Wortham v. Acadia Healthcare, LLC

160 So. 3d 602, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 718, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 536, 2015 WL 1212181
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 18, 2015
DocketNo. 14-718
StatusPublished

This text of 160 So. 3d 602 (Wortham v. Acadia Healthcare, LLC) 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
Wortham v. Acadia Healthcare, LLC, 160 So. 3d 602, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 718, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 536, 2015 WL 1212181 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

PICKETT, Judge.

11 Both Dr. Roger Wortham and his former employer, Acadia Healthcare, L.L.C., appeal the judgment of the trial court, which awarded Dr. Wortham amounts due under the terms of an employment contract and attorney fees, but not penalty wages.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Dr. Wortham accepted a job with Acadia Healthcare in October 2010. He signed a one-year contract with an effective date of January 15, 2011. As part of the contract, Dr. Wortham assigned to the hospital the right to bill for his services in exchange for an annual salary of $180,000.00, an additional fee for certain consultations, reimbursement for certain expenses (including for licenses, dues, and continuing education), and a “bonus” of “50% of collections over costs.” After the one-year term of the original contract expired, Dr. Wort-ham continued working for Acadia Healthcare without executing a new contract. Dr. Wortham tendered his resignation on January 24, 2013, effective on March 24, 2018.

Prior to leaving, Dr. Wortham requested information about the amount he had billed and the costs associated with his practice for the purpose of determining his bonus. He also submitted reimbursement for two continuing education conferences from July 2011 and July 2012, his 2012 and 2013 dues for state and national medical associations, and his 2011 and 2012 Board of Pharmacies license. He received no reply. When he continued to receive no reply, he hired an attorney to make inquiries.

Dr. Wortham filed a petition in district court on November 19, 2013, seeking bonus payments for 2012 and the partial 2013 year, the reimbursements that he submitted in January 2013, and penalty wages, and attorney fees in accordance |2with La. R.S. 23:632. Acadia Healthcare maintained that the contract expired in January 2012 and Dr. Wortham was not entitled to bonus payments thereafter. It also disputed the reimbursement of expenses. Immediately before trial on January 13, 2014, Acadia Healthcare submitted the billing and expense information requested by Dr. Wortham. After a trial, the trial court awarded $21,729.93 in earned bonuses for 2012 and 2013, $7,021.76 in expense reimbursements, $11,409.50 in attorney fees, and $804.25 in litigation expenses. The trial court did not award penalty wages as sought by Dr. Wortham. Both Dr. Wort-ham and Acadia Healthcare have appealed.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR

On appeal, Acadia Healthcare asserts one broad assignment of error:

The trial court erred as a matter of law by enlarging the scope of the Employment Agreement when its language was clear and unambiguous, and, based on that erroneous ruling, by awarding [the p]laintiff bonuses, reimbursement for certain business and medical expenses, and attorney fees pursuant to the Louisiana Wage Payment Act, La. R.S. 23:631 et seq.

In his appeal, Dr. Wortham asserts one assignment of error: that the trial court erred in denying his claim for penalty wages under La.R.S. 23:632. He also asks for attorney fees for work done in this appeal.

DISCUSSION

The Employment Agreement

Acadia Healthcare argues that the Employment Agreement is clear and un[605]*605ambiguous. It expired on January 14, 2012, and Dr. Wortham became an at-will employee on that date. It argues that the only compensation they owe him is the $180,000.00 base salary, which was timely paid upon his resignation. Acadia Healthcare claims the trial court erred as a matter of law in interpreting the 1 ¡..contract, and we should review the trial court’s ruling de novo. We agree that the contract clearly expired on January 14, 2012. The question faced by the trial court was a determination of the terms of Dr. Wort-ham’s continued employment with Acadia Healthcare.

In order to recover under La.R.S. 23:632, Dr. Wortham has the burden of proving that “(1) wages were due and owing; (2) demand for payment was made where the employee was customarily paid; and (3) the employer did not pay upon demand.” Becht v. Morgan Bldg. & Spas, Inc., 02-2047, p. 4 (La.4/23/03), 843 So.2d 1109, 1112. In order to show that wages were due, Dr. Wortham must prove the terms of the contract. This is a factual determination subject to the manifest error standard of review. Id.

Acadia Healthcare argues that when the Employment Agreement expired, Dr. Wortham became an at-will employee only entitled to the base salary of $180,000.00. Its chief executive officer, Joe Rodriguez, testified that those sections of the Employment Agreement regarding base salary, assignment of billing, and Dr. Wortham’s duties did not change when the contract terminated. Only Dr. Wortham’s entitlement to an annual bonus, which amounted to a commission for the services he billed, changed when the contract expired. Mr. Rodriguez admitted that he and Dr. Wort-ham never had any discussion about the terms of his continued employment when the Employment Agreement expired. Dr. Wortham testified that he understood the terms of the Employment Agreement to continue because there was never any discussion about changing those terms.

One colloquy during Mr. Rodriguez’s testimony gives credit to Dr. Wortham’s argument. Mr. Rodriguez explained that after the first year, Dr. Wortham was as-sighed more consultations at a higher rate. When asked if the ^payments for those consultations were deducted as expenses when calculating Dr. Wortham’s annual bonus, Mr. Rodriguez originally said they did not, but then deferred to the hospital’s chief financial officer, Larry Maxwell. Mr. Maxwell confirmed that those amounts were charged as expenses when calculating the bonus. But there was no need to calculate a bonus if Dr. Wortham was not entitled to the bonus. This is consistent with Acadia Healthcare’s position throughout the litigation that only those terms of the contract which benefitted it continued in force, while any terms that inured to the benefit of Dr. Wortham expired on January 14, 2012. We find the trial court did not err in finding that all the terms of the Employment Agreement continued after January 14, 2012.

The Annual Bonus

Since we find that the trial court correctly found the terms of the Employment Agreement remained in effect, we must now consider whether the other arguments advanced by the hospital for failing to pay Dr. Wortham have any merit. The provision regarding the annual bonus stated:

In addition, Practitioner will be eligible for 50% of collections over costs as outlined in the attached exhibit. (In order to assist Practitioner in maximizing collections, a biller will be assigned to assist with all claims issues.)

The attached exhibit was a worksheet which calculated the bonus using hypothetical figures. Dr. Wortham does not dis[606]*606pute that in the first year he worked at Acadia Healthcare, his costs exceeded his collections, and he was not entitled to a bonus. Acadia Healthcare argues that the calculation of expenses is cumulative, not annual, and because the costs so far exceeded the collections for the first year, Dr. Wortham is not entitled to a bonus in the second year or the partial third year. To that end, Mr.. Rodriguez testified that the annual bonus has always been ^cumulative, based on a “running tally.” Conversely, Dr. Wortham argues that the collections and costs used to calculate of the bonus are reset each year. He points to the worksheet attached as an exhibit to the Employment Agreement.

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Bluebook (online)
160 So. 3d 602, 14 La.App. 3 Cir. 718, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 536, 2015 WL 1212181, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wortham-v-acadia-healthcare-llc-lactapp-2015.