Hospital Media Network, LLC v. Henderson

Citations

• 209 Conn. App. 395

Syllabus

The defendant H, a former employee of the plaintiff, appealed from the judgment rendered on remand awarding damages to the plaintiff for H's breach of fiduciary duty. The plaintiff had employed H as its chief revenue officer until 2013 when it fired him for cause. Thereafter, the plaintiff brought an action against H, claiming, among other things, that he breached his fiduciary duty to the plaintiff by working for G Co., a private equity investment firm, to raise capital to acquire C Co., which was involved in the same business sector as the plaintiff, while he was employed by the plaintiff, during regular business hours, and without the plaintiff's permission or knowledge. G Co.'s acquisition of C Co. closed in 2013 shortly after H's employment was terminated, at which time H was paid a $150,000 finder's fee by either G Co. or C Co., was awarded a three year consulting contract with C Co. at $50,000 annually, and was given the opportunity to purchase restricted stock of C Co. H was defaulted for failure to comply with a discovery order and the trial court granted the plaintiff's motion for judgment on the default. Following a hearing, the trial court rendered judgment for the plaintiff and awarded damages against H. H appealed to this court, which reversed the judgment only as to the award of damages against him, concluding that the award did not achieve a just result, as it failed to take into account the equities of the case, and remanded the case for a new hearing in damages. On remand, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $323,545.84, which represented H's 2013 salary, certain consulting fees paid to H by the plaintiff, the finder's fee, and one year's worth of consulting fees under the consulting contract, and H appealed to this court. Held: 1. In rendering its judgment, the trial court acted within the scope of this court's remand order by making its own independent factual findings on the basis of the entire record bef