Dr. Dawit Antonios, a physician, was employed by Gwinnett Clinic, Ltd. Gwinnett Clinic sued Antonios for breach of his employment contract and, after a bench trial, was awarded damages and attorney fees. Antonios appeals and, for reasons that follow, we affirm. This case turns on the enforceability of the employment contract between Antonios and Gwinnett Clinic, and the facts at issue are not disputed. Antonios and Gwinnett Clinic entered into an employment contract that contained, among other provisions, the terms by which either party could terminate Antonios’s employment. The relevant section provides:Termination Without Cause: Employer or Employee may, without cause, terminate this Agreement by giving to Employee or Employer respectively 180 days’ written notice . . . If either party shall terminate this Agreement without cause, without giving adequate notice as per this paragraph, the party terminating this Agreement shall pay the other party . . . an amount equal to $355.00 . . . for each day the termination period was short of the required notice period as liquidated damages, as there is no satisfactory way to determine the actual damages under these circumstances to any party. The employment contract also provided that, after his employment with Gwinnett Clinic ended, Antonios would be responsible for obtaining his own policy of professional liability insurance, or “tail coverage,”1 and that he must provide proof of such coverage to Gwinnett Clinic before his final salary would be paid. And under the employment contract, in the event of litigation over the contract, the attorney fees of the prevailing party are to be paid by the other party. Both Gwinnett Clinic and Antonios signed the employment contract.
In a letter dated April 2, 2007, Antonios notified Gwinnett Clinic that his last day of work would be June 30, 2007. Gwinnett Clinic responded by letter, informing Antonios that he had given only 90 days’ notice, rather than the 180 days’ notice required by the contract, and that he would accordingly be liable for damages of $31,950. It also reminded Antonios that proof of tail coverage was required before his final salary would be paid. Antonios stopped working for Gwinnett Clinic on May 7, 2007. Gwinnett Clinic notified Antonios that, under the terms of the employment contract, his notice was deficient by 144 days and demanded liquidated damages in the amount of $51,120. It also requested proof that he had obtained tail coverage before his final paycheck would be released.
