Wade v. Chase Manhattan Mortg. Corp.

• Decision Date: 08 May 1997
• Docket Number: No. CV96-H-41-S.,CV96-H-41-S.
• Citation: 994 F.Supp. 1369
• Parties: Sandra WADE; Virginia L. Fuller; Lisa Glass; Greg Harrington; Joann Holle; Debbe Key; Marny Mott; Mike Perko; and Pam Warren, Plaintiffs, v. CHASE MANHATTAN MORTGAGE CORPORATION, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Alabama

994 F.Supp. 1369

Sandra WADE; Virginia L. Fuller; Lisa Glass; Greg Harrington; Joann Holle; Debbe Key; Marny Mott; Mike Perko; and Pam Warren, Plaintiffs, v. CHASE MANHATTAN MORTGAGE CORPORATION, Defendant.

No. CV96-H-41-S.

United States District Court, N.D. Alabama, Southern Division.

May 8, 1997.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Charles R. Crowder, Annesley H. DeGaris, Cory Watson Crowder & Degaris, Birmingham, AL, D. Bruce Petway, Lucas Alvis & Wash PC, Birmingham, AL, for plaintiffs.

Wayne Morse, Jr., Clark & Scott, Birmingham, AL, Gary R. Kessler, Irvin Stanford & Kessler, Atlanta, GA, for Chemical Residential Mortg. Corp., Margaretten & Co., Inc., Chemical Bank, defendants.

Wayne Morse, Jr., Clark & Scott, Birmingham, AL, Gary R. Kessler, Irvin Stanford & Kessler, Ann Hale-Smith, Irvin Stanford & Kessler, Atlanta, GA, for Chase-Manhattan Mortgage Corporation, defendant.

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER

HANCOCK, Senior District Judge.

The court has before it the February 21, 1997 motion by defendant for summary judgment on all of plaintiffs' claims in this action. In accordance with the court's February 24, 1997 order, this motion was deemed submitted, without oral argument, to the court for decision on March 24, 1997. Defendant filed its evidence in support of the motion and a supporting brief on February 21, 1997. Plaintiffs filed their evidence in opposition to the motion on March 17, 1997. The memorandum in opposition to defendant's motion for summary judgment was filed by plaintiffs on March 24, 1997.

Defendant filed a motion for leave to file a reply brief on April 7, 1997. Then on April 9, 1997 plaintiffs filed a motion to strike defendant's motion for leave. Plaintiffs' motion to strike is GRANTED as to the Affidavit of Gregg Gorman and the portion of the reply brief relying on Gorman's affidavit, contained in Section A., on page 1 and the first paragraph of page 2. Plaintiffs' motion to strike is otherwise DENIED. Defendant's motion for leave is GRANTED, except as to the materials stricken, i.e. the Gorman affidavit and Section A of the reply brief.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

In November of 1994, plaintiffs were employees of Fleet Mortgage Corporation ("Fleet") in Birmingham, Alabama. See Complaint ¶ 7. Plaintiff Sandra Wade served as manager of the Birmingham branch office of Fleet from November 1989 until November of 1994. See Wade depo. 27-29. The other plaintiffs worked for Wade at Fleet. Joann Holle, Debbe Key, Mike Perko, Greg Harrington and Virginia Fuller worked as loan officers. See Holle depo. 11-12; Key depo. 27-28; Perko depo. 30-31; Harrington depo. 16; Fuller depo. 9. Lisa Glass and Marny Mott served as loan processors. See Glass depo. 19; Mott depo. 8-9. Pam Warren was the office manager/closer. See Warren depo. 7-8. The plaintiffs all had experience in the mortgage industry, in varying degrees.

Early in 1995, a regional manager for Chemical Residential Mortgage Corporation ("Chemical"), Craig Londre, was contacted by a headhunter named Maureen Walker who offered the services of her company, Pacific West Search. See Londre depo. 7, 12, 16, 57-60, 66. Londre referred Walker to Ken Kurilec who was serving as an area manager for Chemical. See Kurilec depo. 17-18. Londre was Kurilec's immediate supervisor. See Londre depo. 16, 18. One of Kurilec's responsibilities at Chemical was to look at expansion opportunities in the Southeast. See Kurilec depo. 18.

Kurilec was based in Atlanta Georgia. See Kurilec depo. 17-18. Kurilec and Walker had several conversations and discussed Kurilec's interest as to any opportunity located in an area reasonably related to Atlanta. Id. at 26-27. During the week of September 12 or 19, 1994, Walker and her associate, Dave Rauhoff, talked with plaintiff Sandra Wade by telephone. See Wade depo. 60-64. Rauhoff and Walker informed Wade that they were in search of a person to start and run an office for a mortgage firm who was considering coming to Birmingham and later revealed to Wade that Chemical was the firm mentioned. See Wade depo. 60-64, 78-79. During the first conversation, Rauhoff and Walker told Wade that she had been recommended to them. Id. at 60-64. Once Wade expressed interest in the position, a meeting between Wade and Kurilec was scheduled for September 26 at a Steak and Ale restaurant in Birmingham. Id. at 82.

Wade and Kurilec met at the Steak and Ale for around an hour and discussed Chemical, its products and benefits and Wade's record with Fleet. See Wade depo. 82-84; Kurilec depo. 68-71. Kurilec told Wade at that time that Chemical was considering coming to Birmingham and that she had been recommended as someone he should interview. See Kurilec depo. 71-72. Wade informed Kurilec that she would want to bring her Fleet staff with her, and he informed Wade that Chemical was only considering her at that time. Id. at 72-73. However, Wade was told that if she became the new Chemical branch manager, she would be the one making the hiring decisions for the branch office. See Kurilec depo. 72-73; Wade depo. 154-55.

Shortly thereafter Wade told plaintiff Joann Holle about the situation and her discussion with Kurilec. See Wade depo. 75, 84. During later telephone conversations, Wade provided Kurilec with information about the Fleet office's production levels and staffing. See Kurilec depo. 77-78. Kurilec asked if any of the loan officers would be willing to move from Fleet to Chemical, but Wade responded she did not know at that time. See Wade depo. at 94. At that time Wade had not talked about the move to Chemical with anyone, except Joanne Holle. Id. In order to gain additional information on the Birmingham market, Kurilec called requesting and later received information from the Chamber of Commerce and other local sources, including real estate agents. Id. at 59.

On October 11, 1994, Wade and Holle were in Atlanta attending a seminar and went to Kurilec's office to see the operation and allow Holle to meet Kurilec. See Wade depo. 85. Kurilec talked to Wade and Holle about Chemical's plans for a Birmingham office. Id. At 93. Kurilec sent Londre a memorandum on October 14, 1994, which outlined the opportunity in Birmingham and requested approval for the opening of a branch office with Wade as the manager. Londre depo. Ex. 3. In the memorandum, Kurilec stated that he had met with Wade and two of her loan officers. See Plaintiff's Evid. Sub., Exh. O. Kurilec acknowledged in the memorandum that "THE BRANCH IS TRYING TO MOVE AS A GROUP, WHICH INCLUDES A MANAGER, 5 LOAN OFFICERS, AND PROCESSING." Id. Once Londre forwarded the memorandum to his supervisor, Terry Williams, and received approval, Londre called Kurilec to communicate the approval and inform him that a business plan needed to be prepared for presentation to Chemical's executive committee who would have final decision-making authority about the branch office. See Londre depo. 25, 87, 110, ex. 3. Kurilec gathered information, with the help of Wade, and had a Chemical employee in the home office put together the business plan for the executive committee. See Londre depo. 152; Kurilec depo. 63-64; Wade depo, ex. 3. During the week of November 7, 1994, Chemical's executive committee provided final approval for the Birmingham branch office with Wade as the branch manager. See Wade depo. 111.

Kurilec called Wade to inform her of the approval. Id. Then on November 18, Kurilec came to Birmingham to meet with Wade and formally offered Wade the job as branch manager, which Wade accepted. See Wade depo. 114-15. Wade gave her notice to Fleet around November 21. Id. At 90. Kurilec gave Wade a dollar figure that provided her budget for the salaries of anyone she wanted to hire. See Kurilec depo. 124-126. During the next several days Wade met with the other plaintiffs, except Glass,¹ and extended job offers to them to come work with her at the Chemical branch office. See Wade depo. 154-58.

On November 18, 1994, Kurilec and Wade met with a leasing agent and looked for permanent office space for the Birmingham branch. Wade depo. 126, 129-30; Kurilec depo. at 129-32. Kurilec informed Wade that she needed to find some temporary space to begin working out of while he made arrangements for a permanent space. Wade depo. 130. Wade made arrangements to rent a temporary space in Shared Office Services ("SOS") on Lorna Road in Birmingham, until permanent space became available. Wade depo. at 131-132.

Kurilec and Marsha Marks² had dinner on either November 21 or 22, with Wade, Holle, Fuller, Harrington and Perko at the Connie Kanakis restaurant in Birmingham. See Fuller depo. 29-30; Perko depo. 50-51; Harrington depo. 38-40; Holle depo. 67-69. Kurilec discussed Chemical's products and Chemical's plans for the Birmingham branch with the above named plaintiffs present. Id.

Chemical's Birmingham branch office opened for business in the temporary SOS space on or about December 12, 1994. Wade depo. 141. Originally there was one office with two phone lines. Morris depo. 22, 30. Then in February, Chemical added another office with a third phone line for the computers. Morris depo. 23, 37-38, 86.

When the branch office first opened in December the resident employees were Wade, Harrington, Key, Fuller, Perko, Warren and Mott. Wade acted as the "producing" branch manager, providing some loan officer services. Harrington, Key, Fuller and Perko were serving as loan officers. Warren was the office manager/closer, and Mott was the loan processor. Holle did not come to work with Chemical as a loan officer until after December 22, 1994. Holle depo. 90-94. Glass was not offered a job by Wade at Chemical until late December or early January. Glass depo. 39, 42.

In January of 1995 a change in management occurred and Londre's supervisor changed. See Londre depo. 273-74. The new supervisor, Gregg Gorman, was not pleased with the Birmingham branch, and other branch offices, based on production and...