Palmer v. Waguespack Pratt, Inc.

457 So. 2d 19, 1984 La. App. LEXIS 9019
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 6, 1984
DocketNo. CA-1420
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 457 So. 2d 19 (Palmer v. Waguespack Pratt, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palmer v. Waguespack Pratt, Inc., 457 So. 2d 19, 1984 La. App. LEXIS 9019 (La. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinions

KLEES, Judge.

This suit was brought by Russell Palmer against his former employer, Wag-uespack-Pratt Management, Inc., along with Waguespack Pratt, Inc. and Wagues-pack, Pratt Service and Development Company, Inc. for commissions Palmer alleged were due him under a contract of employment with the defendants. He also sought judgment for commissions on any sums due the defendants as a result of the renewal or exercise of options relating to those leases. In addition, Palmer sought judgment for bonuses which he claimed the defendant corporations owed to him. In a third-party petition the plaintiff brought suit against Refco-Poydras Hotel Joint Venture and Waguespack, Pratt, Inc., for commissions due on a lease executed between Refco-Poydras Hotel Joint Venture and the Imperial Palace. Prior to the trial of the case on the merits, that claim was compromised by the plaintiff and Refco-Poydras by a compromise agreement concurred in by the defendants Waguespack, Pratt, Inc., and Waguespack, Pratt Service and Development Company, Inc. After trial on the merits before a commissioner of the Civil District Court, the plaintiff was awarded judgment in the amount of $15,-863.78 for various commissions earned, reserving to him his right to litigate other sums claimed to be due him and not previously adjudicated. The defendants assign as error the rendering of judgment against Waguespack, Pratt, Inc. and Waguespack, Pratt Service and Development Company, Inc. The record reflects that Waguespack, Pratt Service and Development Company, Inc., no longer exists due to its merger with Waguespack, Pratt Management, Inc. We amend the judgment of the trial court with respect to the named defendants, substituting Waguespack, Pratt Management, Inc., in their stead as the admitted employer of the plaintiff. For the following reasons we affirm the award of $750.00 (Roger Johns); $1,283.75 (Georgie Porgie); $360.00 (Regency Coffee); $112.50 (Royal Antiques); and $4,049 (Cloth World of La., Inc.). We reverse with respect to the remainder of the judgment.

FACTS

The plaintiff, Russell Palmer, was hired by Waguespack, Pratt Service and Development Company, Inc. in 1975 after having recently earned his MBA degree at the University of Texas. He was hired at a salary of $12,000.00 per year to work in a management capacity and more specifically to lease space in the new Poydras Plaza Shopping Mall. Plaintiff became a licensed real estate agent subsequent to joining Waguespack, Pratt Service and Development Company, Inc. Waguespack, Pratt, Inc., had a listing agreement with the owners of the Poydras Plaza, which is located adjacent to the Hyatt Regency Hotel, by the terms of which they would receive a flat fee for leasing its space. This agreement was later modified giving Wagues-pack, Pratt, Inc., a commission on leases rather than a flat fee. At that time the plaintiff was leasing out the shopping mall very successfully. He was told that he would be given 50% of the 6% commission received by Waguespack, Pratt, Inc., on all leases which earned them a commission in Poydras Plaza. In 1976, the plaintiffs salary was raised to $15,000.00 per year and he at some point in time acquired a company car along with reimbursement for travel and entertainment expenses. He also assumed the management of Waguespack, Pratt Service and Development Company, Inc., which was subsequently merged into Waguespack, Pratt Management, Inc. His salary in 1977 was increased to $18,000.00 per year and in the latter part of 1978 it was increased to $22,500.00 per year. The [21]*21plaintiff received a check in 1977 in an amount totalling 50% of a 6% commission earned by Waguespack, Pratt, Inc., on leases confected by the plaintiff in the Poydras Plaza Shopping Mall. He received a check in 1978 which stated that it was for commissions earned in 1977, which included those leases in Poydras Plaza and one in Westside Shopping Center. The plaintiff resigned his employment with Wagues-pack, Pratt Management, Inc., on January 23, 1979. The plaintiff thereafter made demand on the defendant for the sums he claimed were due from commissions on leases he perfected or helped perfect. Upon rejection of his claims this suit was filed.

Employment Contract

In his pleadings, the plaintiff asserts that the compensation agreement between himself and Waguespack, Pratt Management, Inc., was a handwritten item dated January 1, 1978 and signed by Jeff Haynes, Poche Waguespack’s son-in-law. He claimed in the second amended petition that the agreed upon compensation was to be that,

“Plaintiff was to receive $18,000.00 per year salary, plus 50% of all commissions earned by defendants for leases which were either procured by plaintiff without an outside broker or agent, or leases for which plaintiff had obtained the listing contract, including but not limited to the Poydras Plaza Retail Mall, the River-lands Shopping Center, and the Westside Shopping Center.
Finally, plaintiff was to receive a bonus of 10% of any and all profits earned by defendants in excess of $25,000.00 and 15% of any and all profits earned by defendants in excess of $50,000.00.”

The trial court in its reasons for judgment found that there was no meeting of the minds, no consent, and no understanding. In other words, no contract between the parties evidenced by the writing introduced by the plaintiff. After our review of this voluminous record, we agree with the trial court and conclude that the writing in question did not create a contract between the parties.

Poydras Plaza

The facts as brought out at trial support plaintiffs contention that it was understood that he would be compensated for leases which he obtained in Poydras Plaza because of the difficulty the defendant was having leasing that space. Plaintiff was in fact compensated on a 50% of a 6% commission basis on those leases he obtained on which Waguespack, Pratt, Inc., earned a commission. The commissions would have continued had plaintiff not terminated his employment with defendant. Mr. Poche Waguespack, president of the defendant corporation, stated at trial that he hired the plaintiff to lease Poydras Plaza and paid him a commission or bonus on those leases. Thus, we conclude that there was an understanding between the parties as to those specific leases. Simply because the plaintiff is no longer in the defendant’s employ does not mean that he intended to forfeit those amounts earned by him. If his primary job as an employee of Wagues-pack, Pratt Service and Development Company, Inc., was to service the listing contract with Refco — Poydras Hotel Joint Venture and he performed leasing activities for which he was compensated in addition to his salary for those specific leases, then he is entitled to recover any monies still due him under those leases. See Tinney v. W.J. Tessier Realtors, 447 So.2d 1099 (La.App. 4th Cir.1984). We therefore affirm with respect to the amounts awarded on the Poydras Plaza leases.

Wendy’s Lease

Our review of the record indicates that the plaintiff has settled any claim to a commission for procuring Wendy’s as a tenant in the Riverland Shopping Center by means of a contract signed by a representative of Waguespack, Pratt, Inc., and the plaintiff as the representative of his current employer, Latter and Blum. The plaintiff chose this method to insure his receipt of a commission as evidenced by the fact that Wendy’s approached Wagues-[22]*22pack, Pratt, Inc., and requested that they sign the contract. This contract would constitute the law between the parties. See La.C.C. art.

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Bluebook (online)
457 So. 2d 19, 1984 La. App. LEXIS 9019, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palmer-v-waguespack-pratt-inc-lactapp-1984.