PRESENT: All the Justices
SAKS FIFTH AVENUE, INC., ET AL.
OPINION BY
v. Record No. 051613 JUSTICE G. STEVEN AGEE
June 8, 2006
JAMES, LTD.
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ARLINGTON COUNTY
Joanne F. Alper, Judge
Saks Fifth Avenue, Inc., and Douglas Thompson (collectively
“Defendants”) appeal from the judgment of the Circuit Court of
Arlington County, which held them jointly and severally liable
in damages to James, Ltd., Thompson’s former employer, for
breach of fiduciary duty and violation of Code §§ 18.2-499 and
-500 (prohibiting conspiracy to injure another’s business).1 For
the breach of fiduciary duty and statutory violations, the trial
court awarded James the sum of $548,611 in compensatory damages,
which was trebled pursuant to Code § 18.2-500 for a total damage
award of $1,645,833 plus costs, attorney’s fees, and expenses.
At issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in
denying Defendants’ motions to strike James’ evidence of damages
and in adopting James’ calculation of damages. For the reasons
set forth below, we will reverse the judgment of the trial
court.
I. BACKGROUND AND MATERIAL PROCEEDINGS BELOW
1
Thompson was also adjudged individually liable for breach
of his contractual duty to James under a covenant not to compete
James, a high-end men’s clothing retailer, initiated the
underlying suit after Thompson left his employment at James’
store in the Tysons Galleria shopping mall to work at a Saks
Fifth Avenue store located in the same mall. James prides
itself in serving a niche market of high-end shoppers who
appreciate its intimate setting, impressive selection of fine
men’s clothing, and personalized service.2 In order to retain
employees with the expertise necessary to excel in serving
James’ customers, James provides a competitive base salary and
commissions, plus an array of benefits that are “rare” in the
retail clothing industry. Many of its employees have worked at
James for more than fifteen years.
Thompson began working for James in 1986 at its Fair Oaks
mall store, immediately after he finished college and with only
limited retail experience. Two years later, he transferred to
James’ Tysons Galleria store, where he remained until the fall
of 2003. Thompson became James’ highest-selling salesman, with
average annual sales near $1 million during the three years
prior to his departure. Thompson had between 40 and 50 “core
customers,” with whom he had a regular and long-standing sales
and subject to an injunction, but the trial court awarded no
monetary damages for that breach. See note 10, infra.
2
A significant portion of James’ business consists of
selling “made-to-measure” men’s suits, which allows James to
record customers’ sizes and preferences so that future purchases
2
relationship. Approximately 30% of Thompson’s sales came from
one-time, walk-in customers. The rest of his customers
consisted of seasonal and other infrequent shoppers.
In 1998, James distributed a “General Employee Guidelines,
Policies, Practices and Benefits” handbook to all of its
employees. The handbook provided that all James’ employees,
including Thompson, were “at-will” employees.3 A “memorandum of
understanding on confidentiality” was contained in the handbook,
which reserved James’ proprietary interest in: “customer names
and lists, trade books, financial and pricing information, and
all matters discussed at our meetings. This list is not
exclusive. Assume that all private business information is
included.” The handbook also contains a covenant not to
compete, which states:
[b]y agreeing to work for JAMES, an employee agrees
also that upon leaving the employment of JAMES, for
any reason, he or she will not own, operate or be
employed by a retail men’s clothing store, or men’s
clothing sales department of a store, which is located
within a one (1) mile radius of any JAMES store, for a
period of three (3) years following termination of
employment with JAMES.
could be made without returning to the store. Approximately 40%
of Thompson’s total sales came from “made-to-measure” clothing.
3
The handbook specifically states: “THIS IS NOT A CONTRACT
OF EMPLOYMENT. ALL EMPLOYEES ARE EMPLOYED ‘AT WILL’ AND ARE
EMPLOYEES OF THE CORPORATION.” It later clarifies that
“[e]mployees may resign from the company at any time, for any
reason.”
3
On May 1, 1998, Thompson signed a document “agree[ing] to all
provisions, particularly the confidential information/trade
secret and restrictive covenant terms, and acknowledg[ing] that
employment is ‘at will.’ ” As specific consideration for
signing this document, James gave Thompson and other employees
cash bonuses and clothing allowances.
Saks is a nationwide retailer that has operated a store in
Tysons Galleria since 1988; however, the store was less
profitable than the sales projections of Saks’ corporate
management. In 2003, Saks’ management initiated several plans
to foster higher profitability for the Tysons Galleria store.
Although Saks is principally a higher-end women’s department
store, one of the profit plans was to attract top salesmen to
the men’s department who would expand selection and increase
sales. In the summer of 2003, Saks’ managers contacted Thompson
and another James employee, Ray Ybarme, to see if they could be
induced to work for Saks at Tysons Galleria.
Both Ybarme and Thompson were open to the possibility of
working for Saks because they knew that James had suffered
financial setbacks over the previous few years due to the
“downturn of the high-tech business, the stock market slump, the
attacks of September 11 and the popularity of ‘business casual’
4
dress codes.” During the interview process4 both Ybarme and
Thompson expressed concern about the “legal ramifications” of
the non-competition provisions in the James employee handbook
because Saks’ Tysons Galleria store was clearly within the one-
mile limitation. Ybarme gave a copy of the handbook to Saks
representatives, who discussed the enforceability of the policy
with Saks’ legal counsel. They advised the Tysons Galleria
store management that they believed “the non-compete provisions
in [the employee handbook] are not enforceable by James.” Saks
provided Thompson a letter from Saks’ General Counsel, which was
also signed by the Tysons Galleria general manager, agreeing to
provide “any legal defense and costs necessary to accept and
continue employment at Saks should [he] be challenged by James
on the non-compete provision.”
Saks management was excited about the prospect of hiring
two individuals of Ybarme’s and Thompson’s experience. Internal
e-mails discussed the need to “do whatever it takes to get these
guys,” including stocking the merchandise they recommended in
order to “keep their client base.” After a few meetings with
4
Although Ybarme and Thompson interviewed and negotiated
for employment with Saks during the same period of time, they
did not have any joint meetings with Saks representatives.
5
Saks’ managers, both Thompson and Ybarme agreed to work at the
Saks Tysons Galleria store.5
Thompson resigned from James on September 30, 2003 and
began working at Saks’ Tysons Galleria store on October 9, 2003.
Thompson took his customer listings when he left James and later
sent e-mails to some of his former James customers informing
them that he was now working for Saks in the same shopping mall
as James.6 From October 2003 through January 2005, Thompson made
at least $780,000 in sales at the Saks Tysons Galleria store.
On December 11, 2003, James filed a bill of complaint
against the Defendants alleging breach of fiduciary duty,
intentional interference with contractual relations, intentional
interference with prospective business and contractual
relations, violation of Virginia’s Uniform Trade Secrets Act
(Code § 59.1-336 et seq.), violation of Virginia’s Computer
Crimes Act (Code § 18.2-152.7), and conspiracy to injure another
in a business, trade or profession (Code §§ 18.2-499 and –500).
James also alleged a breach of the terms and conditions of
5
Thompson and Ybarme individually informed one of James’
principals, Michael Colen, that they were resigning and going to
work for Saks. Colen persuaded Ybarme to remain at James, in
part by increasing his compensation, but Thompson declined to do
so.
6
For many years and with the knowledge and consent of James
management, Thompson kept some client records organized on his
personal laptop computer. Thompson thus had access to this
information, which included customer contact information, after
leaving James.
6
James’ employee handbook as to Thompson alone and requested
specific performance of its covenants. James sought injunctive
relief, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees
and costs.
A bench trial took place in January 2005. Bruce G.
Dubinsky, a certified public accountant, testified as an expert
witness in forensic accounting for James regarding the damages
James claimed were due from the Defendants. After reviewing
James’ financial statements and sales records, Dubinsky
calculated that James’ damages were $1,477,895 over the period
from October 2003 through January 2015. In calculating James’
damages, Dubinsky relied on a “but-for” analysis, which he also
referred to as a “lost volume method.”
Based on a historical analysis of Thompson’s sales while at
James, Dubinsky first calculated Thompson’s projected sales on
the assumption that Thompson had remained at James.7 Then, using
sales records, Dubinsky calculated the average amounts
Thompson’s former customers continued to spend at James after
his departure, terming sales revenues from those customers
“house sales.” Dubinsky subtracted those “house sales” that
were not “lost” from the amount of projected sales Thompson
7
To arrive at this number, Dubinsky averaged Thompson’s
total monthly sales over his last three years at James, which
Dubinsky characterized as an “extremely conservative” baseline
in light of Thompson’s actual sales dating back to 1997.
7
would have made had he remained at James. Dubinsky then
calculated James’ estimated gross profit lost by multiplying
Thompson’s projected sales by James’ average gross profit margin
of 43.63%. Dubinsky subtracted the incremental costs that would
have been incurred to generate the additional sales, but added
to damages the incremental increases in other employees’ base
pay James gave after Thompson left. This calculation generated
Dubinsky’s determination of James’ net lost profits for the
first year following Thompson’s departure. Dubinsky then
projected James’ lost profits through 2015, assuming an annual
2% growth in revenues, which he then discounted to a total
present value of $1,477,895.
On cross-examination, Dubinsky clarified that “[i]t wasn’t
important to [his] analysis” whether customers that Thompson
served at James actually followed Thompson to Saks. Dubinsky
characterized his method of assessing damages as the “but-for”
method in which James’ damages would be based on “where Mr.
Thompson’s sales would have been.” In other words, “but for”
Thompson’s departure to work at Saks, James would have had sales
equal to the amount “if Mr. Thompson had remained.” Thus,
Dubinsky did not analyze whether Thompson’s former customers at
James actually shopped at Saks after Thompson’s departure from
James, even though Dubinsky had access to a list of Thompson’s
customers at Saks.
8
Dubinsky further admitted that his analysis assumed that
every customer Thompson had served at James who did not purchase
something at James after Thompson left was “gone due to the
actions of Mr. Thompson and Saks.” Dubinsky also testified that
he did not differentiate between “customers who were regulars
for Mr. Thompson and customers who were either walk-ins or very
sporadic” customers. Nor did Dubinsky consider customer
attrition rates in calculating damages because, as Dubinsky
testified,
[his] lost profits calculation specifically looks at
Mr. Thompson’s sales, [and] the historical level of
sales from Mr. Thompson as well as James . . . is very
referral-based [and] you don’t see a drop-off every
year of customers just leaving. . . . [I]n the
historical pattern of sales here, some customers will
leave. They may die. They may move away. But other
customers may be referred. And typically, that has
been the case. . . . So I considered that and didn’t
directly, then, quantify one by one . . . . I looked
from a macro level based on the history of where
things had been.
At the close of James’ case, the Defendants moved to strike
James’ evidence regarding, inter alia, proof of damages.8 They
argued James’ calculation of damages was speculative because it
assumed future business from customers who had no obligation to
shop at James and had not shopped with Thompson at Saks. In
8
Defendants also moved to strike the evidence of each count
James alleged in the bill of complaint. The trial court granted
the motion with respect to the counts regarding the Uniform
Trade Secrets Act and Computer Crimes Act, but denied the rest
of the motion.
9
addition, they asserted that Dubinsky’s calculations “ignore[d]
James’ burden of proving causation” and that James had not
proven that “Mr. Thompson’s or Saks’ conduct caused the loss of
any of James’ customers.” The trial court denied Defendants’
motion, stating:
I believe that there has been sufficient evidence and
sufficient expert testimony, plus evidence of other
witnesses from James, to support the damages claimed
so far.
The issue is not so much that the customers left
James and went to Saks. It’s the fact that they’re
not at James, and the argument that Mr. Thompson, by
his actions . . . caused the loss of those individuals
regardless of where they went, whether they went to
Saks or Neiman’s or Macy’s or anywhere else, I think
supports at this point the allowance of the damages
evidence, and the damages evidence is supported at
this stage of the proceeding and is not so speculative
or uncorroborated as to require the striking of all of
the evidence on damages.
The Defendants then presented their evidence, including an
expert witness, Richard Edelman, who testified that James
suffered “small and insignificant” damages as a result of
Defendants’ actions. This was so, he asserted, because a
comparison of Thompson’s customer lists at each store indicated
that only 48 of Thompson’s customers at James spent more at Saks
than at James following Thompson’s departure.9 His calculation
9
Thompson had previously testified how they had analyzed
his customer lists from James and Saks. The 48 customers
identified were those individuals from the original list of 1782
customers that Thompson had served at least one time at James
who had not made purchases at the Tysons’ Saks men’s department
10
of damages was based solely on these sales of former James
customers that were “lost” to Saks. The trial court “found Dr.
Edelman’s testimony to be singularly unconvincing.” Defendants
renewed their motion to strike at the close of all the evidence,
which the trial court denied.
The trial court’s May 6, 2005, final decree incorporates by
reference its detailed letter opinion dated March 8, 2005, which
articulated findings of fact and conclusions of law. The trial
court found in favor of James and against Thompson individually,
as to the enforceability of the employee handbook’s restrictive
covenant. The trial court further found in favor of James and
against the Defendants, jointly and severally, as to the counts
for breach of fiduciary duty and violation of Code §§ 18.2-499
and -500.10 The trial court found for the Defendants on the
remaining counts of intentional interference with contractual
prior to Thompson’s working there and who had spent more on
purchases at Saks than at James since that time.
10
Having found Thompson individually liable for breach of
the restrictive covenant in James’ employee handbook, the trial
court enjoined Thompson “from working at Saks’ Tysons Galleria
store for a period of three years beginning one week after the
date of issue of the March 8, 2005 letter opinion.” We refused
Thompson’s petition for appeal assigning error to the trial
court’s enforcement of the restrictive covenant and award of the
injunction; accordingly, this portion of the trial court’s
judgment is not before the Court and is not affected by our
resolution of the issues in the present appeal.
11
relations, intentional interference with prospective business
and contractual relations, and conversion of James’ property.11
Because the analysis of damages for breach of fiduciary
duty and violation of Code §§ 18.2-499 and -500 was “identical,”
the trial court addressed them together. The trial court found
that James had met its burden of proving cognizable damages
because Dubinsky had “testified that James suffered damages of
almost $1.5 million in lost profits, and that those damages were
directly attributable to the resignation of Thompson and loss of
his long standing, high volume customer sales.” The trial court
opined “that the damage analysis in this case should be guided
by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Worrie v. Boze, 198 Va. 533[,
95 S.E.2d 192] (1956).” Also citing Advanced Marine
Enterprises, Inc. v. PRC Inc., 256 Va. 106, 501 S.E.2d 148
(1998), and Famous Knitwear Corp. v. Drug Fair, Inc., 493 F.2d
251 (4th Cir. 1974), the trial court concluded that these cases
established that the “but for” method of calculating lost
profits was appropriate in cases where the plaintiff’s business
had been profitable prior to the wrongful acts of the
Defendants. Accordingly, the trial court determined that James
11
With respect to the claim of conversion, the trial court
entered judgment for the Defendants because it found that the
claim had “been adequately and completely addressed in [the
trial court’s] rulings on the other claims in the Bill of
Complaint, and that the damages to be awarded to [James] will
12
“ha[d] proven a sound factual and legal basis for the award of
damages against” Defendants.
The trial court adopted Dubinsky’s calculation of damages
and awarded damages to James “for a period of approximately
three years from the date of Mr. Thompson’s departure, October
1, 2003.” Based on Dubinsky’s calculations, the trial court
awarded James the sum of $548,611, which was trebled pursuant to
Code § 18.2-500 to $1,654,833. In addition, the trial court
awarded James statutory costs and attorneys’ fees and expenses.
We awarded the Defendants this appeal.
II. ANALYSIS
A. The Parties’ Arguments
Defendants contend that James failed to satisfy its burden
of “proving with reasonable certainty the amount of damages and
the cause from which they resulted.” This is so, they argue,
because James’ proof of damages relied solely on Dubinsky’s
calculation of damages, which was not based on any causal
connection to Defendants’ wrongful conduct.12
Defendants aver that Dubinsky instead calculated James’
damages as if they “stemmed entirely from Thompson’s
resignation” although Thompson was an at will employee and was
fully and fairly compensate it for the wrongful actions of [the
Defendants].”
12
For purposes of this appeal, the trial court’s findings
of wrongful conduct by the Defendants are not at issue.
13
legally entitled to resign at any time. Consequently,
Defendants assert that Thompson’s leaving the employ of James
cannot be the basis for James’ damages. Defendants cite to
Dubinsky’s testimony that his calculation of damages was derived
from the projected sales James lost because Thompson no longer
worked there. Factors such as “which [James] customers had been
contacted by Thompson, which ones had shopped at Saks with
Thompson, or which ones even knew that Thompson had resigned
from James [were not] ‘important to [his] analysis.’” In
effect, Defendants say Dubinsky’s calculation of James’ damages
is merely a projection into future years of the total sales
James would have achieved on the assumption Thompson had
remained employed there and produced sales at his historical
levels. Thus, Defendants contend Dubinsky’s damages calculation
is not based on any proximate causation by Defendants’ wrongful
acts.
Defendants maintain that the trial court’s reliance on
Worrie to support its decision is erroneous because neither
Worrie nor any other case “relieve[s] James of its burden to
prove non-speculative damages proximately caused by Thompson’s
and Saks’ wrongful conduct; nor do they permit it to rely on
inadmissible expert testimony.” Defendants distinguish Worrie
by observing that prior to the defendants’ wrongful conduct in
that case, the plaintiff did not have any competition, and in
14
effect held a monopoly in the area. Defendants argue these
“unique facts” allowed the trial court in Worrie to infer that
the plaintiffs’ decrease in business was proximately caused by
defendants’ wrongful conduct and to measure damages on the basis
of projected lost profits.
James responds that “[Defendants] should not now be heard
to complain that James was not entitled to recover damages, when
their intentional and improprietous actions caused injuries and
those same acts made the proof of damages with any certainty
difficult, if not impossible.” James contends that Virginia’s
“long established precedent from cases in which lost profits
were being sought as damages” permits “evidence of the prior and
subsequent record of [an established] business [as] an
intelligent and probable estimate of damages.” Dubinsky’s
calculations, James argues, were based on this established
foundation and the trial court acted properly in admitting
Dubinsky’s testimony and subsequently relying on it to determine
James’ damages. James claims that there is “no practical way
that a plaintiff who makes sales to an established patronage and
who is victimized by the calculated wrongdoing of others could
prove the future intentions of its customer base.”
James asserts that Defendants’ arguments are contrary to
Virginia precedent and it defends the trial court’s reliance on
Worrie. In further support of its position, James cited at oral
15
argument and on brief to R.K. Chevrolet, Inc. v. Hayden, 253 Va.
50, 480 S.E.2d 477 (1997).
Defendants also assert that Dubinsky’s opinion testimony
was improperly admitted because his calculations were based on
several speculative or false assumptions. However, because we
find the issue of causation is dispositive in this case, we do
not recite or address the parties’ arguments regarding whether
Dubinsky's opinion calculating damages was admissible.
B. Discussion
We review the trial court’s decision to deny the motion to
strike in accordance with well-settled principles:
When the sufficiency of a plaintiff’s evidence is
challenged by a motion to strike, the trial court
should resolve any reasonable doubt as to the
sufficiency of the evidence in plaintiff’s favor and
should grant the motion only when “it is conclusively
apparent that plaintiff has proven no cause of action
against defendant,” or when “it plainly appears that
the trial court would be compelled to set aside any
verdict found for the plaintiff as being without
evidence to support it.”
Williams v. Vaughan, 214 Va. 307, 309, 199 S.E.2d 515, 517
(1973) (citations omitted).
At trial, James had the “burden of proving with reasonable
certainty the amount of damages and the cause from which they
resulted; speculation and conjecture cannot form the basis of
the recovery.” Shepherd v. Davis, 265 Va. 108, 125, 574 S.E.2d
514, 524 (2003) (quoting Carr v. Citizens Bank & Trust Co., 228
16
Va. 644, 652, 325 S.E.2d 86, 90 (1985)). When an established
business, such as James, is “injured, interrupted, or destroyed,
the measure of damages is the diminution in value of the
business by reason of the wrongful act, measured by the loss of
the usual profits from the business.” United Constr. Workers v.
Laburnum Constr. Corp., 194 Va. 872, 891, 75 S.E.2d 694, 707
(1953) (internal quotation omitted). Thus,
where the loss of prospective profits is the direct
and proximate result of the breach . . . and they can
also be proved with a reasonable degree of certainty,
such loss is recoverable, but it is equally well
settled that prospective profits are not recoverable
in any case if it is uncertain that there would have
been any profits, or if the alleged profits are so
contingent, conjectural, or speculative that the
amount thereof cannot be proved with a reasonable
degree of certainty.
Sinclair Refining Co. v. Hamilton & Dotson, 164 Va. 203, 211,
178 S.E. 777, 780 (1935) (citing Manss-Owens Co. v. H. S. Owens
& Son, 129 Va. 183, 201-05, 105 S.E. 543, 549-50 (1921)).
A plaintiff thus must prove two primary factors relating to
damages. Shepherd, 265 Va. at 125, 574 S.E.2d at 524. First, a
plaintiff must show a casual connection between the defendant’s
wrongful conduct and the damages asserted. Second, a plaintiff
must prove the amount of those damages by using a proper method
and factual foundation for calculating damages. See United
Constr. Workers, 194 Va. at 891, 75 S.E.2d at 707. Our
17
disposition of the causation factor makes it unnecessary for us
to address the factor for calculating damages.
James bore the burden of proving that its damages were
“proximately caused by wrongful conduct.” Hop-In Food Stores,
Inc. v. Serv-N-Save, Inc., 247 Va. 187, 190, 440 S.E.2d 606, 608
(1994). James alleged, and the trial court found, that Thompson
violated the terms of a valid non-competition covenant and
breached his fiduciary duty of good faith and loyalty by
providing Saks with confidential information and taking
proprietary client information. Saks, having facilitated
Thompson’s actions, was also liable to James for Thompson’s
breach of fiduciary duty and both parties conspired to
“willfully and maliciously injur[e] another in his reputation,
trade, business or profession by any means whatever,” in
violation of Code §§ 18.2-499 and -500. James was thus entitled
to recover damages that were “the direct and proximate result”
of that conduct. However, by relying solely on Dubinsky’s
opinion evidence as to damages, James failed to carry its burden
of proving that the wrongful conduct of Saks and Thompson
proximately caused those damages.
Dubinsky failed to connect the lost profits he claimed
James incurred after Thompson’s departure to anything other than
the mere fact that Thompson was no longer working at James.
This fact alone cannot be a basis for recovering damages,
18
however, because Thompson was an at will employee who was free
to stop working at James at any time.
Rather than being connected to Thompson’s employment at
Saks, solicitation of James’ customers, or removal of James’
confidential information, Dubinsky’s calculation of damages
focuses solely on a “but-for” model of what James’ profits would
have been had Thompson remained employed there. Under
Dubinsky’s analysis, James’ damages were the same regardless of
whether Thompson left to work at the Saks store in the same
shopping mall or simply retired. Having neglected to show that
its lost profits corresponded to the Defendants’ wrongful
conduct, James failed to show the necessary factor of proximate
causation and thus did not carry its necessary burden of proof
as to damages. See, e.g., Carr, 228 Va. at 652-53, 325 S.E.2d
at 90-91 (rejecting trial court’s denial of motion to strike
where “there was no evidence of the damages solely attributable
to [the defendant’s wrongful conduct]”); Barnes, 204 Va. at 417-
20, 132 S.E.2d at 397-99 (approving trial court’s denial of
damages award because plaintiff failed to prove with reasonable
certainty “that the damages sought resulted from the act
complained of”).
Accordingly, the trial court’s reliance on Worrie, Advanced
Marine, and Famous Knitware, is inapposite. Those cases concern
the proper measure of damages and calculating lost profits, but
19
do not affect a plaintiff’s required burden of proving that
those damages were caused by a defendant’s wrongful conduct in
the first place.
In Worrie, “[b]ut for the acts of the defendants . . . the
plaintiffs would have been without competition in Richmond.”
198 Va. at 543, 95 S.E.2d at 200. Consequently, we found that
the jury had the right to infer from the evidence that
[the] decrease in the plaintiffs’ business was a
proximate result of the competition from the
defendants’ studio. Since . . . the plaintiffs’
business had been profitable prior to the opening of
the defendants’ studio, and continued to be profitable
thereafter, the jury had the right to infer that but
for this competition by the defendants the plaintiffs’
profits would have been even greater.
Id. In a two-competitor market, all the plaintiffs’ lost
profits were reasonably attributed to the defendants because
they proximately caused the plaintiffs’ loss of a de facto
monopoly by their wrongful conduct. James failed to make a
similar showing that its projected lost profits were caused by
Defendants’ wrongful conduct.
Our decisions in Advanced Marine and Famous Knitware are
unrelated to the issue arising in this case because the factor
of proximate causation of damages was not at issue in those
cases. James’ reliance on R.K. Chevrolet is similarly
unavailing. Had Thompson been party to a contract of employment
with James that required he work there for the period over which
Dubinsky projected damages, this case might be more analogous to
20
R.K. Chevrolet because the failure to fulfill the contractual
obligation could establish the proximate causation of damages.
However, no such contractual obligation bound Thompson as an at-
will employee so no proximate causation factor can be
established.
III. CONCLUSION
The record before us shows that James relied only on the
testimony of its expert witness, Dubinsky, to establish damages.
Dubinsky’s opinion on damages was solely based on Thompson
having ceased employment with James, not the wrongful acts of
the Defendants. Thus, Dubinsky’s opinion did not establish the
necessary factor of proximate causation between Defendants’
conduct and the damages claimed by James. The trial court thus
erred in denying the motion to strike James’ evidence.
Accordingly, we will reverse that part of the trial court’s
judgment finding Defendants jointly and severally liable in
damages for breach of fiduciary duty and violation of Code
§§ 18.2-499 and -500, and will enter final judgment in favor of
Defendants.13
13
Other than Dubinsky’s expert testimony, James presented
no other evidence “to support an award of damages.” See Vasquez
v. Mabini, 269 Va. 155, 163, 606 S.E.2d 809, 813 (2005). The
testimony of Defendants’ witness, Edelman, as to de minimis
damages was rejected by the trial court and no error was
assigned to that finding. Thus, Defendants are entitled to
final judgment on the issue of damages. See Countryside Corp.
v. Taylor, 263 Va. 549, 553-54, 561 S.E.2d 680, 682 (2002).
21
Reversed and final judgment.
22