Symeonidis v. Paxton Capital Group, Inc.

• Decision Date: 15 July 2002
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. WMN-99-2170.,CIV.A. WMN-99-2170.
• Parties: George R. SYMEONIDIS v. PAXTON CAPITAL GROUP, INC., et al.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

220 F.Supp.2d 478

George R. SYMEONIDIS v. PAXTON CAPITAL GROUP, INC., et al.

No. CIV.A. WMN-99-2170.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

July 15, 2002.

Thai H. Nguyen, Falls Church, VA, for Plaintiff.

John Paul Lynch, Gina Jun, McNamee Hosea Jernigan Kim Greenan and Walker PA, Greenbelt, MD, Matthew G. Dobson, Saul Ewing LLP, Baltimore, MD, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

NICKERSON, District Judge.

Before the Court are Cross-Motions for Summary Judgment filed by Defendants Paxton Capital Group, Inc., William B. Winters, John Gibson, Robert Plummer, and Michael Winters (hereinafter "the Paxton Defendants"), Paper No. 122, and by Plaintiff, Paper No. 124.¹ The motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for decision. Upon review of the pleadings and applicable case law, the Court determines that no hearing is necessary (Local Rule 105.6) and that Defendants' motion will be granted, and Plaintiff's motion will be denied.

I. BACKGROUND

The history of this case is a long and tortuous one. Plaintiff is a former account representative for Defendant Paxton Capital Group, Inc. ("Paxton"), which is in the business of the marketing and sales of residential mortgages.² Although Plaintiff was represented by counsel for approximately the first 15 months of this litigation, he has proceeded on a pro se basis since then. As a pro se litigant, Plaintiff appears to have devoted himself to pursuing this lawsuit with persistence and determination. Over the past year and a half, Plaintiff has filed no fewer than 40 discovery-related motions, most of which-but not all-were denied by Magistrate Judge Gauvey, who patiently presided over the discovery process. Indeed, it would not overstate the case to say that Plaintiff has single-handedly attempted to investigate Paxton for its alleged violations of federal and state lending laws.

Although this Court has previously summarized the facts of this case in earlier opinions, some factual background will be repeated here. Plaintiff was employed by Paxton from November 1997 until approximately May 17, 1999. From November 1997 until March 1998, Plaintiff worked as an outside sales representative, marketing and attempting to sell residential real estate mortgages in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Amended Complaint at ¶ 15. Then, in April 1998, Plaintiff began working at Paxton's Lanham, Maryland, office, selling mortgages in New York and New Jersey. Id. at ¶ 18. Plaintiff alleges that a series of oral and written employment contracts governed the terms of his employment.

Plaintiff alleges that Paxton failed to pay him amounts earned as commissions, failed to pay promised benefits, and failed to report his wages or withhold taxes or social security. Plaintiff also claims that Paxton engaged in deceptive and unlawful lending practices by, inter alia, falsely holding itself out as a licensed seller of mortgages and as a "direct lender," and by making other false representations to its employees and customers. When Plaintiff complained of these practices in a letter to Paxton's head, Mr. William B. Winters, on May 17, 1999, he was terminated from his employment on or about that same day.

Plaintiff's Amended Complaint states five causes of action against Paxton and/or the other Paxton Defendants, namely: breach of contract, fraud, fraudulent inducement to contract, failure to pay minimum wage, and wrongful termination.³ The parties have each moved for summary judgment as to all counts.

II. LEGAL STANDARD FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT⁴

Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A party seeking summary judgment bears the initial responsibility of informing the court of the basis of its motion and identifying the portions of the opposing party's case which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The non-moving party is entitled to have "all reasonable inferences ... drawn in its respective favor." Felty v. Graves-Humphreys Co., 818 F.2d 1126, 1129 (4th Cir. 1987).

If the movant demonstrates that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law, the non-moving party must, in order to withstand the motion for summary judgment, produce sufficient evidence in the form of depositions, affidavits or other documentation which demonstrates that a triable issue of fact exists for trial. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548. Unsupported speculation is insufficient to defeat a motion for summary judgment. Felty, 818 F.2d at 1128 (citing Ash v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 800 F.2d 409, 411-12 (4th Cir.1986)).

When both parties file motions for summary judgment, the court applies the same standards of review. Taft Broadcasting Co. v. United States, 929 F.2d 240, 248 (6th Cir.1991); ITCO Corp. v. Michelin Tire Corp., 722 F.2d 42, 45 n. 3 (4th Cir.1983) ("The court is not permitted to resolve genuine issues of material facts on a motion for summary judgment — even where ... both parties have filed cross motions for summary judgment") (emphasis omitted), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1215, 105 S.Ct. 1191, 84 L.Ed.2d 337 (1985). The role of the court is to "rule on each party's motion on an individual and separate basis, determining, in each case, whether a judgment may be entered in accordance with the Rule 56 standard." Towne Mgmt. Corp. v. Hartford Acc. and Indem. Co., 627 F.Supp. 170, 172 (D.Md.1985) (quoting Charles A. Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil 2d § 2720 (2d ed.1993)). See also Federal Sav. and Loan Ins. Corp. v. Heidrick, 774 F.Supp. 352, 356 (D.Md.1991). "[C]ross-motions for summary judgment do not automatically empower the court to dispense with the determination whether questions of material fact exist." Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. Voigt, 700 F.2d 341, 349 (7th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 805, 104 S.Ct. 53, 78 L.Ed.2d 72 (1983). "Rather, the court must evaluate each party's motion on its own merits, taking care in each instance to draw all reasonable inferences against the party whose motion is under consideration." Mingus Constructors, Inc. v. United States, 812 F.2d 1387, 1391 (Fed.Cir.1987). Both motions may be denied. See, Shook v. United States, 713 F.2d 662, 665 (11th Cir.1983).

III. DISCUSSION

1. Breach of Contract, Fraudulent Inducement, and Fraud Claims

Plaintiff alleges that Defendants breached various oral and written contracts with him, by failing to compensate him as provided in the agreements, by "intentionally interfering with [his] attempts to earn revenues and perform his job responsibilities," by placing him in "potential legal jeopardy," and by sending his files to outside customers. Amended Complaint at ¶ 38. Plaintiff has failed, however, to support these claims with admissible evidence.

First, as to the alleged oral agreements, Plaintiff has not come forward with anything other than his own, unsworn assertions that they existed.⁵ Second, although the Court record⁶ contains evidence of three written Employee Agreements (dated December 8, 1997, February 2, 1998, and March 8, 1999), Plaintiff has not shown how Defendants might have breached the terms of those agreements. First, the explicit provisions of all three contracts indicate that Plaintiff's files were in fact the property of Paxton. Second, although the written contracts do set forth compensation structures, determined by the number and value of loans closed per month, Plaintiff has not submitted admissible, much less comprehensible, evidence that he was not paid in compliance with those compensation structures.⁷ No pay stubs or other payment records were submitted with Plaintiff's pleadings, and the documents that were attached, including records of Plaintiff's loan closings, simply do not constitute evidence of breach. Furthermore, Plaintiff has not demonstrated that actual injury resulted from the "potential legal jeopardy" he allegedly faced as a result of his employer's conduct.

Plaintiff's claims for fraud and fraudulent inducement to contract contain almost identical allegations. In essence, Plaintiff alleges that he relied, to his detriment, on false statements or representations by Defendants as to the following: (1) that Paxton was a direct lender; (2) the nature and amount of compensation in the position; (3) Paxton's relationship with another entity, First Keystone FSB, and the legality of Paxton's business practices; (4) the timing of payments to Plaintiff; (5) reimbursement for Plaintiff's out-of-pocket expenses; (6) withholding and reporting of Plaintiff's wages. Amended Complaint at ¶¶ 47, 52.

The Court notes at the outset that the voluminous documentation supplied by Plaintiff, as well as his impassioned argumentation, convey that the Paxton Defendants may have taken part in business practices that were less than honest, forthright, or even, perhaps, legal.⁸ It is also clear, however, that Plaintiff has not been able to submit sufficient, admissible evidence on each element of his claims that Defendants defrauded him. See, Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548 (entry of summary judgment mandated against a party who, after reasonable time for discovery and upon motion, "fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial"). Hundreds of pages of Paxton's flyers, faxes, and printouts of statistics on Plaintiff's loan pre-qualifications and closings, without more, are not evidence of fraud.⁹ Most notably, Plaintiff has failed to create a material dispute of fact as to whether Defe...