Harrison v. Walker

91 So. 3d 41, 2011 WL 2547964, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 395
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJune 28, 2011
DocketNo. 2009-CA-01851-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 91 So. 3d 41 (Harrison v. Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harrison v. Walker, 91 So. 3d 41, 2011 WL 2547964, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 395 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

IRVING, P.J., for the Court:

¶ 1. James Eric Harrison was under contract as a chicken farmer with Tyson Breeders, Inc. In February 2002, due to poor performance by Harrison, Tyson gave Harrison oral notice of termination of its contract with him. On December 17, 2002, Harrison filed suit in the Covington County Circuit Court,1 alleging breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, and fraudulent inducement. On December 20, 2006, Harrison filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the breach-of-eontract claim. The circuit court granted Harrison’s motion, finding that Tyson had failed to give Harrison written notice of termination as required by its contract with him. After a trial, the jury awarded Harrison $22,328 in damages on the breach-of-contract claim and found in favor of Tyson on the issues of breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing and fraudulent inducement.

¶ 2. Harrison and Tyson filed cross-motions for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV). Harrison also filed a motion for a new trial or an additur. The circuit court denied all post-trial motions.

¶ 3. Feeling aggrieved, Harrison appeals and argues that the circuit court erred by admitting evidence of his past farming habits and giving jury instructions D-12 and D-20. Tyson cross-appeals and argues that the circuit court erred in denying its motion for a JNOV.

¶ 4. We affirm the circuit court’s judgment on direct appeal and reverse and remand on cross-appeal.

FACTS

¶ 5. In 1997, Harrison entered into his first breeder-grower contract with Tyson. The contract had a term of five years. As a breeder grower, Harrison was responsible for the production of quality hatching eggs. Tyson would deliver a flock of breeder hens and roosters to Harrison, and he would care for the flock for approximately forty weeks. During that time, Harrison would collect the eggs laid by the hens, and Tyson would pick them up and transport them to a hatchery. At the end of the forty-week period, Tyson would pick up the flock and take it to a plant to be slaughtered for food.

¶ 6. In 1999, Tyson terminated Harrison due to substandard farming practices. Harrison later defaulted on his loan with Oaklawn Financial Corporation (Oaklawn), a subsidiary of Tyson that made loans to Tyson’s chicken farmers. Harrison testified that the loan was secured by his two chicken houses and ten acres of land. Upon default, Oaklawn had the option to foreclose on the property or to take over the farm. Tyson’s complex in Magee, Mississippi, also incurred a charge for the missed loan payments.

[44]*44¶ 7. In 2000, Tyson rehired Harrison.2 Harrison testified that Mack Walker, Tyson’s live-production manager, and Stan Varner, Tyson’s breeder-hatchery manager, approached him about resuming his contractual relations as a breeder grower. However, Walker and Varner testified that Harrison approached them and begged them to reinstate his contractual arrangement with Tyson. In any event, Tyson decided to enter into a new contract with Harrison, provided that he made the necessary repairs to his chicken houses and improved his farming practices. On October 5, 2000, Tyson placed a new flock at Harrison’s farm. Harrison’s performance improved with the October 2000 flock, and Tyson placed another flock on Harrison’s farm in September 2001.

¶ 8. In the spring of 2001, Harrison approached Walker about the possibility of reducing the payments on his Oak-lawn loan. Walker explained to Harrison that because he was already in arrears on the loan, his payments could not be reduced. However, Walker gave Harrison the name of a bank that made poultry loans and suggested that Harrison contact the bank about refinancing his loan. Harrison contacted First Financial Bank about refinancing his Oaklawn loan, and the bank requested a letter from Varner explaining the gaps in production at Harrison’s farm. In the letter, Var-ner explained that Harrison had had personal problems and mechanical issues that had affected his performance; however, Harrison had corrected the problems, and Tyson had rehired him as a grower breeder. In June 2001, Harrison refinanced his Oaklawn loan with First Financial Bank; however, Harrison was required to pledge the entirety of his property-forty acres, two chicken houses, and his home-as collateral.

¶ 9. Soon after, Harrison’s production performance began to deteriorate. In November 2001, Varner recommended to Walker that Tyson terminate Harrison’s contract based on poor performance. However, Walker testified that he did not immediately make a decision regarding Harrison. In the interim, Tyson gave all of its farmers, including Harrison, a pay raise. In December 2001, Tyson presented all of its farmers with a new one-year contract that reflected the pay raise, and Harrison signed the contract.

¶ 10. In February 2002, Walker and Varner met with Harrison and gave him oral notice that his contract with Tyson was terminated. However, Tyson did not remove Harrison’s flock until May 2002, and Harrison testified that he was paid during that time. Harrison later defaulted on his loan with First Financial Bank and lost his collateral.

¶ 11. Additional facts, as necessary, will be related during our analysis and discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

1. Evidence of Past Farming Habits

¶ 12. Harrison argues that the circuit court erred in admitting evidence of his farming practices prior to his first termination in 1999. Harrison contends that such evidence amounts to improper character evidence in violation of Rule 404 of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence.

¶ 13. A circuit court’s admission or exclusion of evidence is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Alpha Gulf Coast, [45]*45Inc. v. Jackson, 801 So.2d 709, 729 (¶ 69) (Miss.2001) (citing Floyd v. City of Crystal Springs, 749 So.2d 110, 113 (¶ 12) (Miss. 1999)). An appellate court “will not reverse the admission or exclusion of evidence unless the error adversely affects a substantial right of a party.” Id. (citing Floyd, 749 So.2d at 113 (if 12)).

¶ 14. Rule 404(a) provides that “[evidence of a person’s character or a trait of his character is not admissible for the purpose of proving that he acted in conformity therewith on a particular occasion.” Harrison contends that Tyson introduced evidence of his earlier poor performance as a farmer to prove that he performed poorly after he entered into a new contract with Tyson in 2000. However, Tyson argues that Harrison opened the door to such evidence by introducing evidence of his 1997 contract with Tyson. -Tyson further argues that evidence of Harrison’s prior farming practices was necessary to its defense of Harrison’s bad-faith and fraudulent-inducement claims.

¶ 15. We are not persuaded by Harrison’s argument that evidence of his prior poor performance at Tyson constituted improper character evidence. Instead, we find that such evidence was relevant to Tyson’s defense of Harrison’s claim that it had entered into the contract with him for the sole purpose of convincing him to refinance his defaulted Oaklawn loan with another lender and wipe the loan from its books.

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91 So. 3d 41, 2011 WL 2547964, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harrison-v-walker-missctapp-2011.