, you’re a valuable employee, I feel fortunate to have someone of your caliber working for me. He indicated to me that I could accomplish my objectives if I worked with him and that was his goal, was to help me accomplish those objectives of being an owner/operator of a minor league baseball team, and in that conversation he offered me 5 percent of the Midland baseball franchise at the price that he paid for it. He said it would be booked at that value and that if he sold it at some time while I was still employed with the team that I would receive 5 percent of the profits from that sale.
He indicated to me that there were tax advantages for me if it was done in that fashion, and that’s basically the summary of the conversation.
Q And what did you understand him to mean when he said that if it was done in that fashion?
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A I understood that it would, mean that basically was the agreement, that it was better for me if — it was better for me if he simply told me that I had this stock, or phantom stock or agreement with him, that it was better for me financially if I took him at his word and that he would pay me down the line if indeed he happened to sell the team while I was employed with that team.
Q And did he issue you any stock at that time in the Midland—
A No. He did not issue me any stock, and from the conversation I didn’t expect to receive any, because, you know, I took him at his word that there would be tax advantages for me to do it in the fashion that he outlined.
Q Did he make any offer as to any percentage of income on a yearly basis?
A Yes. He also indicated that going forward I would receive 5 percent of the net profits, net operating profits of the franchise. Previous to that I was under a different compensation arrangement and he changed it to that.
Q Did you indicate that you’d be willing to stay under those circumstances? A Yes, I did.

In August, 1989, Holtzman offered Davidson the position of general manager of the Chattanooga Lookouts, a franchise Holtzman had recently acquired for $1.1 million. The Lookouts franchise was operated by Engel Stadium Corporation, of which Holtzman was the sole shareholder. Holtzman promised Davidson that the parties’ understanding regarding his share of the net proceeds from a sale of the franchise would “transfer” with Davidson to Chattanooga, meaning that if Holtzman ever sold the Chattanooga franchise, Davidson would receive five percent of the difference between the purchase price and the sales price of the franchise. Davidson agreed and moved to Chattanooga in October, 1989. He was employed as the Lookouts’ general manager for the next six years, receiving a salary plus five percent *449 of any annual net operating profit of the franchise.

In 1992, the Corporation sued the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County, which leased the stadium facilities to the Corporation, alleging that the City and County had negligently failed to maintain the baseball field in violation of the lease. Holtzman asked Davidson to assist the Corporation’s attorney in the litigation. When Davidson complained that the time spent on the litigation would interfere with his management of the team, Holtzman promised that Davidson would receive five percent of any proceeds resulting from the lawsuit. Holtzman told Davidson that he considered any proceeds received to be “operating income” of the Corporation. Davidson agreed to this arrangement, and participated extensively in the litigation. The lawsuit proceeded to a jury trial, in which the Corporation was awarded damages. On appeal, however, this Court vacated the judgment and remanded for further proceedings. 3

In January, 1995, Holtzman advised Davidson that he had agreed to sell the franchise 4 for $3.75 million. Holtzman stated that Davidson “would benefit substantially from the sale.” As part of the sale, the lawsuit against the City and County was assigned to Holtzman, and he was substituted as a party in that action. The sale was completed in April, 1995. Davidson continued to work for the Corporation in his capacity as general manager. In May, 1995, he met with Holtzman while at a baseball game in Davenport, Iowa, where Holtzman gave him a check for $25,000 and “indicated that there would be substantially more from where that came from.”

Although Holtzman had been substituted as a party in the litigation against the City and County, Davidson continued to assist with the litigation. The parties eventually reached a settlement agreement in November, 1995, and Holtzman received $875,000 as a result of that litigation.

By January, 1996, Davidson had not received any additional proceeds, either from the sale of the franchise or the lawsuit. He sent a letter to Holtzman dated January 3, 1996, seeking “to finalize the arrangements regarding monies due from operations in Chattanooga. Specifically, the sale of the franchise and the settlement with the City and County.” On January 8, 1996, Davidson received a fax from Holtzman, stating, in pertinent part, as follows:

I’ve discussed the issue of the “benefits”. I’d like to pass on to you with my accountants over the past months and hope to have some concepts for your [sic] shortly.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
47 S.W.3d 445, 2000 Tenn. App. LEXIS 733, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davidson-v-holtzman-tennctapp-2000.