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Murcott v. Best Western International8/31/2000
evidence. See id. at 558, 832 P.2d at 211.
The Arizona Supreme Court applied this standard in Thompson v. Better-Bilt Aluminum Products Co., in which it found a deliberate policy of discharging workers -- including the plaintiff -- who filed workers' compensation claims. 171 Ariz. at 559, 832 P.2d at 212. The company effectuated this practice by writing up false "voluntary" terminations and withholding notice of these terminations from employees, all indicating the employer's knowledge that its actions were wrong and harmful.
No evidence exists here that Best Western systematically discharged employees who complained about the company's alleged antitrust policies. Murcott nevertheless contends that cumulative evidence relating to his own termination justifies a reversal of the directed verdict because of:
1. the questionable timing of Murcott's termination in light of the settlement of the antitrust dispute with Wang;
2. "the differing, pretextual and unsupported reasons" proffered by each individual director for Murcott's discharge;
3. the destruction or spoilation of evidence of the Board's termination meeting; and
4. Best Western's failure to follow its own policies.
These instances do not supply clear and convincing evidence of an evil mind. The timing of these events neither supports nor disproves either side's position. Although the discharge occurred within weeks of the settlement with Wang, it also came almost a year after Murcott began his complaints.
Similarly, the absence of a record of the termination decision does not evince an evil mind. Although the board did record executive sessions, it was not a regular practice. Brown thought that he might have tape-recorded the July 24, 1995 session but never found the tape. Brown also thought that he might have taken notes on his lap-top computer but the notes were lost when the machine was replaced. No evidence shows a clearly improper motive behind these events. Because multiple witnesses attended the discharge meeting, including at least three directors who supported Murcott, any effort to conceal the reasons for his discharge would have been futile. Moreover, the trial court found no spoilation of evidence and dismissed Murcott's arguments as irrelevant to the punitive damages issue.
Murcott also invokes Best Western's failure to follow its own procedures with respect to the discharge decision but misplaces reliance on this factor. Such evidence supports Murcott's termination for bad cause but does not support punitive damages.
Finally, Murcott proffers evidence that the individual defendants offered differing and pretextual reasons for his discharge. He points out that three defendants testified to additional reasons for his discharge at trial yet failed to mention these reasons during their depositions. Huff initially said that Murcott was discharged because the board lost confidence in his administrative abilities but later told the jury that the discharge rested on morale problems and reorganization plans. Brown testified that Murcott was not the right person for the position and that Jacobs was involved in the discussion, yet made no mention of Jacobs in his prior deposition. Unruh's testimony followed similar lines.
Murcott also points out that some directors contradicted testimony offered by other directors concerning the reasons for his termination. For example, four witnesses impeached Huff's testimony at trial. In addition, Mathis claimed that he wanted Murcott discharged because he failed to pay an employee a bonus pursuant to Best Western's incentive compensation plan. Murcott had det
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