Filed: Nov. 30, 2016
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-1973 HARLEY A. HUGHES, Plaintiff – Appellant, v. IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, A Delaware Limited Liability Company; IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES, INC., A Maryland Corporation, Defendants – Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema, District Judge. (1:14-cv-01699-LMB-IDD) Argued: October 27, 2016 Decided: November 30, 2016 Befor
Summary: UNPUBLISHED UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT No. 15-1973 HARLEY A. HUGHES, Plaintiff – Appellant, v. IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, A Delaware Limited Liability Company; IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES, INC., A Maryland Corporation, Defendants – Appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema, District Judge. (1:14-cv-01699-LMB-IDD) Argued: October 27, 2016 Decided: November 30, 2016 Before..
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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-1973
HARLEY A. HUGHES,
Plaintiff – Appellant,
v.
IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, A Delaware Limited
Liability Company; IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TECHNOLOGIES, INC., A
Maryland Corporation,
Defendants – Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Leonie M. Brinkema,
District Judge. (1:14-cv-01699-LMB-IDD)
Argued: October 27, 2016 Decided: November 30, 2016
Before NIEMEYER, KING, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
ARGUED: Virginia Whitner Hoptman, REDMOND PEYTON & BRASWELL LLP,
Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant. Michael Joseph Marinello,
KAGAN LAW GROUP, LLC, Annapolis, Maryland, for Appellees. ON
BRIEF: James S. Kurz, Daniel D. Mauler, REDMOND PEYTON &
BRASWELL LLP, Alexandria, Virginia, for Appellant. Jonathan P.
Kagan, KAGAN LAW GROUP, LLC, Annapolis, Maryland, for Appellee
Immediate Response Technologies, LLC.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Plaintiff Harley A. Hughes served as the President and
Chief Executive Officer of defendant Immediate Response
Technologies, Inc. (“IRT Inc.”). In 2014, IRT Inc. was sold to
defendant Immediate Response Technologies, LLC (“IRT LLC”).
Hughes alleges that, while the sale was being negotiated, he was
promised that he would be retained as the President and CEO of
IRT LLC and paid a share of certain fees. Those promises, he
claims, induced him to sign agreements concerning the sale of
IRT Inc. and his employment with IRT LLC. The written
agreements do not contain any of the promises alleged by Hughes,
and he was neither named President and CEO of IRT LLC nor
afforded the share of fees he expected.
In December 2014, Hughes initiated this civil action
against IRT LLC and IRT Inc. in the Eastern District of
Virginia. The operative Amended Complaint of February 26, 2015,
asserts eight claims against IRT LLC: fraud (Count 1);
constructive fraud (Count 2); fraudulent inducement (Count 3);
promissory estoppel (Count 4); successor liability (Count 5);
breach of employment contract (Count 6); failure to pay
severance (Count 7); and unjust enrichment (Count 8). Two of
the claims, Counts 6 and 7, are also directed at IRT Inc. While
IRT LLC responded to the Amended Complaint and its predecessor
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with motions for summary judgment, IRT Inc. failed to appear and
did not answer in any manner.
Following a hearing on March 13, 2015, the district court
entered an Order awarding summary judgment to IRT LLC on all
claims “[f]or the reasons stated in open court, as well as in
[IRT LLC’s] memoranda.” See Hughes v. Immediate Response
Techs., LLC, No. 1:14-cv-01699 (E.D. Va. Mar. 13, 2015), ECF No.
57. Hughes filed a motion for reconsideration as to Counts 1
through 4 and 8. By its Memorandum Opinion and Order of May 6,
2015, the court denied Hughes’s motion for reconsideration and
elaborated on the reasons for awarding summary judgment to IRT
LLC. See Hughes v. Immediate Response Techs., LLC, No. 1:14-cv-
01699 (E.D. Va. May 6, 2015), ECF Nos. 79-80.
In the meantime, Hughes had filed a motion for a default
judgment against IRT Inc. By his Report and Recommendation of
July 17, 2015, the magistrate judge recommended granting in part
and denying in part that motion. See Hughes v. Immediate
Response Techs., LLC, No. 1:14-cv-01699 (E.D. Va. July 17,
2015), ECF No. 93. Specifically, the magistrate judge concluded
that a default judgment should be entered against IRT Inc. as to
Counts 6 and 7, but that the award should include $35,695.83 in
compensatory damages, rather than the more than $2 million in
compensatory and enhanced damages sought by Hughes. The
magistrate judge also recommended awarding $19,747.10 in
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attorney’s fees and costs. Thereafter, by its Order of August
13, 2015, the district court adopted in full the magistrate
judge’s Report and Recommendation, rejecting Hughes’s objections
thereto. See Hughes v. Immediate Response Techs., LLC, No.
1:14-cv-01699 (E.D. Va. Aug. 13, 2015), ECF No. 99.
Hughes timely noted this appeal, and we possess
jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Having carefully
examined the record and assessed the parties’ written
submissions together with the argument of counsel, we discern no
error. We are therefore content to affirm the judgments in
favor of IRT LLC and against IRT Inc. on the cogent reasoning of
the district court.
AFFIRMED
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