Queen v. RBG USA Inc.

495 S.W.3d 316, 2016 WL 1729030, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 4411
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 28, 2016
DocketNO. 14-14-00829-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 495 S.W.3d 316 (Queen v. RBG USA Inc.) 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.

Bluebook
Queen v. RBG USA Inc., 495 S.W.3d 316, 2016 WL 1729030, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 4411 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

MAJORITY OPINION

Martha Hill Jamison, Justice

These cross-appeals stem from an employment dispute. Appellants Ian Magee and Michael Queen worked for appellee RBG. USA, Inc. In a purported attempt to solicit • business for RBG, Magee and Queen covertly shared undisputedly confidential RBG information with another company. When Magee and Queen’s supervisors learned of their actions, RBG terminated their employment. Magee and Queen contend that their actions were in the best interest of RBG and the termination of their, employment was .in violation of employment, agreements between them and RBG. After a bench.trial, the trial court rendered judgment against Magee and in favor of Queen.

Magee and Queen raise six issues challenging the legal sufficiency of -the evidence in support of several trial court findings and challenging the trial court’s exclusion of certain evidence. ' In- three cross-issues, RBG challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence in support of the trial court’s judgment in favor of Queen; We affirm in part and reverse and render in part.

Background

RBG is the United States subsidiary of RBG Limited, a company based in the United Kingdom that offers various services to the oil and gas industry, including painting and sand-blasting on offshore vessels. Magee was the country manager for RBG and hired Queen as RBG’s safety director. Magee had a written employment agreement with RBG, .but Queen and RBG never entered into such an agreement. Queen contends, that he had an oral employment agreement but it had not been memorialized in writing at the time he left RBG.

Magee hired Neils Kastrup as a business manager. Kastrup initially reported to Magee but subsequently was promoted to regional manager for the Americas. Magee became concerned about Kastrup overstepping his authority and filed a grievance with RBG’s human resources department. In response, the chief operating officer of RBG’s parent company in[320]*320structed Magee that he would now report to Kastrup as regional manager.

In the same month, Magee’learned that RBG lost a two-million-dollar contract with a company called CW Technical because Kastrup did not approve of some of the language in the agreement. Magee was disgruntled about this result. Magee and Queen secretly approached a company called Surface Technology Company with a proposal for it to take over the contract with CW Technical.and create a partnership with RBG to recoup the revenue lost after the deal between RBG and CW Technical did not proceed. Magee and Queen met with the president of Surface Technology, Chris Hionides, in New Orleans to discuss the proposal. Magee provided Hionides with a proposed , agreement, which included RBG’s profit margin rates, labor rates, and equipment list.

Marlin Lester, another employee at RBG, told Kastrup that Magee and Queen were planning to leave RBG to partner with Surface Technology and provided confidential RBG information to Hionides. Kastrup emailed Magee, Queen, and another RBG employee to set up an “operational review” meeting. The meeting was actually a disciplinary hearing. At the hearing, Magee initially denied traveling to New Orleans and denied having met Hion-ides. Then, Magee admitted he traveled to New Orleans but only for a job interview, and he said he did not give any information to Surface Technology and did not know of the company. The same day, Kastrup sent letters to Magee and Queen terminating their employment for “gross misconduct” for sharing confidential information in violation of RBG company policy.

• Under the terms of Magee’s employment contract with RBG, Magee was required to abide by RBG’s disciplinary rules and procedures. RBG was entitled to terminate Magee’s employment “without notice in the event of gross misconduct.” RBG’s written “Disciplinary and Dismissal Procedure[s]” governed dismissalr of RBG employees. Under these procedures, RBG agreed to take no disciplinary ■ action against an employee without a full investigation “into the circumstances of the alleged offen[s]e.” However, an exception to this policy allowed “instant and summary dismissal” as follows:

When there is a threat to the well-being of [RBG] or to- employees and the most appropriate course of action would be instant dismissal, the Business Director may implement this providing he is fully satisfied of the facts of the case and has agreement from the HR manager. Providing circumstances permit, the employee must be seen before this decision is taken and be given the opportunity to explain his/her involvement. Instant dismissal may be with or without notice depending on the nature of the offense.

RBG reserved “the right to effect summary dismissal [without notice] in certain serious circumstances of gross misconduct,” which included, as relevant here, “[d]ivulging confidential information to a third party” and “dishonesty.”

Magee ' and Queen brought claims against RBG for breach of contract, quantum meruit, and libel. RBG filed counterclaims for breach of contract and money had and received against Magee for failure to repay funds purportedly advanced to Magee for the purchase of a car and a bonus that was mistakenly paid to Magee. The trial court granted directed verdicts on the libel claims and rendered judgment in -favor of RBG on Magee’s breach of contract claim, Queen’s quantum meruit claim, and RBG’s claims against Magee. The trial court rendered judgment in favor of Queen on his breach of contract claim.

[321]*321 Discussion

Magee and Queen challenge the legal sufficiency of the evidence in support of the trial court’s (1) judgment against Ma-gee on his breach of contract claim and in favor of RBG on its breach of contract and money had and received claims; (2) limitation of Queen’s damages to three months’ pay; and (3) failure to award Queen certain attorney’s fees. Magee and Queen also complain of the trial court’s exclusion of evidence regarding Magee’s health and employment benefits. RBG challenges the legal sufficiency of the trial court’s judgment in favor of Queen. We conclude there is legally insufficient evidence to support a portion of the trial court’s judgment in favor of RBG and to support the. trial court’s judgment in favor of Queen.1

When reviewing for legal sufficiency, we consider the evidence in. the light most favorable to the finding and indulge every reasonable inference that supports the challenged finding. City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802, 822 (Tex.2005). We credit favorable evidence if a reasonable factfinder could and disregard contrary evidence unless a reasonable fact-finder could not. Id. at 827. The evidence is legally sufficient if it would enable a reasonable and fair minded person to find the fact under review. Id. The factfinder is the sole judge of witnesses’ credibility and the weight to be given their testimony. See id. at 819. We will conclude that the evidence is legally insufficient to support the finding only if (1) there is a complete absence of evidence of a vital fact, (2) we are barred by rules of law or of evidence from giving weight to the only evidence offered to prove a vital fact, (3) the evidence offered to prove a vital fact is no more than a mere scintilla, or (4) the evidence establishes conclusively the opposite of the vital fact. Id. at 810.

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495 S.W.3d 316, 2016 WL 1729030, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 4411, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/queen-v-rbg-usa-inc-texapp-2016.