Guy J. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A Guy J. Daniel Construction Company, and Lesha A. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A/ Ja-Le & Associates v. Falcon Interest Realty Corp.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 29, 2005
Docket01-03-00130-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Guy J. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A Guy J. Daniel Construction Company, and Lesha A. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A/ Ja-Le & Associates v. Falcon Interest Realty Corp. (Guy J. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A Guy J. Daniel Construction Company, and Lesha A. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A/ Ja-Le & Associates v. Falcon Interest Realty Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Guy J. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A Guy J. Daniel Construction Company, and Lesha A. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A/ Ja-Le & Associates v. Falcon Interest Realty Corp., (Tex. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

Opinion issued December 29, 2005




In The

Court of Appeals

For The

First District of Texas


NO. 01-03-00130-CV

__________

GUY J. DANIEL, INDIVIDUALLY AND D/B/A GUY J. DANIEL CONSTRUCTION CO. AND LESHA DANIEL, INDIVIDUALLY AND D/B/A JA-LE & ASSOCIATES, Appellants

V.

FALCON INTEREST REALTY CORPORATION, Appellee


On Appeal from the 151st District Court

Harris County, Texas

Trial Court Cause No. 9843268


O P I N I O N

          Appellants, Guy J. Daniel, individually and doing business as Guy J. Daniel Construction Company, and Lesha Daniel, individually and doing business as Ja-Le & Associates (collectively, “the Daniels”), challenge the trial court’s judgment, entered after a bench trial, in appellee, Falcon Interest Realty Corporation’s (“Falcon”), breach of fiduciary duty suit against the Daniels. The trial court awarded Falcon $191,000, less a $70,000 settlement credit. In four issues, the Daniels contend that (1) the trial court erred in finding that they breached their fiduciary duty; (2) the trial court erred in denying their summary judgment motion; (3) the loss of the entire clerk’s record unduly burdened them because “the trial court’s docket sheet notes are crucial to appellate review”; and (4) Falcon is equitably estopped from recovering from the Daniels because Falcon profited from the acts of the Daniels.

          We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

          Jack Moss, Falcon’s chief financial officer, testified that Falcon hired Guy to serve as the project manager and on-site superintendent of a construction project referred to by the parties as the “State of Texas Job.” Falcon paid Guy a salary for serving as project manager and on-site superintendent. As project manger, Guy was responsible for locating subcontractors, soliciting bids, setting the scope of work for each subcontractor, reviewing the bids, and letting the contracts. As superintendent, Guy was responsible for overseeing people working on the project. Guy would normally select the subcontractor for each portion of the project and notify Falcon’s president of construction. Guy would also receive invoices, approve them, and forward them to the accounting department.

          Near the completion of the project, and after Guy was “pulled off” the project, Falcon found approximately one million dollars worth of invoices in a drawer that had not been reported to Falcon. Falcon ended up losing over one million dollars on the project. After completion of the project, Falcon learned that B&L Associates (“B&L”), one of the subcontractors that performed work on the project, was run by Guy’s mother-in-law and father-in-law. Guy had not disclosed this information to Falcon. Falcon subsequently learned, after reviewing bank records, that Guy and his wife Lesha personally profited from the operation of B&L. Falcon had paid B&L approximately $373,000 for its work on the project, but, after learning of the relationship between Guy and B&L, did not pay B&L for the final $16,000 billed by B&L.

          On cross-examination, Moss admitted that, at least in one other instance, a family member of a Falcon employee had worked as a subcontractor for Falcon, but Moss also noted that Falcon was aware of the relationship and that the Falcon employee did not receive any compensation as a result of this relationship.

          Sharon Henry, a certified public account and an expert witness for Falcon, testified that she reviewed the records of bank accounts held in the names of B&L Associates and Ja-Le & Associates and that these accounts had received $372,945 from Falcon for the project. She also calculated disbursements from these accounts for, among other things, subcontractor expenses, wages, overhead, and insurance, and she determined that there had been a profit earned on the project “in the range of $200,000.”

          Beverly Laine, Guy’s mother-in-law, testified that Guy approached her and her husband and asked them if they “would be interested in doing something on the side” so that they “could make some money” and he “could save Falcon money.” In response, she and her husband formed B&L for the purpose of bidding on work on the project. Laine stated that she handled all the books and records for B&L, that she opened a bank account for B&L, and that she and her husband were the only signatories on the B&L bank account. She further stated that while B&L may have paid some of the labor costs associated with work performed by B&L on the project, she wired money, per Guy’s instructions, to Guy’s business account, held in the name of Ja-Le & Associates, and Guy made arrangements to pay employees and subcontractors for work on the project. After B&L completed its work on the project, Laine prepared and submitted the invoices to Falcon. On cross-examination, Laine stated that B&L completed all of its work on the project and that no one from Falcon complained about the quality of B&L’s work. She further stated that B&L submitted bids on certain jobs that were not accepted by Falcon.

          Lesha Daniel testified that, after marrying Guy, she created the assumed name of Ja-Le & Associates for the purpose of providing the Daniels “with additional income on some side jobs.” She stated that Ja-Le had an agreement with B&L to provide labor and handle costs associated with the project. After forming Ja-Le, she opened a bank account for Ja-Le, and stated that B&L had transferred money into the Ja-Le bank account. Funds in the Ja-Le bank account were used to pay employees and subcontractors who worked on the project, but Lesha and Guy also made withdrawals from the account, and Lesha and Guy used funds in the account for personal use. Falcon presented evidence that B&L had transferred approximately $277,000 to the Ja-Le bank account.

          Guy presented evidence that, in obtaining bids for each portion of the project, he received bids from three different contractors, and that B&L’s bids were less than some of the other bids submitted. Guy testified that Falcon paid B&L $372,945 for work on the project. Guy admitted

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Guy J. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A Guy J. Daniel Construction Company, and Lesha A. Daniel, Individually and D/B/A/ Ja-Le & Associates v. Falcon Interest Realty Corp., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guy-j-daniel-individually-and-dba-guy-j-daniel-construction-company-texapp-2005.