Mackay v. Four Rivers Packing Co.
| Decision Date | 28 July 2011 |
| Docket Number | No. 35974.,35974. |
| Citation | 257 P.3d 755,151 Idaho 388 |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
| Parties | Stuart MACKAY, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. FOUR RIVERS PACKING CO., Defendant–Appellant. |
Birch Law Office, Chtd., Payette, for appellant. Bruce H. Birch argued.
Johnson & Monteleone, L.L.P., Boise, for respondent. D. Samuel Johnson argued.
This is an appeal from a judgment entered upon a jury verdict in favor of Stuart Mackay (Mackay) against Four Rivers Packing Co. (Four Rivers), finding that Four Rivers breached a contract for long-term employment. Four Rivers' appeal challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury verdict, the adequacy of the trial court's jury instructions regarding contract formation, and the trial court's failure to instruct the jury regarding the statute of frauds. We affirm.
Four Rivers operates an onion packing plant near Weiser, Idaho that began business in 1999. In August of that year, Four Rivers' general manager, Randy Smith (Smith), suggested that Four Rivers hire Mackay as the company's field man. Mackay had been in the onion business for decades and knew many onion farmers near Weiser. Four Rivers authorized Smith to offer Mackay the position, but required Smith to personally pay Mackay's wages during Mackay's first year. As field man, Mackay was responsible for purchasing enough onions to keep Four Rivers' packing shed stocked through mid-March, at a price Smith would set.
The parties dispute facts regarding the contract at the center of this appeal. Mackay alleges that in March of 2000, Smith orally offered him a long-term employment contract. Mackay alleges he discussed the offer with his wife and accepted the offer the following day. According to Mackay, the parties intended the employment contract to continue until Mackay chose to retire. Mackay claims he informed Smith he might not retire for as long as ten years. Smith denies ever having any conversation with Mackay about a long-term employment contract.
During the 1999–2000 season, Smith and Mackay both procured onions for Four Rivers' shed. Mackay was able to purchase onions at prices specified by Smith, and the shed remained stocked until April, with Four Rivers packing a total 800,000 bags of onions that year. Meanwhile, Four Rivers experienced financial and managerial hardship. As the result of a dispute between the owners, on June 2, 2000, an injunction stopped all Four Rivers' business. Mackay and other employees were laid off. Mackay alleges that, during the time that the injunction remained in effect, Four Rivers asked him to maintain contact with farmers in order to reassure them that Four Rivers would return to normal business and perform on its existing contracts. Mackay claims he agreed to do so because he wanted to protect his interest in long-term employment. Four Rivers denies it made any such request. The injunction was lifted in mid–August 2000. Four Rivers rehired Mackay and relieved Smith of responsibility for paying Mackay's wages.
In subsequent seasons, Mackay experienced difficulty purchasing onions at the prices specified by Smith. During the 2000–2001 packing season, Four Rivers gave Mackay a contact list for over two hundred onion farmers and instructed him to build more business relationships. Smith contends Mackay failed to do so, and merely maintained his earlier relationships with farmers in the Weiser area. That season, Four Rivers packed approximately 400,000 bags of onions. Witnesses for both Mackay and Four Rivers acknowledged that the injunction in 2000 adversely affected the number of contracts Four Rivers obtained in advance of the 2000–2001 season.
In October of 2001, Four Rivers drafted a written employment contract at Mackay's request. The proposed contract contained an at-will provision that permitted Four Rivers to terminate Mackay's employment upon fourteen days' notice. Although Mackay made several handwritten notations on the contract, neither party signed the document.
Smith testified that Mackay's performance remained unsatisfactory during the 2001–2002 season. Smith testified that he met with Mackay twice to explain that if Mackay did not obtain enough onions to meet Four Rivers' needs, everyone at Four Rivers would lose their jobs. Memoranda subsequently were entered in Mackay's employment file to document that Mackay was informed that his performance was unsatisfactory and that he would lose his job if he did not obtain more onions. After the meetings, Mackay's travel log reflected a decrease in his travel, which Four Rivers contends indicates he failed to meet these expectations. However, Mackay testified that in response to Smith's urgings, he increased his efforts and even worked thirty-six days straight.
In 2003, Four Rivers once again struggled to keep the onion sheds stocked. As a consequence, Four Rivers closed its shed in mid-February, one month earlier than planned. On March 7, 2003, Four Rivers laid Mackay off, and Mackay obtained unemployment benefits. Smith testified that in June 2003, Mackay rejected Four Rivers' offer of employment as an outside foreman. Mackay denied Four Rivers made any such offer.
Mackay filed suit in August of 2004, alleging breach of contract. The district court initially granted Four Rivers' motion for summary judgment, holding that because the employment agreement could not be performed by its terms within one year, it violated the statute of frauds. Mackay appealed, and in Mackay v. Four Rivers Packing Co., 145 Idaho 408, 179 P.3d 1064 (2008) (Mackay I ), we vacated the grant of summary judgment, holding that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to the duration of the alleged agreement. This Court also held, taking "as true Mackay's allegation that the contract was to last ‘until retirement,’ " the contract would fall outside the statute of frauds because "Mackay could have retired within one year under the terms of the alleged contract...." Id. at 412, 179 P.3d at 1068.
At trial following remand, Four Rivers contended that the parties had not entered into an employment contract for any specified term. Four Rivers objected to a jury instruction given by the court because it suggested that the parties had reached an agreement as to at least some terms of an employment contract. Four Rivers also objected to the district court's failure to provide the jury with an instruction on the statute of frauds. The district court overruled Four Rivers' objections.
The jury returned a verdict in favor of Mackay. In its answers to the questions presented in the special verdict form, the jury found that the parties had entered "into a long term employment contract of up to ten years, or such time as the Plaintiff retired." Four Rivers timely appealed, challenging the jury instructions and the sufficiency of the evidence.
"The propriety of jury instructions is a question of law over which this Court exercises free review, and the standard of review of whether a jury instruction should or should not have been given is whether there is evidence at trial to support the instruction, and whether the instruction is a correct statement of the law." Clark v. Klein, 137 Idaho 154, 156, 45 P.3d 810, 812 (2002) (internal citations omitted). This Court reviews jury instructions as a whole to determine whether the instructions fairly and adequately present the issues and state the law. Silver Creek Computers, Inc. v. Petra, Inc., 136 Idaho 879, 882, 42 P.3d 672, 675 (2002). Even where an instruction is erroneous, the error is not reversible unless the jury instructions taken as a whole mislead or prejudice a party. Id. Likewise, a special verdict form does not constitute reversible error unless it incorrectly instructed the jury as to the law or its form was confusing. VFP VC v. Dakota Co., 141 Idaho 326, 332, 109 P.3d 714, 720 (2005) (citing Le'Gall v. Lewis Cnty., 129 Idaho 182, 185, 923 P.2d 427, 430 (1996) ).
"On appeal from a judgment entered on a jury verdict, this Court will not set aside the verdict if it is supported by substantial and competent evidence." Stoddard v. Nelson, 99 Idaho 293, 296, 581 P.2d 339, 342 (1978). The evidence supporting the jury's verdict may be contradicted, but the verdict will be upheld if it is "of such sufficient quantity and probative value that reasonable minds could conclude that the verdict of the jury was proper." Mann v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 95 Idaho 732, 736, 518 P.2d 1194, 1198 (1974). This Court will not second guess the jury's determinations as to the weight of the evidence and witness credibility. McKim v. Horner, 143 Idaho 568, 572, 149 P.3d 843, 847 (2006).
We first consider Four Rivers' claims that the district court erred by instructing the jury in a manner that infringed on the fact-finding role of the jury and by failing to instruct the jury as to the statute of frauds. We then consider whether substantial, competent evidence supported the jury's verdict.
Four Rivers contends that whether the parties entered into an employment contract is a disputed fact and that one of the instructions submitted to the jury infringed upon the jury's role as fact-finder because it instructed the jury that the parties agreed to some terms of an employment contract. The challenged instruction states:
(emphasis added). According to Four Rivers, the instruction's statement...
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