Miller v. St. Joseph Recovery Ctr., LLC

• Decision Date: 26 April 2022
• Docket Number: 20-0755
• Citation: 874 S.E.2d 345
• Parties: Amie MILLER, Plaintiff Below, Petitioner, v. ST. JOSEPH RECOVERY CENTER, LLC, A Delaware Limited Liability Company; St. Joseph's Operating Company, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company; and Siltstone Holdings, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, Defendants Below, Respondents.
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court

874 S.E.2d 345

Amie MILLER, Plaintiff Below, Petitioner,

v.ST. JOSEPH RECOVERY CENTER, LLC, A Delaware Limited Liability Company; St. Joseph's Operating Company, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company; and Siltstone Holdings, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, Defendants Below, Respondents.

No. 20-0755

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted: January 25, 2022

Filed: April 26, 2022

Walt Auvil, Esq., Kirk Auvil, Esq., Anthony Brunicardi, Esq., The Employment Law Center, PLLC, Parkersburg, West Virginia, Attorneys for the Petitioner

Philip A. Reale, II, Esq., Law Office of Philip A. Reale, PLLC, Charleston, West Virginia, Attorney for the Respondents

HUTCHISON, Chief Justice:

Petitioner Amie Miller ("Ms. Miller") appeals the September 2, 2020, trial order of the Circuit Court of Wood County granting judgment in favor of the respondent, St. Joseph Recovery Center, LLC ("SJRC"), following a bench trial and dismissing her civil action.¹ In her complaint, Ms. Miller alleged that SJRC violated the terms of her Employee Agreement , the Employee Handbook, and the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act by failing to provide her severance pay and compensation for accrued paid time off upon her resignation. In its trial order, the circuit court concluded that Ms. Miller's resignation was not for a "good reason," and therefore, Ms. Miller was not entitled to a severance package. Ms. Miller appeals the trial order and other pre-trial summary judgment rulings of the circuit court including the denial of her claim for payment of accrued paid time off pursuant to the Employee Handbook. Upon consideration of the terms contained in the Employee Agreement and Employee Handbook, we find that the circuit court erred. Accordingly, we reverse the rulings of the circuit court and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Facts and Procedural Background

On January 2, 2019, Ms. Miller was hired as a nurse practitioner at SJRC in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The terms and conditions of Ms. Miller's employment were governed by an employment contract titled Employment Agreement. Some of these terms included, but were not limited to, compensation, termination, resignation, and the availability of severance pay. Specifically, the Employment Agreement provided that if Ms. Miller resigned because SJRC materially breached its contract obligations – what the agreement called a "Good Reason" – then she would receive a severance package from SJRC. The Employment Agreement stated, in pertinent part, the following:

4.4 Voluntary Resignation

In the event that the Employee voluntarily resigns, the Employee will give a minimum of three (3) months advance written notice to the Company, except in the case of voluntary resignation for Good Reason as provided for in this Agreement. In the event that the Employee resigns for Good Reason, he shall be entitled to the Severance Package set forth in Section 4.6 below.

4.5 No Termination Payment for Resignation Without Good Reason or Termination for Cause

Upon the termination of the Employee's employment (i) for Cause; or (ii) by voluntary resignation by the Employee pursuant to Section 4.4 without Good Reason, as hereinafter defined: the Employee shall not be entitled to any termination or severance payment, other than the compensation earned by the Employee for the period before the date of cessation of his/her employment calculated up to and including the date of cessation of his/her employment[.]

4.6 Termination by the Company without Cause; Resignation for Good Reason

(a) The company may terminate the employment of the Employee in its absolute discretion, without Cause, and for any reason, upon providing the Employee with one (1) month notice and a Severance Package ("the Severance Package") consisting of Base Salary paid monthly in accordance with the Company's normal payroll practices for the lesser of (A) the number of full months of the then remaining term of the Agreement; or (B) three (3) months, together with health insurance coverage during the severance period. The provisions of the Severance Package shall constitute full and final satisfaction of all rights and entitlements that the Employee has or may have arising from or related to the termination of his/her employment, whether pursuant to statute, contract, common law, or otherwise.

(b) Employee's employment will be deemed to have been terminated without Cause if the Company materially breaches its obligations to provide him/her compensation or benefits or breaches any other material term of this Agreement, each reason of which shall constitute "Good Reason" for resignation by the Employee as set forth in Section 4.4, above, or in the event that there is a Change of Control, and the Company's successor does not assume and honor this Agreement.

4.7 Total Severance Compensation

Except as set forth in this Agreement, the Employee shall not be entitled to any compensation for wrongful dismissal, severance pay, or termination pay, if the employment of the Employee is terminated pursuant to the terms hereof.

In addition, Ms. Miller was also issued an Employee Handbook which provided that SJRC would pay her any "accrued, unused paid time off" if she gave at least two weeks of notice before resigning and if she left "in good standing." The Employee Handbook contained the following relevant provisions:

3.8 Employment at Will

....

Because you are employed at will, either you or the company may terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason, with or without notice. Employees providing proper notice will be considered to have left in good standing and may be eligible for the payment of certain accrued, unused paid time off. Those employees deemed to have not left in good standing will not be eligible for any accrued, unused paid time off, and they will not be eligible for rehire.

....

3.15 Voluntary Resignation Procedure

Employees who resign voluntarily are required to submit their notice in writing to human resources and their department heads. It must include the date the notice is given, the reason for termination (i.e., to take another job, return to school, etc.) and the last day of work. Management and all salaried staff must give 30 days’ notice, and all other positions must give two weeks’ notice. Employees who fail to give and/or work the proper notice will not be eligible for the payment of eligible, available paid time off, and will not be eligible for rehire.

Around June 18, 2019, Ms. Miller tendered a resignation letter to SJRC's CEO, Donna Meadows, and its Director of Nursing, Tabitha Smith. In the letter, Ms. Miller stated that she had "received an offer to work as a Nurse Practitioner at a halfway house in Marietta, Ohio. After careful consideration [she] realized that this opportunity [was] too exciting to decline."² Ms. Miller further indicated that her last day of work would be August 15, 2019. Although she gave nearly two months of notice, the parties later agreed that Ms. Miller's employment would extend only two weeks beyond the date on which she tendered her resignation letter, to July 3, 2019.

Following her resignation, Ms. Miller initiated a lawsuit against SJRC and two other related entities. She alleged that SJRC failed to timely pay her wages on four occasions and thereby materially breached the Employment Agreement which triggered the "Good Reason" for resignation provision and SJRC's duty to pay her a severance package. Ms. Miller also recounted Sections 3.8 and 3.15 of the Employee Handbook and claimed that under those sections she was entitled to accrued, unused time off, amounting to fifty-six hours at $55.29 per hour. Additionally, Ms. Miller asserted that SJRC's failure to pay her the severance package under the Employment Agreement and its failure to pay "accrued, unused paid time off" specified in the Employee Handbook constituted violations of the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act ("WPCA" or the "Act").

SJRC moved for summary judgment and argued that Ms. Miller did not resign for "good reason," as evidenced by her resignation letter stating that she was leaving her employment to pursue a more "exciting" employment opportunity. Therefore, SJRC argued that Ms. Miller was not entitled to the severance pay provided for in the Employment Agreement. SJRC also argued that Ms. Miller had no viable WPCA claim because her claim for fringe benefits (the accrued and unused vacation time) was governed by the Employment Agreement , not the Act.

Following a hearing on the motion for summary judgment, the circuit court issued a letter on August 12, 2020, containing "an informal summary." The circuit court found SJRC's Employment Agreement to be the "controlling document" and that the Employee Handbook did not modify the terms of the Employment Agreement. The court further found that Section 4.6 of the Employment Agreement identified what Ms. Miller was entitled to receive at the time of separation from employment with SJRC, and that the Employment Agreement specified that the severance package was to constitute full and final satisfaction if Ms. Miller qualified for that package. The court also found that " ‘severance pay,’ by its very nature, cannot be ‘earned’ by a plaintiff until after she is terminated. Therefore, severance pay is not ‘compensation for labor or services rendered’ by the plaintiff" and, therefore, does not meet the definition of "wages" under the WPCA.³ Finally, the court found

that the issue of whether [Ms. Miller] left [SJRC] with or without cause is a question of fact for the jury to determine. Although the letter submitted to [SJRC] appears on its face to be dispositive of the issue, counsel for [Ms. Miller] set forth reasonable grounds that a jury should be permitted to evaluate concerning [Ms. Miller's] reasons for leaving her employment.^{[4 ]}

(Footnote added).

After appearing for a pretrial conference on August 24, 2020, the parties appeared for a...