Opinion Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Case Style Thomas P Dunn Appellant v Enterprise Rent A Car Company Respondent Case Number ED83240 Handdown Date 04 12 2005 Appeal From Circuit Court of St Louis County Hon Jack Koehr Counsel for Appellant Jerome J Dobson and Matthew John Ghio Counsel for Respondent Michael A Kahn Julie M Kennedy Andrew Davis and Gordon L Ankney Opinion Summary Thomas P Dunn Dunn appeals from the trial court s judgment granting Enterprise Rent A Car Company s Enterprise motions for directed verdict on Dunn s claim that he was wrongfully discharged for refusing to violate the law or a clear mandate of public policy and on his claim that he was wrongfully discharged in violation of public policy for reporting conduct by Enterprise that he reasonably believed violated federal securities laws Dunn also appeals from the trial court s judgment granting Enterprise s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or in the alternative for a new trial after the jury returned a verdict of 4 000 000 in favor of Dunn on his claim that he was wrongfully discharged in violation of public policy for reporting Enterprise s illegal business practices in Missouri and other states REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART AFFIRMED IN PART DIVISION ONE HOLDS The trial court erred in granting a directed verdict on Dunn s claim that he was wrongfully discharged for refusing to violate the law or a clear mandate of public policy because viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Dunn we find Dunn made a submissible case that the conduct he was asked to engage in with respect to Enterprise s financial statements in preparation for the initial public offering would have been in violation of federal securities regulations or a clear mandate of public policy as enunciated in those regulations See Johnson v World Color Press Inc 498 N E 2d 575 Ill App Ct 1986 The trial court also erred in granting Enterprise s motion for a directed verdict on his claim that Enterprise terminated his employment for reporting conduct by it that he reasonably believed would have violated federal securities regulations because viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Dunn we find Dunn presented sufficient evidence at trial to make a submissible case on this claim We agree with the trial court s judgment however that Dunn failed to make a submissible case on his claim that he was wrongfully terminated for reporting Enterprise s alleged unlawful conduct with respect to its automobile licensing sales tax and surcharge practices because he failed to identify a law or clear mandate of public policy that he believed Enterprise violated or would violate Citation Opinion Author Booker T Shaw Judge Opinion Vote REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART AFFIRMED IN PART Draper III P J and Sullivan J concur Opinion Thomas P Dunn Dunn appeals from the trial court s judgment granting Enterprise Rent A Car Company s Enterprise motions for directed verdict on Dunn s claim that he was wrongfully discharged for refusing to violate the law or a clear mandate of public policy and on his claim that he was wrongfully discharged in violation of public policy for reporting conduct by Enterprise that he reasonably believed violated federal securities laws Dunn also appeals from the trial court s judgment granting Enterprise s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or in the alternative for a new trial after the jury returned a verdict of 4 000 000 in favor of Dunn on his claim that he was wrongfully discharged in violation of public policy for reporting Enterprise s illegal business practices in Missouri and other states We reverse and remand in part and affirm in part In reviewing a trial court s judgment granting a motion for directed verdict we must determine whether the plaintiff made a submissible case i e whether the plaintiff introduced substantial evidence at trial that tends to prove the essential facts for his or her recovery Wright v Over the Road and City Transfer Drivers Helpers Dockmen and Warehousemen 945 S W 2d 481 489 Mo App W D 1997 We view all the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff giving him or her the benefit of all reasonable inferences and disregarding the defendant s evidence except to the extent that it aids the plaintiff s case Id There is a presumption in favor of reversing a trial court s grant of a motion for directed verdict unless upon consideration of the facts most favorable to the plaintiff those facts are so strongly against the plaintiff as to leave no room for reasonable minds to differ as to a result Id quoting Friend v Holman 888 S W 2d 369 371 Mo App W D 1994 Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Dunn we find as follows Dunn began working for Enterprise in 1986 as an accountant In early 1993 Dunn became Enterprise s corporate comptroller and an officer of the company In 1994 Dunn earned Vice President officer level status as corporate comptroller where he remained until his termination on January 4 2001 During the time Dunn was employed by Enterprise he always received positive performance reviews Dunn testified at trial that as the company s comptroller he certified each year that the company s financial records were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles GAAP It would have also been Dunn s responsibility as corporate comptroller to certify that the company s financial statements were prepared in accordance with GAAP for an initial public offering IPO Dunn reported to John O Connell O Connell Enterprise s Chief Financial Officer as corporate comptroller O Connell reported to Enterprise s President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Taylor Enterprise is a privately held company and the majority of the company is owned by the Taylor family In May 1998 O Connell directed Dunn to begin investigating issues to enable Enterprise to prepare for an IPO Dunn testified that Enterprise s senior management received high cash compensation and the company could not go public with such high levels of cash compensation Dunn worked on the issue of executive compensation for an IPO for over a year Dunn recommended that Enterprise use stock options as a substitute for cash to address the compensation issue which the company began doing in 1999 In preparation for the IPO Dunn began to take a closer look at Enterprise s financial statements and business practices Some of these practices included the imposition of a surcharge on
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