saratoga springs lawsuit motion to enforce settlement
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HEATHER S. WHITE (7674)
R. SCOTT YOUNG (10695)
SNOW, CHRISTENSEN & MARTINEAU
Attorneys for Defendants
10 Exchange Place, 11th
Floor
Post Office Box 45000
Salt Lake City, Utah 84145
Telephone: (801) 521-9000
Fax No.: (801) 363-0400
hsw@scmlaw.com
rsy@scmlaw.com
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
STATE OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION
SUSAN HUNT, mother and personal
representative of DARRIEN HUNT, deceased;
CURTIS HUNT; and ESTATE OF DARRIEN
HUNT, by its Personal Representative Susan
Hunt,
Plaintiffs,
vs.
MATTHEW L. SCHAUERHAMER;
NICHOLAS E. JUDSON; and the CITY OF
SARATOGA SPRINGS, UTAH,
Defendants.
DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO
ENFORCE SETTLEMENT and
SUPPORTING MEMORANDUM
Civil No. 2:15CV1 TC
Judge Tena Campbell
Magistrate Judge Paul M. Warner
INTRODUCTION
On September 10, 2013, Darrien Hunt swung a samurai sword at two police officers who
then shot and killed him. Mr. Hunt's mother, Susan (in her own capacity and as representative of
Darrien's estate), and father, Curtis, sued the officers and the City of Saratoga Springs. In July,
counsel for the Hunts emailed Defendants' counsel requesting that the parties attempt to settle the
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claim. The parties agreed on a settlement amount on August 7, 2015, and then, due to the
publicity the case has received, began working on press releases that were to be approved by all
parties. While they worked on the press releases, Plaintiffs' counsel emailed instructions
regarding payment of the settlement amount to Defendants' counsel. The parties agreed to the
language of the press releases on August 18, 2015. Saratoga Springs City Manager Mark
Christensen signed the Release the next day, and Defendants' counsel received the settlement
check on August 21, 2015.
Plaintiffs and their counsel then went silent until September 10, 2015, when Susan Hunt
told the press that she had rejected the settlement. She stated, "To me it was a gag order saying,
'Here's hush money, don't ever say Darrien's name again. I hope there will be a legacy instead of
a hush order.'" "Mom of Darrien Hunt says she rejected $900K settlement offer in son's death,"
KSL.com, 9.10.15, Exh. A. Defendants then learned that Ms. Hunt had fired her counsel, Robert
Sykes, and that she does not intend to honor the settlement agreement.
Despite Ms. Hunt's change of course, the Court should enforce the settlement agreement.
Ms. Hunt's own counsel has testified in a court pleading that she agreed to the settlement, stating:
Attorney Sykes received from Heather White, counsel for the defendants, a
$900,000 offer of settlement for the client. After consulting with Susan Hunt,
Attorney Robert Sykes contacted Defendants' attorney, Heather White, and
accepted this offer on behalf of Susan Hunt. Curtis Hunt also accepted the
settlement offer of $900,000.
Doc. #16, ¶5. Plaintiffs' agreement is also shown in the email correspondence between counsel.
Plaintiffs' counsel had authority to settle the case, as they were counsel of record throughout the
litigation and settlement negotiations.
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In addition to enforcing the settlement agreement, the Court should order Ms. Hunt to
reimburse Defendants attorneys' fees in relation to this motion. Ms. Hunt defied the
confidentiality provision of the settlement agreement by telling the press that she had not agreed
to the settlement and that Defendants were paying "hush money" and implementing a "gag
order." Not only has this smeared Defendants' in the media, it has needlessly prolonged this
litigation and caused Defendants to incur additional costs.
STATEMENT OF FACTS
1. On July 13, 2015, Plaintiffs' counsel emailed Defendants' counsel and stated they
"would like to take another run at getting this case resolved before we get heavily involved in
serious and lengthy litigation." 7.13.15 Email, 7:29 p.m., Exh. B.
2. After some negotiation, the parties agreed on a settlement amount and
Defendants' counsel drafted a Release of All Claims, which they emailed to Plaintiffs' counsel on
August 7, 2015. See 8.7.15 Email, 5:07 p.m., Exh. C.
3. Due to the publicity surrounding the lawsuit, the parties began working on
respective press releases (to be mutually agreed upon) to publicize the settlement upon entry of
an order of dismissal.
4. On August 17, 2015, Plaintiffs' counsel emailed, "Where are we on the final
settlement documents? I would like to review them, and get my client's signature on them,
shortly. Thanks." 8.17.15 Email, 5:12 p.m., Exh. D.
5. Defendants' counsel responded, "I am working through what will hopefully be the
last issues on the proposed press releases. I hope to get those to you today. In the mean time,
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can you and Karra please get me your firm tax I.D. numbers and let me know how to make the
settlement check payable? Thank you." 8.18.15 Email, 10:03 a.m., Exh. E.
6. Forty minutes later, Plaintiffs' counsel emailed Defendants' counsel with the tax
I.D. number and payment instructions. See 8.18.15 Email, 10:42 a.m., Exh. F.
7. The payment instructions were further clarified in two additional emails from
Plaintiffs' counsel. See 8.18.15 Email, 1:01 p.m., Exh. G, and 8.18.15 Email, 2:54 p.m., Exh. H.
8. That same afternoon, Plaintiffs' counsel emailed two additional edits to the press
releases. See 8.18.15 Email, 2:37 p.m., Exh. I.
9. Defendants' counsel responded with a red-line proposal for the edits. See 8.18.15
Email, 3:29 p.m., Exh. J.
10. Plaintiffs' counsel agreed to the edits, emailing back respectively, "We agree" and
"I would be ok with that." 8.18.15 Email, 3:47 p.m., Exh. K, and 8.18.15 Email, 4:13 p.m., Exh.
L.
11. An hour later, Defendant's counsel emailed, "I have sent the release to the City
Manager to sign for the City. I have also ordered the settlement check." 8.18.15 Email, 5:23
p.m., Exh. M.
12. Twenty minutes later, Defendants' counsel emailed again requesting one more
minor change to the release, stating, "I apologize. I just received one more request for the
release to "officials and officers of the City" to the definition of "Releasees" in the first
paragraph. Are you amenable to that?" 8.18.15 Email, 5:45 p.m., Exh. N.
13. Plaintiffs' counsel agreed within the hour, emailing respectively "Yes, this is OK."
and "Agreed." 8.18.15 Email, 5:57 p.m., Exh. O, and 8.18.15 Email, 6:46 p.m., Exh. P.
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14. On August 19, 2015, Saratoga Springs City Manager Mark Christensen signed the
Release. See Release, Exh. Q.
15. On August 21, 2015, Defendants' counsel emailed Plaintiffs' counsel, "I have the
settlement check." 8.21.15 Email, 12:14 p.m., Exh. R.
16. On September 15, 2015, Plaintiff Curtis Hunt signed the Release. See Exh. Q.
17. Receiving no response from Ms. Hunt's counsel, Robert Sykes, Defendants'
counsel emailed again on September 2, 2015, "I thought I would check with you on the status of
finalizing our settlement. Thanks." 9.2.15 Email, 4:57 p.m., Exh. S.
18. Defendants' counsel was unaware that Ms. Hunt had fired Mr. Sykes on August
28, 2015. See Doc. #15, ¶ 1.
19. Mr. Sykes did not respond, and on September 10, 2015, Ms. Hunt told the media
that she had turned down a $900,000 offer to settle the lawsuit." See "Darrien Hunt's mother
says she turned down a $900,000 settlement from Saratoga Springs," Salt Lake Tribune, 9.10.15,
Exh. T; see also "Mom of Darrien Hunt says she rejected $900K settlement offer in son's death,"
KSL.com, 9.10.15, Exh. A.
20. On September 18, 2015, Mr. Sykes filed a Motion for Withdrawal of Counsel.
See Doc. #15.
21. Mr. Sykes also filed a Notice of Attorney's Lien on the settlement amount on
September 18, 2015. See Doc. #16.
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ARGUMENT
“A trial court has the power to summarily enforce a settlement agreement entered into by
the litigants while litigation is pending before it.” United States v. Hardage, 982 F.2d 1491, 1496
(10th Cir.1993). “Issues involving the formation and construction of a purported settlement
agreement are resolved by applying state contract law.” Shoels v. Klebold, 375 F.3d 1054, 1060
(10th Cir.2004). Under Utah law, courts will enforce settlement agreements “if the record
establishes a binding agreement and the excuse for nonperformance is comparatively
unsubstantial.” Zions First Nat'l Bank v. Barbara Jensen Interiors, Inc., 781 P.2d 478, 479 (Utah
Ct.App.1989) (quotation omitted).
I. THE PARTIES AGREED TO A SETTLEMENT.
The parties, through their counsel, agreed to settle the case. This was confirmed when
Defendants' counsel emailed the negotiated Release to Plaintiffs' counsel on August 7, 2015, and
received no email objecting to the Release or clarifying that no agreement had been reached.
The parties' settlement was further confirmed on August 18, 2015, when Plaintiffs' counsel
agreed, via email, to the parties' respective press releases that were to accompany the Release.
Shortly afterward, both Curtis Hunt and the Saratoga Springs City Manager signed the Release.
In addition, Ms. Hunt's former counsel has also informed the Court that a settlement was
reached, stating:
Attorney Sykes received from Heather White, counsel for the defendants, a
$900,000 offer of settlement for the client. After consulting with Susan Hunt,
Attorney Robert Sykes contacted Defendants' attorney, Heather White, and
accepted this offer on behalf of Susan Hunt. Curtis Hunt also accepted the
settlement offer of $900,000.
Doc. #16, ¶5. Thus, the parties reached a settlement.
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II. PLAINTIFFS' COUNSEL - MR. SYKES AND MS. PORTER - HAD
AUTHORITY TO SETTLE THIS LAWSUIT.
Mr. Sykes and Ms. Porter, as counsel for Plaintiffs, had authority to settle on behalf of
their clients. In Utah, “the general principle of the law of agency is that principals are bound by
acts of their agents which are within the apparent scope of the authority of the agent and a
principal will not be permitted to deny such authority against innocent third parties who have
relied on that authority.” Forsyth v. Pendleton, 617 P.2d 358, 360 (Utah 1980). Defendants'
relied on the authority of Plaintiffs’ counsel in negotiating a resolution to this matter. This
reliance was justified because Mr. Sykes and Ms. Porter were counsel for Plaintiffs (Ms. Porter
still is counsel for Plaintiff Curtis Hunt) and the claim was settled at least 10 days before Susan
Hunt fired Mr. Sykes on August 28, 2015.
This Court enforced a settlement agreement on similar facts in Nature's Sunshine
Products, Inc. v. Sunrider Corp., 2011 WL 5881767 (D. Utah 2011) (unpublished). In that case,
as here, settlement was negotiated through counsel and memorialized in an email with a final
release attached. And in that case, as here, one party refused to sign the release and the other
moved to enforce the settlement agreement. This Court held that the lawyer had authority to
settle, and, therefore, the settlement was enforceable. Importantly, this Court held:
At no time during the mediation or the email discussions that took place after did
Mr. Smigelski inform Nature's Sunshine that he had limitations on his authority to
settle. Because these limitations were never communicated to Nature's Sunshine,
Sunrider is "bound to the same extent as though they were not given." 3 Am.Jur2d
Agency § 85.
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Id., at *5.1 Similarly, neither Mr. Sykes nor Ms. Porter informed Defendants' counsel that they
did not have authority to settle. This is because they did have authority to settle. Having settled
the claim, Plaintiffs cannot back out of it now.
III. THE EMAILS ARE SUFFICIENT TO FORM A BINDING SETTLEMENT.
Ms. Hunt may argue that her refusal to sign the Release means no settlement was
reached. This Court rejected the same argument in Nature's Sunshine and the Tenth Circuit
affirmed, holding, "[E]ven if the court were to assume that the agreement was reached through
mediation, the emails between outside counsel met the writing requirement." Nature's Sunshine
Products, Inc. v. Sunrider Corp., 511 Fed. Appx. 710, 716 (10th Cir. 2013) (unpublished)
(emphasis added). Similarly, the emails between counsel satisfied any writing requirement here.
IV. MS. HUNT SHOULD BE SANCTIONED FOR BREACHING THE
CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.
A district court has the "ability to fashion an appropriate sanction for conduct which
abuses the judicial process." Farmer v. Banco Popular of North America, 791 F.3d 1246, 1255
(10th Cir. 2015) (citations omitted). "[T]he authority of a court to impose attorney-fee sanctions
upon a party for bad-faith misconduct depends … 'on how the parties conduct themselves during
the litigation … [T]he party, by controlling his … conduct in litigation, has the power to
determine whether sanctions will be assessed.' " Id. (Citations omitted).
Ms. Hunt breached the confidentiality provision of the Release when she told the media
that she had rejected the settlement offer and slandering Defendants by telling the media she was
being paid "hush money." She has also prolonged this litigation by causing Defendants' to
1 The Tenth Circuit recently affirmed this decision in Nature's Sunshine Products, Inv. v. Sunrider Corp., 511 Fed.
Appx. 710 (10th Cir. 2013) (unpublished).
Case 2:15-cv-00001-TC-PMW Document 17 Filed 09/30/15 Page 8 of 10
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expend additional attorneys' fees. Therefore, the Court should order her to reimburse Defendants
for their attorneys' fees associated with this motion.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, the Court should grant Defendants' Motion to Enforce the
Settlement Agreement and order Plaintiff Susan Hunt to reimburse Defendants' attorneys' fees
associated with this motion.
SNOW, CHRISTENSEN & MARTINEAU
___________________________Date 9-30-2015
Heather S. White
R. Scott Young
Attorneys for Defendants
Case 2:15-cv-00001-TC-PMW Document 17 Filed 09/30/15 Page 9 of 10
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on the 30th
day of September, 2015, I electronically filed the
foregoing DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO ENFORCE SETTLEMENT AND
SUPPORTING MEMORANDUM with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF System,
which will send notification of such filing to the following:
Robert B. Sykes
Rachel L. Sykes
SYKES McALLISTER LAW OFFICES
311 South State Street, Suite 240
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Karra J. Porter
Scott T. Evans
CHRISTENSEN & JENSEN
257 East 200 South, Suite 1100
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Attorneys for Plaintiff
/s/ Annette Gamero
Case 2:15-cv-00001-TC-PMW Document 17 Filed 09/30/15 Page 10 of 10
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