Wrongful Termination Cases

EMPLOYMENT – CORPORATIONS – MINORITY SHAREHOLDERS – WRONGFUL DISCHARGE – BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY – CONTRACTS - RELEASES: The trial court did not err in granting a motion for summary judgment filed by defendants majority shareholders on plaintiff minority shareholder's claims for breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge where the evidence showed that the termination of plaintiff's employment had a legitimate business purpose. The trial court did not err in granting plaintiff's motion to dismiss defendants' counterclaim for damages based on the terms of two releases contained in two redemption agreements, where the clear and unambiguous language of the agreements showed that they only governed the purchase of plaintiff's ownership interest in the companies, not his employment relationship with the companies.

constructive discharge, hostile work environment, reverse racial discrimination, negligent hiring/retention/supervision

Motion for staying pending arbitration denied; appellee, an orthodontist, entered seven contracts with a dental alliance; some contracts had arbitration clauses and employee restrictive covenants, some did not; the restrictive covenants in the contracts were not the same; appellant filed declaratory judgment and breach of contract action; dental alliance followed by filing for arbitration; court did not err by not granting stay pending arbitration because parties agreed to the stay; court did not err in retaining jurisdiction over the case due to conflicting provisions in the contracts; although public policy favors arbitration, arbitration clauses are not elevated over other contract provisions; questions of arbitrability are decided by the court unless delegated to the arbitrator; the contracts did not contain delegation clauses; a venue clause does not typically conflict with an arbitration clause; judgment affirmed.