Williams v. Dominion Tech. Partners, L.L.C.

Williams v. Dominion Tech. Partners, L.L.C.

Opinion

 [**753]  [*283]   OPINION BY JUSTICE LAWRENCE L. KOONTZ, JR.

This appeal arises from a judgment in favor of an employer against a former at-will employee on a motion for judgment seeking damages for an alleged breach of a fiduciary duty, tortious interference with a business relationship, and business conspiracy in violation of Code §§ 18.2-499 and 18.2-500.

BACKGROUND

] Under well-settled principles of appellate procedure, we "consider the facts, some of which are disputed, in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, who is here armed with a jury verdict confirmed by the trial judge." Norfolk Southern Railway Co. v. Trimiew, 253 Va. 22, 25, 480 S.E.2d 104, 107 (1997).

Dominion Technology [***2]  Partners, L.L.C. (Dominion), based in Chesterfield County, is an employment firm specializing in recruiting qualified computer consultants and placing them, either directly or through third-party brokers, on a temporary basis with various companies. Sometime in late 1998 or early 1999, Dominion learned that Stihl, Inc. (Stihl), a power tool manufacturing firm, was seeking a  [*284]  computer consultant to oversee the installation of a new software package on computer systems at Stihl's facilities in Virginia Beach.

Dominion recruited Donald Williams as a possible candidate to fill the position at Stihl. At that time, Dominion prepared two employment offers and presented them to Williams. One offer provided that Williams would be a salaried employee of Dominion  [**754]  and receive compensation of $ 100,000 per year and various fringe benefits, regardless of whether Dominion was actually able to place Williams in a temporary position during the year. This offer further provided that Williams would be required to "sign the standard confidentiality agreement" at a later date. Alternately, Dominion offered to employ Williams as an at-will employee, paying Williams $ 80 per hour. As an at-will employee,  [***3]  Williams would receive no fringe benefits and would receive compensation only for work actually performed for a Dominion client. Williams elected to work as an at-will employee.

Williams was referred to Stihl for a placement interview. Stihl found that Williams was qualified to provide the computer consulting services that it required. On January 22, 1999, Stihl entered into a contract with ACSYS Information Technology, Inc. (ACSYS), an employment brokerage company with its principal offices in the State of Georgia, to employ Williams for an initial period of three months. The contract provided that if Stihl chose to directly employ Williams at a later date, ACSYS would receive a "conversion fee." The contract made no reference to Williams' employment by Dominion.

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