Denbury Onshore, LLC v. Precision Welding, Inc.

98 So.3d 449 (2012)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D is an oil and gas company that recovers tertiary oil across the State of Mississippi. Recovering tertiary oil requires large amounts of carbon dioxide gas, which D recovers at its numerous dehydration plants. D purchased a tract of land that contained a large, underground reserve of carbon dioxide, and D needed a welding company to help build dehydration plants necessary to recover the gas. D hired P, and from 2002 until 2006, P worked almost exclusively for D. P billed by the hour and worked at multiple plant locations. The arrangement was never in writing, and they never contemplated an end date for P's work. In 2005, D - for the first time - began soliciting bids for its projects. P submitted a bid and D accepted it and hired P, who began working on Barksdale I in 2006. During a 2006 audit, D discovered that, over the previous two years, P had given Wal-Mart gift cards to D employees for Christmas. D employees violated their company's ethics policy by accepting the gift cards. P refused to provide D’s auditors with the names of the employees who had accepted the cards. From that third such refusal, D terminated P. P sued D for (1) tortious interference with a business relationship; (2) breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing; (3) tortious interference with a contract; (4) slander and defamation; (5) conspiracy; and (6) detrimental reliance. At trial, P presented only two claims to the jury: breach of contract and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. D claimed its contract was terminable at will. The jury returned a $1.5 million verdict for P. D moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or for a new trial, which the circuit judge denied. D appealed.