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Murcott v. Best Western International8/31/2000
as ultimately denied.
Murcott testified, however, that Mathis' actions were "risky on his part." Murcott recalled telling the board, "I felt that he [Mathis] had gone outside Best Western policy in doing this type of thing. I felt that the applications were being denied for improper reasons and that he was protecting the members and thereby creating exclusive territories." Murcott further testified that, regarding the perceived violation of internal company policies, the "implication was that these were antitrust-type violations."
At trial, Mathis acknowledged that Murcott expressed his concern that by denying the application Best Western appeared to be protecting an existing member. Board member Walter agreed that, during a board meeting, Murcott had "vigorously protested" Mathis' recommendation to deny the application.
f. Irving, Texas
In March 1995, Best Western received a membership application for a hotel to be built at the south end of the Dallas-Fort Worth airport in Irving, Texas. Defendant Unruh, the Board member for that region, initially favored the application. With Unruh's support, staff generated a favorable recommendation. Thereafter, according to Murcott, Unruh stated that owners of the Best Western property at the north end of the Dallas airport had expressed concern over the competitive impact of the prospective hotel.
Murcott testified that Unruh inquired whether it would be possible to change the staff recommendation. In response Murcott himself proposed a way to deny the application "without getting into antitrust problems," by telling Unruh that they "could certainly justify saying we need a full-service hotel with meeting space at the airport and this [i.e. the applicant's] was a limited property with only 65 rooms." Based upon this "logical reason to deny the application," Murcott "agreed to change the staff recommendation." The application was then denied.
4. Murcott's Discharge
Best Western's board decided to fire Murcott during an executive session on July 24, 1995. Best Western claimed at trial that it discharged Murcott and another vice-president, Clay Carpenter, as part of a reorganization effort. Murcott contends that his whistle-blowing activities were a substantial motivating factor in the firing decision.
During the weeks preceding Murcott's termination, Ronald Evans, Best Western's President and Chief Executive Officer, told director Ed Walter that Murcott was being targeted as a scapegoat by the individual defendants who felt he had spoken openly about violations of the company's antitrust policies. Walter testified that Murcott's stance "went against him in the long run." Director Seaton testified that the individual defendants stated that Murcott was not a "team player" regarding antitrust compliance. Director Vande Berg testified that the individual defendants specifically criticized Murcott's position on antitrust compliance at the time of the termination decision.
Murcott also introduced evidence that it was Best Western's practice to notify employees if their job performance was unsatisfactory and to give those employees an opportunity to cure any deficiency. Another company practice was to investigate allegations and obtain a report from the employee's supervisor concerning quality of employee performance. The Board sought no such report from Evans; instead, it summoned Evans into the executive session whereupon Walter informed him of an apparent consensus to terminate Murcott. Walter, Seaton and Vande Berg all opposed the decision.
Evans, who had daily contact with Murcott, also opposed Murcott's termination. He testified th
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