Mon Ami Int'l Inc. v. Gale

An employment contract was ambiguous as to whether the decedent had a 10-percent ownership or an unexercised option to purchase a 10-percent ownership in the defending company.

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Kenneth Gale, individually and in his capacity as executor of his wife’s estate, sued Mon Ami International, Inc. “Mon Ami”, its parent company, president, and lawyer, to enforce an amendment to an employment agreement that he contends gave his wife, Mrs. Gale, ten percent of Mon Ami’s stock. Gale also sought damages for breach of a fiduciary duty.1 Following a trial, the jury concluded that Mrs. Gale did not own the stock and found no breach of fiduciary duty. The trial court disagreed, however, and granted Gale’s motion for new trial. Prior to re-trial, the court granted Gale’s motion in limine, preventing Mon Ami “from presenting any evidence on the issue of whether Mrs. Gale was a 10 shareholder.”2 After re-trial, the jury determined that Mon Ami breached its fiduciary duty to Mrs. Gale as a minority shareholder. On appeal, Mon Ami asserts that the trial court erred in granting Gale’s motion in limine, which essentially precluded the company from challenging the stock ownership issue. Mon Ami also contends that the trial court erred in failing to direct a verdict in its favor on both the stock ownership and breach of fiduciary claims. Finally, Mon Ami argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying its motion for mistrial. For reasons that follow, we reverse.

1. As a threshold matter, we must address whether the trial court properly granted Gale’s motion in limine. “The admission of evidence, including a ruling on a motion in limine, is a matter resting within the sound discretion of the trial court, and we will not disturb the exercise of that discretion absent evidence of its abuse.”3

Mon Ami Int'l Inc. v. Gale

An employment contract was ambiguous as to whether the decedent had a 10-percent ownership or an unexercised option to purchase a 10-percent ownership in the defending company.

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