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Doleac v. Real Estate Professionals9/15/2005
not mention future commissions or listings. The real estate attorneys, upon receiving these letters, paid all commissions to The Doleac Company instead of sending them to REP. On September 17, 2002, Barry asked for REP to release his broker's license as required by state law. REP complied with this request, and Barry had his license transferred to The Doleac Company which he re-opened for business.
. On September 30, 2002, REP filed a complaint in the Chancery Court of Forrest County against Barry Doleac, The Doleac Company, and The Doleac Building. The complaint sought an accounting, declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and damages for conversion and trespass to chattels, tortious interference with business, breach of the APA and breach of the ICA. Injunctive relief was granted, in the form of a temporary retraining order, permitting REP to remain in possession of the leased premises through October. Barry, The Doleac Company and The Doleac Building filed a motion to dismiss the complaint and compel arbitration which was subsequently denied by the chancery court.
. Following trial, the chancery court found that Barry Doleac breached the ICA when he withdrew his broker's license and reopened The Doleac Company. The Doleac Building was found to have committed a conversion of personal property and tortious interference with business by wrongfully locking REP out of the leased premises and awarded damages in the amount of $10,000. In addition, The Doleac Company was found to have committed a conversion when it used the locked premises to demand $50,000 payment from REP and damages were awarded in that amount. The Doleac Company was also found to have committed conversion by failing to refund $15,539.96, which REP had overpaid under the APA and damages were awarded in that amount. The chancery court also awarded punitive damages, jointly and severally against all three defendants, in the amount of $25,000 and attorney's fees in the amount of $17,500.
. Barry Doleac, The Doleac Company and The Doleac Building now appeal to this Court raising the following issues:
1. The Chancellor erred in failing to grant defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint and compel arbitration.
2. The Chancellor erred in asserting subject matter jurisdiction over this case and in failing to grant defendants' motion totransfer to circuit court.
3. The Chancellor erred in granting plaintiff's claim for conversion against Doleac Building, LLC and Doleac Company.
4. The Chancellor erred in finding that Barry Doleac and Doleac Company were liable for breach of the ICA and APA.
5. The Chancellor erred in awarding punitive damages and attorney's fees against all three defendants.
6. The Chancellor erred in finding Barry Doleac personally liable for acts done as an employee of Doleac Company and Doleac Building, LLC.
The issue regarding whether the chancellor erred in failing to grant defendants' motion to dismiss the complaint and compel arbitration is dispositive of this case. Therefore, we will only discuss the first issue raised by the defendants.
DISCUSSION
1. Did the Chancery Court Err in Denying Defendants' Motion to Compel Arbitration?
. Barry Doleac, The Doleac Company and The Doleac Building assert that the chancery court erred in denying the motion to compel arbitration because the dispute arises out of contracts which contain an arbitration clause. REP alleges that the arbitration clause is contained in only one of the contracts and the dispute does not arise out of this one contract. Thus, it maintains that these claims are outside the scope of the arb
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