Madore v. Kennebec Heights Country Club

2007 ME 92, 926 A.2d 1180, 2007 Me. LEXIS 93
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedJuly 24, 2007
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 2007 ME 92 (Madore v. Kennebec Heights Country Club) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Madore v. Kennebec Heights Country Club, 2007 ME 92, 926 A.2d 1180, 2007 Me. LEXIS 93 (Me. 2007).

Opinion

LEVY, J.

[¶ 1] Kennebec Heights Country Club appeals from a judgment entered in the Superior Court (Kennebec County, Mar-den, J.) after a jury trial, awarding Ryan L. Madore $10,281 in damages on his breach of employment contract claim. The Club contends that the Superior Court erred in denying its motions for judgment as a matter of law. Madore cross-appeals, contending that the court erred in finding that he was not entitled to the additional remedies of Maine’s wage payment statute, 26 M.R.S. § 626 (2006). We find the Club’s contentions to be without merit. However, because we agree with Madore that he is entitled to remedies allowed pursuant to the wage payment statute, we vacate and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] The Club is a Maine corporation that operates a golf course in Farming-dale. The Club sought to hire a golf professional for the 2003 season, whose job would involve providing lessons, implementing programs and outings, and cultivating relationships with organizational sponsors. Michael Jennings, the Club’s President and General Manager, entered into employment discussions with Ryan Madore in early 2003 and offered Madore the position in March, to commence on April 1, 2003. The terms of the offer were memorialized in a March 24 letter from the Club to Madore, which Madore accepted by signing. The compensation package included “an annual base salary of $27,000 to be paid on a weekly basis throughout the year,” which was to be reviewed halfway through the golf season in light of Madore’s performance.

[¶ 3] Madore worked as the Club’s golf professional during the spring and summer months of 2003. His duties consisted primarily of running the pro shop, organizing outings, and giving private lessons, for which he was paid eighty percent of the lesson fees in addition to his salary. However, Jennings and Madore had a series of professional disagreements, and Madore was laid off in October 2003 with a two-week severance. Madore filed suit, alleging four causes of action against his former employer: (1) breach of contract; (2) unfair employment practice pursuant to 26 M.R.S. § 626; (3) unjust enrichment; and (4) fraud. His complaint also sought punitive damages. The Club filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted as to the fraud claim and punitive damages, but denied as to the other three counts.

[¶ 4] A trial was held on the remaining counts. At the close of the evidence, the Club moved for judgment as a matter of law, but the court denied the motion. The parties agreed to submit the wage payment statute claim to the court for decision after the jury returned its verdict on the breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims. The court gave the jury a special verdict form asking them to decide the breach of contract claim first, and instructing them that only if they found no breach of contract should they reach the question of unjust enrichment. The jury returned a [1183]*1183verdict in favor of Madore on the breach of contract claim, and awarded him $10,280.79, the difference between the $27,000 annual base salary memorialized in the employment contract, and the amount he was actually paid as of his termination in October 2003. Madore then filed a motion for judgment on the remaining wage payment statute count. The Club objected to the motion and filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. The court denied both parties’ motions and entered judgment on the jury verdict on the breach of contract claim. The Club’s appeal and Madore’s cross-appeal followed.

II. DISCUSSION

A. The Club’s Motions for Judgment as a Matter of Law and Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict

[¶ 5] The Club contends that its motion for judgment as a matter of law, M.R. Civ. P. 50(a), at the close of the evidence and its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, M.R. Civ. P. 50(b), were improperly denied with respect to Madore’s breach of contract claim.1 Judgment as a matter of law, either at the close of evidence or post-judgment, is appropriate when, “viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom most favorably to the party opposing the motion, a jury could not reasonably find for that party on an issue that under the substantive law is an essential element of the claim.” M.R. Civ. P. 50(a). We review the denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law de novo, S.S. Navigation Co. v. Camden Nat’l Bank, 2006 ME 11, ¶ 5, 889 A.2d 1014, 1016, “to determine if any reasonable view of the evidence and those inferences that are justifiably drawn from that evidence supports the jury ver-diet.” Larochelle v. Cyr, 1998 ME 52, ¶ 6, 707 A.2d 799, 801 (quotation marks omitted).

[¶ 6] The Club asserts that the jury could not reasonably have found that a contract for a fixed term existed, because the employment contract unambiguously provided that Madore was hired as an employee at will. The issue presented, however, was not one of employment at will. Rather, the question was whether Madore had completed his obligations under the contract, thereby entitling him to full payment under the contract.

[¶ 7] Whether a term in a contract is ambiguous is an issue of law that we review de novo. Spottiswoode v. Levine, 1999 ME 79, ¶ 16, 730 A.2d 166, 172. A contract is ambiguous if it is reasonably susceptible to more than one interpretation. See Fitzgerald v. Gamester, 658 A.2d 1065, 1069 (Me.1995). Where contractual language is ambiguous, its meaning is a matter for the trier of fact. See Spottiswoode, 1999 ME 79, ¶ 16, 730 A.2d at 172.

[¶ 8] Contrary to the Club’s position, the contract language is ambiguous. “[A]n annual base salary of $27,000 to be paid on a weekly basis throughout the year” could mean, as the Club urges, that Madore was to be paid weekly for work over an unspecified period of time. However, this language also lends itself to a second possible interpretation. The payment is specifically described as occurring “on a weekly basis throughout the year.” Therefore, it is reasonably possible also to read the contract as contemplating weekly year-round payments for seven months of work as posited by Madore. Because the contract language gives rise to two reasonable and different interpretations, it was not [1184]*1184error for the court to admit extrinsic evidence to clarify the parties’ intent. See Estate of Barrows, 2006 ME 143, ¶ 23, 913 A.2d 608, 614.

[If 9] Based in part on the extrinsic evidence admitted at trial, the jury could have interpreted the contract as comporting with Madore’s expectations, and awarded him the balance due on a contract that anticipated compensation over the year for the seven months of work that he had completed. Viewing the evidence and all reasonable inferences therefrom most favorably to Madore as the nonmoving party, a jury could reasonably find for him on the breach of contract claim. Therefore, the court did not err in denying the Club’s motions for judgment as a matter of law and judgment notwithstanding the verdict. See Buchanan v. Martin Marietta Corp., 494 A.2d 677, 678-79 (Me.1985).

B. Wage Payment Statute Claim

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Heather Keep v. Christopher Indorf
2024 ME 14 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2024)
Sleeper v. Lilley
Maine Superior, 2014
Stanley v. Liberty
Maine Superior, 2014
Russell v. ExpressJet Airlines, Inc.
2011 ME 123 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2011)
Roux v. Gammon
Maine Superior, 2011
Coastal Ventures v. Alsham Plaza, LLC
2010 ME 63 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2010)
Richardson v. Winthrop School Department
2009 ME 109 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2009)
Garland v. Roy
2009 ME 86 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2009)
Fitzpatrick v. Teleflex, Inc.
630 F. Supp. 2d 91 (D. Maine, 2009)
Dickey v. Vermette
2008 ME 179 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2008)
Marie v. Renner
2008 ME 73 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2008)
Labonte v. Thurlow
2008 ME 60 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2007 ME 92, 926 A.2d 1180, 2007 Me. LEXIS 93, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/madore-v-kennebec-heights-country-club-me-2007.