Maness v. Collins
Tennessee Court of Appeals
No. W2008-00941-COA-R3-CV, 2010 WL 4629614 (Nov. 17, 2010)
After selling his wood manufacturing business to Joannie Collins and others (defendants) for $1.3 million, Sammie Maness (plaintiff) signed a three-year employment contract to stay on as production manager along with a non-competition agreement; the new owners' team, including Collins's brother-in-law Mike Smith and Smith's son Josh, ran day-to-day operations, and Josh's drug problems and habit of undercutting Maness's authority with employees created ongoing friction, including rehiring an employee Maness had fired for unprofessionalism. Maness grew increasingly disengaged at work and was ultimately fired for failing to perform his job duties; he spent the following year building a house rather than seeking other employment, then sued for breach of the employment agreement and to invalidate the non-compete. The trial court found no evidence on the non-compete's validity, found the defendants lacked just cause to fire Maness, but also found Maness failed to mitigate his damages and awarded him nothing; both sides appealed.
Whether an employer must prove, under an employment agreement, that a terminated employee failed to mitigate damages by showing both the availability of suitable comparable employment and the employee's lack of reasonable diligence in seeking work.