Willis v. Rehab Solutions, PLLC
| Docket Number: | 2010-CA-01015-SCT Linked Case(s): 2010-CA-01015-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 02-02-2012 Opinion Author: Pierce, J. Holding: Reversed and Rendered |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Negligence - Unjust enrichment - Action by employer against employee - At-will employment Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Dickinson, P.J., Randolph, Chandler and King, JJ. Concur in Part, Dissent in Part 1: Lamar, J. Concur in Part, Dissent in Part Joined By 1: Carlson, P.J., and Kitchens, J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - TORTS-OTHER THAN PERSONAL INJURY & PROPERTY DAMAGE |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 05-24-2010 Appealed from: Lee County Circuit Court Judge: James L. Roberts Disposition: The jury returned a verdict in favor of Rehab and awarded Rehab $133,543.17 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages. Case Number: CV08-054(R)L |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Mignon Willis |
RICHARD SHANE MCLAUGHLIN
NICOLE H. MCLAUGHLIN |
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| Appellee: | Rehab Solutions, PLLC | L. BRADLEY DILLARD | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Negligence - Unjust enrichment - Action by employer against employee - At-will employment |
| Summary of the Facts: | On January 7, 2008, Rehab Solutions, PLLC received notice of tax liens assessed against its property. Thereafter, the owners employed the Nail McKinney Accounting firm to assess the financial viability of their business. As a result, numerous financial shortcomings of Rehab’s in-house accountant, Mignon Willis, became apparent. When the inspection of Rehab’s finances began, Willis left work and did not return. Rehab eventually sued Willis in tort and in contract, seeking the return of one-half of Willis’s wages while employed by Rehab, as well as punitive damages. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Rehab and awarded Rehab $133,543.17 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages. Willis appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The issue in this case is whether an employer enjoys a viable cause of action against one of its at-will employees for negligence, negligent or intentional misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and gross negligence. Negligence is defined as the failure to exercise the standard of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation. This case presents a rare instance where determination of negligence is taken from the jury, because this cause of action is improper in a case where an employer sues its employee for the employee’s failure to do his or her job. Rehab may have suffered some type of injury from Willis’s actions or lack thereof, yet the injury itself confers no legal right. And negligence itself is not liability. Moreover, the owners failed to monitor Willis in her duties and Willis was an at-will employee. The facts of this case prevent Rehab from bringing a claim against Willis for not doing her job, characterizing that claim as one of negligence, when Rehab’s only viable action upon these circumstances was to properly monitor its employee and terminate Willis’s employment – an action the owners failed to take. Just as there is no cause of action for negligence, unjust enrichment is not a proper measure of damages in this case. The law is clear that unjust enrichment applies when one party has mistakenly paid another party. Unjust enrichment applies in situations where no legal contract exists. A legal contract exists in an employment-at-will situation between the employer and the employee. Because Rehab has failed to allege a viable cause of action, the jury verdict is vacated, and this case is reversed and rendered in favor of Willis. |
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