Moore v. Omnicare, Inc.

118 P.3d 141, 141 Idaho 809, 2005 Ida. LEXIS 130
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 22, 2005
Docket30244, 30245
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 118 P.3d 141 (Moore v. Omnicare, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. Omnicare, Inc., 118 P.3d 141, 141 Idaho 809, 2005 Ida. LEXIS 130 (Idaho 2005).

Opinions

SCHROEDER, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from a Judgment of the district court vacating in part and confirming in part an arbitration panel’s award on claims arising out of an Asset Purchase Agreement and Employment Agreement between David Moore (Moore) and Mednat, Inc. (Mednat) and Omnicare, Inc. (Omnicare). Both parties appealed the Judgment and ask for attorney fees on appeal.

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

David Moore (Moore) and James Tanzini (Tanzini) were shareholders of a pharmaceutical and health care equipment supply company, Tandem, Inc. (Tandem). In July of 1997 Omnicare, Inc. (Omnicare) wanted to acquire Tandem to expand its own pharmaceutical and health care supply business. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, THG Acquisition Corporation (THG), Omnicare entered into an agreement (the Asset Purchase Agreement) to acquire the assets and goodwill of Tandem, now known as Mednat, Inc. (Mednat), for $1.4 million. Section 2.1 of the Asset Purchase Agreement contained an Earnings Holdback provision whereby the parties agreed:

If and only if the Operating Profit Margin Percent (as defined below) of the Business being acquired by Purchaser [Omnicare] for the consecutive twelve (12) calendar months commencing October 1, 1997 is equal to or greater than the operating profit of the Seller for the four-month period ended April 30, 1997, Purchaser shall pay to Seller $400,000 (the ‘Earnings Hold-back’) or such lesser amount as is determined in accordance with Sections 2.2 and 7.4 hereof ...

Omnicare also agreed to hire Moore as Mednat’s Chief Operating Officer (COO). In a separate employment agreement (the Employment Agreement) Omnicare agreed to pay Moore a base compensation of $110, 000 per year for five years.

Section 10.8 of the Asset Purchase Agreement stated that the agreement would be “governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with, the laws of the State of Idaho.” Section 10.9 set forth the terms and conditions of dispute resolution under the agreement:

(a) Any controversy, dispute or claim arising out of, in connection with, or in relation to the interpretation, performance or breach of this Agreement, including, without limitation, any claim based on contract, tort or statute and any claim pursuant to the provisions of Article 2 or 7 hereof, shall be settled by arbitration. Any arbitration pursuant to this Agreement shall be conducted in at the site in Boise, Idaho designated by the moving party before and in accordance with the then existing Rules for Commercial Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association____ In any matters submitted to arbitration hereunder, the arbitrators may not through their award compromise any difference between the positions of Omnicare and Seller. Instead, three days before any arbitration is scheduled to commence, Omnicare and Seller shall each submit to the arbitration panel a proposed award. The arbitrators shall endorse as their final award either the award proposed by Omnicare or the award proposed by Seller. No other award may be made. Fees and expenses of the arbitration shall be paid by the parties against whom the arbitrator rules----
[813]*813(b) The parties intend that the agreement to arbitrate as set forth in this Section 10.9 shall be valid, enforceable and irrevocable. Each party in any arbitration proceeding commenced hereunder shall bear such party’s own costs and expenses (including expert witness and attorneys’ fees) of investigating, preparing and pursuing such arbitration claim. The parties to any arbitration shall have the right to discover the relevant books and records of the other side that are not confidential or privileged.
(c) In any dispute as to the determination of the Adjustment Amount or related matters in connection with Sections 2.1 and 2.2 hereof, such arbitrator shall be limited in his or her award to determining that the amount due pursuant to Sections 2.1 and 2.2 hereof, and such arbitrator shall not seek to compromise any difference between such statement, notice or objection as to such amount.

The Employment Agreement was governed by similar provisions. Sections 2.2 through 2.4 outlined the reasons for and methods by which Moore could be terminated. Section 2.2 described “termination for cause.” After outlining the various circumstances constituting a for cause discharge, the agreement required Omnicare to provide:

[Wjritten notice from the board of directors of the Company or Omnicare stating the nature of the conduct forming the basis for termination and affording Employee ten (10) days to correct the act or omission described. Unless Employee cures such act or omission to the satisfaction of the Company and Omnicare such Termination for Cause shall be effective immediately upon the expiration of said ten (10) day period. Upon the effectiveness of any Termination for Cause by the Company, payment of all compensation to Employee under this Agreement shall cease immediately (except for any payment of compensation accrued but unpaid through the date of such Termination for Cause).

Section 2.3 described termination “without cause”. This section provided that:

The Company shall have the right to terminate this Agreement and Employee’s employment without cause upon ten (10) days’ written notice to Employee. If the Company terminates this Agreement and Employee’s employment without cause pursuant to this Section 2.3, Employee shall receive his Base Compensation, as that term is defined in Section 3.1 of this Agreement, for the remainder of the then current term of this Agreement. Upon such termination, Employee shall not receive any further compensation pursuant to Sections 3.2, 3.3 or 3.4 of this Agreement. In the event of termination without cause, Employee acknowledges that the Company shall have no liability to him whatsoever other than its obligation to pay him his Base Compensation for the remainder of the then current term of this Agreement.

Section 7.9(a) of the Employment Agreement provided that any claims would be settled by arbitration “in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association as set forth in the Asset Purchase Agreement.” The Employment Agreement was to be governed by Idaho contract law.

After three years Mednat’s client base began to steadily decline. On June 29, 2000, representatives from Omnicare informed Moore they were closing Mednat and terminating his employment. They did not give Moore written notice. Moore filed a petition with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) alleging improper termination under the terms of his Employment Agreement. Omnicare counterclaimed for indemnification, damages resulting from Medicare payments made on Moore’s behalf, and for breach of contract in Moore’s alleged failure to use “best efforts” in his duties relating to Mednat.

In October of 2001 Moore amended his claim, adding Mednat as a party and including a new claim for damages under the “Earnings Holdback” provision of the Asset Purchase Agreement. The assigned single arbitrator was replaced by a three-person panel of arbitrators. The panel granted Moore summary judgment on the Employ[814]*814ment Agreement issue. The panel awarded Moore $247,500 in damages on this claim.

The arbitrators heard the remaining Earnings Holdback, indemnification, Medicare, and breach of contract claims on October 15, 16 and 17, 2002 in Boise.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
118 P.3d 141, 141 Idaho 809, 2005 Ida. LEXIS 130, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-omnicare-inc-idaho-2005.