Hiers v. ChoicePoint Servs.

Ludwick Hiers appeals from the trial court’s order granting ChoicePoint Services, Inc.’s motion for summary judgment on Hiers’s suit for money owed under an employment contract. For reasons which follow, we conclude there was some evidence that the employment contract was valid and enforceable and ChoicePoint was not entitled to summary judgment on this issue. But, because the time period for payment of future commissions under the employment contract is too indefinite to be enforced, ChoicePoint was entitled to summary judgment on Hiers’s claim for commissions which were not otherwise billable during the period of his employment. This case arose when Ludwick Hiers sued ChoicePoint claiming that it failed to pay him commissions he had earned for selling ChoicePoint’s employment verification services. ChoicePoint filed a motion for summary judgment and Hiers filed a motion for partial summary judgment. After a lengthy hearing, the trial court denied Hiers’s motion and granted summary judgment on all claims to ChoicePoint. Hiers now appeals only the grant of summary judgment to ChoicePoint on his breach of contract claim.

When reviewing the grant of a motion for summary judgment, this Court conducts a de novo review of the law and the evidence. Pickren v. Pickren, 265 Ga. App. 195 593 SE2d 387 2004. To prevail at summary judgment under OCGA § 9-11-56 c, the moving party must show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmovant, warrant judgment as a matter of law. Lau’s Corp. v. Haskins, 261 Ga. 491 405 SE2d 474 1991.