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Schefke v. Reliable Colection Agency9/21/2001
As amended October 11, 2001.
CHARLES F. SCHEFKE, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT
v.
RELIABLE COLLECTION AGENCY, LTD., PACIFIC MEDICAL COLLECTIONS, INC., DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS/CROSS-APPELLEES
AND JONATHAN KIRSCHNER, FRED KIRSCHNER, DEFENDANTS-CROSS-APPELLEES
AND JOHN DOES 1-10, DEFENDANTS
APPEAL FROM THE FIRST CIRCUIT COURT (CIV. NO. 93-0839)
On the briefs: Norman K.K. Lau and Allison M. Fujita for plaintiff-appellee/cross-appellant. Robert E. Chapman and Mary Martin (Stanton Clay Chapman Crumpton & Iwamura) for defendants-appellants/cross-appellees and defendants-cross-appellees. John Ishihara, Chief Counsel, for Amicus Curiae Hawaii Civil Rights Commission.
Moon, C.J., Levinson, Nakayama, Ramil, And Acoba, JJ.
The opinion of the court was delivered by: Acoba, J.
OPINION
On the complaint of Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant Charles F. Schefke (Plaintiff) against Defendants-Appellants/Cross-Appellees Reliable Collection Agency, Ltd. (Reliable) and Pacific Medical Collections, Inc. (Pacific) (collectively "Defendants") and Defendants-Cross-Appellees Jonathan Kirschner (Jonathan) and Fred Kirschner (Fred) for recovery of unpaid wages, compensation discrimination based on age, and retaliation for filing of a discrimination claim with the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission (the HCRC), we affirm (1) the jury's award for unpaid wages, (2) the jury's award for a statutory penalty on the unpaid wages, (3) the jury's punitive damage award on Plaintiff's retaliation claim, (4) the denial by the first circuit court (the court) of Defendants' request for jury instructions on waiver and laches pertaining to the unpaid wage claim, and (5) the court's directed verdict in favor of Defendants on the compensation discrimination claim. However, we vacate and remand (1) the court's directed verdict in favor of Jonathan and Fred on Plaintiff's claim that they were individually liable on the retaliation claim and (2) the court's order on attorney's fees and costs. On Defendants' cross-claim for unpaid loans, we affirm the principal amount awarded, but reverse the jury's award of interest on the loans.
I.
The following evidence was adduced at trial. Reliable and Pacific were separate Hawaii corporations operating as collection agencies at the same principal place of business. Joe Leder, who had been a co-owner of Reliable since 1956, was the president of Reliable between 1979 and 1991, and was the president of Pacific between 1988 and 1994. Jonathan was a 20% owner of Reliable and its vice president until 1991 when he became the president. Fred, Jonathan's father, owned 80% of the stock of RECOA, a California corporation that owned 80% of Reliable.
Reliable hired Plaintiff, who was then fifty-six years old, on October 16, 1986. After Pacific was incorporated in March 1988, Plaintiff also started to work at Pacific. At Reliable and Pacific, collectors were assigned to certain "desks." Defendants assigned each desk a letter and a number to designate whether it belonged to Reliable or Pacific and to indicate the type of accounts handled by a desk. The letter "K" referred to Reliable and "J" referred to Pacific. For example, the J-2 desk was a Pacific desk assigned accounts over $3,500. The record does not indicate the significance of the assigned number.
Plaintiff explained that a "collection desk" is worked by a regular collector. A regular collector contacts debtors and attempts to collect money from them. If the attempts fail, the regular co
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Hawaii Employee Leasing Services
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