Fudali v. Pivotal Corp.

623 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98445, 2007 WL 6550181
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedOctober 15, 2007
DocketCivil Action 03-1460 (JMF)
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 623 F. Supp. 2d 1 (Fudali v. Pivotal Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fudali v. Pivotal Corp., 623 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98445, 2007 WL 6550181 (D.D.C. 2007).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

JOHN M. FACCIOLA, United States Magistrate Judge.

Currently pending before me is Defendant’s Motion For Partial Summary Judgment As To The Amount Of Damages, Or In The Alternative In Limine To Preclude Evidence Of Damages In Excess Of A Certain Amount (the “Motion”). For the reasons stated herein, defendant’s motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Marjorie Fudali commenced this action to recover commission payments she asserts her former employer, Pivotal Corporation (“Pivotal”), owes her. Fudali was hired by Pivotal in May 2000 as a Senior Sales Executive. Amended Complaint (“Am. Compl.”) ¶¶ 3-5. Fudali resigned, effective June 4, 2002, when Pivotal failed to pay her what she believed to be her due commission. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 6, 25. The central dispute in this case is whether Fudali and Pivotal’s then-Chief Financial Officer, Vince Mifsud, entered into an oral agreement in August 2001 regarding Fudali’s Fiscal Year 2002 compensation plan. Trial is scheduled to begin on October 22, 2007.

While the central dispute concerns the percentage of revenue to which Fudali is entitled in commission, the motion before me concerns the amount of revenue that is commissionable. Pivotal and Syngenta Crop Protection AG (“Syngenta”) entered into a software licensing and maintenance contract, dated April 25, 2002 (the “Global Agreement”). PIV-MSJ-6. Pivotal argues that, because Fudali’s employment with Pivotal was terminated, she is not entitled to commission on any revenue received by Pivotal after 90 days of the Global Agreement. Motion at 10. Pivotal contends that the amount of revenue received before that time is [REDACTED], and that Fudali’s damages in this ease can be no greater than [REDACTED], Motion at 9. Though Fudali initially agreed that her damages in this case could be no greater than [REDACTED], she now asserts that her damages far exceed this amount because her commission should have been based not on [REDACTED], but on the full value of the Global Agreement: [REDACTED], Plaintiffs Supplemental Responses to Defendant’s Interrogatories, at 2-3 (Dec. 21, 2003); PIV-MSJ-14.

Three issues must be resolved in Pivotal’s favor in order for its motion to be granted in full. First, Pivotal must be correct, as a matter of law, that it received no more than [REDACTED] from Syngenta within 90 days of the Global Agree *3 ment. Second, the Compensation Plan 1 must be so unambiguous that there can only be one reasonable interpretation— Pivotal’s — concerning whether payments made by Syngenta and received by Pivotal after 90 days of the Global Agreement are commissionable to Fudali. Finally, the Compensation Plan must be so unambiguous that there can only be one reasonable interpretation — Pivotal’s—concerning whether the Global Agreement contains “extended payment terms.”

II. MATERIAL FACTS NOT IN DISPUTE

1. On April 25, 2002, Pivotal and Syngenta entered into the Global Agreement. PIV-MSJ-6. The final signature on this agreement was affixed on May 20, 2002. PIV-MSJ-6 at 27.

2. Under the Global Agreement, Syngenta was to pay Pivotal a total of [REDACTED] in license fees. Id. at 27. The first payment of [REDACTED] was to be made no later than 15 days from the date of the agreement, and the second payment of [REDACTED] was to be made by January 2, 2003. Id.

3. The agreement also required Syngenta to purchase [REDACTED] in total maintenance and support services for existing and additional software licenses, with a payment schedule extending to January 2, 2006. Id. at 32-33.

4. The payments due under the Global Agreement are represented in the following chart:

Amount Due Source
License Fees:
[REDACTED] 6/4/02 PIV-MSJ-6 at 27
[REDACTED] 1/2/03 PIV-MSJ-6 at 27
Maintenance Fees:
[REDACTED] 6/4/02 PIV-MSJ-6 at 32
[REDACTED] 1/2/03 PIV-MSJ-6 at 32
[REDACTED] 1/2/04 PIV-MSJ-6 at 32
[REDACTED] 1/2/05 PIV-MSJ-6 at 32
[REDACTED] 1/2/06 PIV-MSJ-6 at 33
Total: [REDACTED]_

5. On March 15, 2002, Pivotal sent invoice no. 3110036 to Syngenta for software license fees in the amount of [REDACTED], PIV-MSJ-7. On March 28, 2002, Pivotal sent invoice no. 3110042 to Syngenta for maintenance in the amount of [REDACTED], PIV-MSJ-8. Payments on these invoices were to be rolled into the Global Agreement. PIV-MSJ-11.

6. The document entitled “Transaction by Customer Inquiry Report” shows entry numbers 3110036 and 3110042 with these same amounts, calculated in Euros ([REDACTED] and [REDACTED]). PIV-MSJ-10.

7. At the bottom of the page there is an entry labeled “Syngenta paid 3110036/3110042,” next to the letters “PMT.” PIV-MSJ-10. This amount, preceded by a subtraction sign (“-”), is [REDACTED] — the total of entry numbers 3110036 and 3110042 (the disparity of [REDACTED] is presumably the result of currency rate fluctuation). Id.

*4 8. The document entitled “Syngenta Commission Calculation Worksheet” reflects invoices 3110036 ([REDACTED]) and 3110042 ([REDACTED]) as commissionable revenue. PIV-MSJ-13.

9. A document in Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains format, entitled “Sales Distribution Inquiry Zoom,” bears the number 3110055 next to the words “Document No.” and shows the total amount [REDACTED] ([REDACTED]) as the “Originating Amount.” PIV-MSJ-12. This amount is $0.10 less than the full potential value of the Global Agreement, as represented in the above chart.

10. The document entitled “Transaction by Customer Inquiry Report” shows an entry number 3110055 with this same amount, [REDACTED], PIV-MSJ-10. At the bottom of the page there is an entry with this same amount, [REDACTED], next to the letters “RTN.” Id. The amount is preceded by a subtraction sign (“-”) and above the number appear the words: “May Return.” Id. Both entries are dated March 28, 2002. Id.

11. The document entitled “Syngenta Commission Calculation Worksheet” reflects entry 3110055 as commissionable revenue, with an amount of [REDACTED], PIV-MSJ-13.

12. The document entitled “Transaction by Customer Inquiry Report” shows entries 3110063 and 3110064, dated May 31, 2002, with values of [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. PIV-MSJ-10. The total value of entries 3110063 and 3110064 is [REDACTED], which, after converting to USD, corresponds to the total amount Syngenta owed pursuant to the Global Agreement, due June 4, 2002 ([REDACTED] in license fees + [REDACTED] in maintenance = [REDACTED]) (see chart above).

13.

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Related

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Fudali v. Pivotal Corp.
623 F. Supp. 2d 25 (District of Columbia, 2009)

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Bluebook (online)
623 F. Supp. 2d 1, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 98445, 2007 WL 6550181, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fudali-v-pivotal-corp-dcd-2007.