Hillier v. Minas

• Citation: 757 So.2d 1034
• Decision Date: 21 March 2000
• Docket Number: No. 1998-CA-01162-COA.,1998-CA-01162-COA.
• Parties: Robert K. HILLIER and Orthopaedic Center of the Coast, Inc., Appellants, v. Ina MINAS and Teresa Guest, Appellees.
• Court: Court of Appeals of Mississippi

757 So.2d 1034

Robert K. HILLIER and Orthopaedic Center of the Coast, Inc., Appellants, v. Ina MINAS and Teresa Guest, Appellees.

No. 1998-CA-01162-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 21, 2000.

Sanford R. Steckler, Biloxi, John F. Ketcherside, Bay St. Louis, Carl Souser, Gulfport, Attorneys for Appellants.

Wynn E. Clark, Gulfport, David C. Goff, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellees.

EN BANC.

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Ina Peggy Minas and Teresa Guest sued Robert K. Hillier and the Orthopaedic Center of the Coast, Inc. (the Center) in the Circuit Court of Hancock County for: (1) unpaid overtime compensation under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), (2) breach of contract, (3) defamation of character and (4) intentional infliction of emotional distress. However, the defamation of character claim was withdrawn by Minas and Guest before the trial commenced. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Minas and Guest on their breach of contract and FLSA claims and in favor of Dr. Hillier and the Center on the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim. On a special verdict form, the jury awarded both Minas and Guest $1,200 on their breach of contract claim, $4,701.23 and $4,311.82, respectively, on their FLSA claims.

¶ 2. The trial court entered judgment for Minas and Guest for the amounts awarded them by the jury and added $4,701.23 and $4,311.82, respectively, as liquidated damages on their FLSA claim, plus attorney's fees in the amount of $28,689.97. Aggrieved, Dr. Hillier and the Orthopaedic Center of the Coast, Inc. now appeal and raise the following issues which are taken verbatim from their statement of the issues:

I. COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR WHEN IT DENIED APPELLANTS' REQUEST FOR THE DEPOSITION OF APPELLANTS' MATERIAL WITNESS THAT WAS NECESSARY TO PRESERVE HER TESTIMONY DUE TO HER UNAVAILABILITY AT THE TIME AND WHOSE TESTIMONY WOULD SHOW THAT THE APPELLEES WERE IN FACT PROFESSIONS UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT AND, THEREFORE, EXEMPT FROM THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT.

II. COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR WHEN IT PRESENTED JURY INSTRUCTIONS AND A SPECIAL VERDICT FORM TO THE JURY OVER THE OBJECTION OF THE APPELLANTS WHICH THE APPELLANTS CONTEND WERE INACCURATE STATEMENTS OF THE LAW, WERE MISLEADING, WERE IMPROPER IN FORM, WERE CONFUSING AND FAILED TO SET FORTH A PROPER STANDARD FOR THE JURY TO FOLLOW IN DETERMINING WHETHER THE APPELLANTS ACTED PROPERLY IN THE ALLEGED VIOLATION OF THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT.

III. COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN GRANTING ATTORNEY'S FEES OVER THE OBJECTION OF THE APPELLANTS WHICH THE APPELLANTS CONTEND WERE UNREASONABLY HIGH; AND THAT FEES INCLUDED HOURS SPENT ON MATTERS FOR WHICH ATTORNEY'S FEES MAY NOT BE AWARDED; AND THAT FEES WERE AWARDED WITHOUT DOCUMENTATION ESTABLISHING WITH SPECIFICITY THE ACTUAL HOURS SPENT ON FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT CLAIM, WHICH WAS THE ONLY ONE OF THE APPELLEES' FIVE (5) THEORIES OF RECOVERY FOR WHICH FEES MAY BE AWARDED.

IV. COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR WHEN IT AWARDED LIQUIDATED DAMAGES TO THE APPELLEES OVER THE OBJECTION OF THE APPELLANTS THAT THE JURY INSTRUCTION REGARDING LIQUIDATION DAMAGES, WAS ABSTRACT, CONFUSING, AND MISLEADING TO THE JURY; THAT THE APPELLANTS WERE NOT ALLOWED TO POLL THE JURY TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE JURY HAD AWARDED LIQUIDATED DAMAGES; AND THAT WHEN THE JURY REQUESTED MORE INFORMATION REGARDING WHO MAY AWARD LIQUIDATED DAMAGES, THE TRIAL COURT INFORMED THE JURY THEY HAD ALL THE

LAW NECESSARY TO RENDER A VERDICT.

V. COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR WHEN IT DENIED APPELLANTS' NOTICES OF DEPOSITIONS APPELLEES' MATERIAL WITNESSES WITH A MONTH REMAINING BEFORE TRIAL.

Finding that the trial judge erred in awarding liquidated damages in light of the instruction given on liquidated damages, we reverse on this issue but affirm the trial judge on all other issues.

FACTS

¶ 3. Ina Minas and Teresa Guest are licensed practical nurses. Minas began working for Dr. Hillier on March 15, 1996, and her last day of employment with him was April 15, 1997. Guest began working for him on March 25, 1996, and her last day of employment was April 17, 1997. Both were initially paid at a rate of $10 an hour. In June of 1996, they received a raise to $16.15 an hour. The raise came as result of an agreement which allowed Minas and Guest to maintain their current duties and to assume the additional duties of the office manager, with the office manager's salary being divided between them. Both Minas and Guest also testified that when they were hired, they agreed to accept a Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy with a $1,000 deductible in order for Dr. Hillier to obtain a lower premium. In exchange for this agreement, according to Minas and Guest, Dr. Hillier would escrow $100 a month for both Guest and Minas and would pay the accumulated amount to them at the end of the year. They never received this money. Dr. Hillier, on the other hand, testified that Guest and Minas voluntarily opted not to take the savings plan.

¶ 4. Both Minas and Guest testified that they initially understood that they would be compensated monetarily for any time worked over forty hours per week. Both Minas and Guest testified that they worked over forty hours a week on several occasions. Minas testified that she accumulated 284½ hours in unpaid overtime. Guest estimated that she accumulated 265 hours of unpaid overtime. Neither Minas nor Guest was ever paid for overtime. Minas and Guest testified that they initially kept records of the their work hours; however, Dr. Hillier stopped them from keeping the records. According to Minas and Guest, Dr. Hillier decided that they had accumulated too much overtime, shredded their time sheets and gave them compensatory time for the accrued overtime. Dr. Hillier denied tearing the time sheets and testified that it was his understanding Minas and Guest would be salaried employees from the start. However, Catherine Benvenutti, who assisted Dr. Hillier with the hiring of Minas and Guest, testified that Minas and Guest were hired as non-exempt employees for purposes of the FLSA. Dr. Hillier also testified that Minas and Guest agreed to accept compensatory time in order to help save money for Dr. Hillier and the clinic. Additional facts will be presented during our discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUES PRESENTED

I. Did the trial court err when it denied Hillier's request to take additional depositions?

¶ 5. Dr. Hillier argues that the trial court committed reversible error by disallowing depositions of several allegedly material witnesses and thereby limited his opportunity for discovery. For our discussion, we will combine issues one and five since both involve the appropriateness of the trial judge's refusal to allow Dr. Hillier to take additional discovery by way of depositions.

¶ 6. It is well established law that the trial court has wide and considerable discretion in matters relating to discovery; its order will not be disturbed unless there has been an abuse of discretion. Clark v. Mississippi Power Co., 372 So.2d 1077, 1080 (Miss.1979); McCarty v. Kellum, 667 So.2d 1277, 1285 (Miss.1995). We will affirm unless there is a definite and firm conviction that the court below clearly erred in reaching its conclusion after weighing the relevant factors. Kinard v. Morgan, 679 So.2d 623, 625 (Miss.1996).

¶ 7. Dr. Hillier contends that the trial court unjustly limited discovery by outright denying discovery; therefore, according to Dr. Hillier, he was not able to prepare a proper defense. Specifically, Dr. Hillier complains of the trial judge's refusal to allow him to depose Kathy Anthony, alleged by Hillier to be a crucial witness, and of the trial judge's allowing Minas and Guest to call witnesses at trial whom Dr. Hillier had not been allowed to depose. Dr. Hillier argues that such denial and ruling unduly prejudiced his case. The following facts are relevant to our discussion of this issue.

¶ 8. On November 14, 1997, the trial date was set for March 9, 1998. After the trial date was set, the parties engaged in preliminary discovery. Dr. Hillier served interrogatories on Guest and Minas and also scheduled depositions. Minas and Guest responded to Dr. Hillier's interrogatories on December 8 and December 11, 1997, and at that time, identified their fact witnesses. A pretrial conference was held on February 3, 1998. An order was filed by the court requiring both parties to jointly file a proposed pretrial order no later than February 16, 1998, and the parties complied with the court's directive by filing a joint pretrial order on February 18, 1998. Thereafter, Dr. Hillier noticed the deposition of Minas for February 25, 1998. On March 7, 1998, Dr. Hillier sent subpoenas and notices of deposition in an effort to depose three of Guest's and Minas's witnesses: Diana Bennett, Nancy Stasel, and George William Humphries, III. The depositions were noticed for March 9, 1998, the day of trial. Guest and Minas filed a motion for a protective order alleging that Dr. Hillier should not be allowed to take depositions on the day of the trial and that two day's notice was unreasonable under the circumstances and under Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. The trial court held a hearing and quashed the three deposition subpoenas. In that same hearing, the trial court continued the trial date due to conflicts with its docket. The new trial date was set for April 14, 1998.

¶ 9. On March 13, 1998, Dr. Hillier sent to Minas and Guest notices to take the depositions of Kathy Anthony, Diana Bennett, George Williams Humphries, III, Nancy Stasel, Shirleen Carter, and Peggy Wagner. The depositions were noticed for March 20, 1998. Guest and Minas filed a second motion for a protective order, alleging that Dr. Hillier should not be granted a "windfall" because the original trial date had been changed due to conflicts with the court's docket and that Guest and Minas should not be penalized. On March 30, 1998, the court quashed the five...