Buck v. Viking Holding Management Company, LLC

SUPERIOR COURT
OF THE
STATE OF DELAWARE
MEGHAN A. ADAMS LEONARD L. WILLIAMS JUSTICE CENTER
JUDGE 500 N. KING STREET, SUITE 10400
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 19801
(302) 255-0634
October 15, 2024
John M. LaRosa, Esq. Peter H. Kyle. Esq.
LaRosa & Associates LLC John L. Reed, Esq.
1225 North King Street, Suite 802 Daniel P. Klusman, Esq.
Wilmington, DE 19801 DLA Piper US LLP
1201 North Market Street, Suite 2100
Wilmington, DE 19899
RE: Michael Buck v. Viking Holding, et al.
C.A. No. N20C-08-249 MAA CCLD
Dear Counsel:
On September 30, 2024, the Court issued its Post-Trial Memorandum Opinion
(the “Opinion”).1 Given the unique nature of this action,2 the Court gave the parties
the opportunity to address “any open issues not addressed or mooted” by the
Opinion, “by letter within five days.”3
In response, on October 3, 2024, counsel for plaintiff Michael Buck (“Buck”)
filed a letter requesting permission to file a motion for costs and post-judgment
interest.4 The Court granted this request and set a deadline for Defendant Viking
Holding Management LLC (“Holdco”) to respond.5
1
Buck v. Viking Holding Mgmt. Co. LLC, 2024 WL 4352368 (Del. Super. Sept. 30, 2024).
2
Id. at *7 (noting the unusual “burden shift” in this case).
3
Id. at *29.
4
D.I. 286.
5
D.I. 287.
Michael Buck v. Viking Holding, et al.
C.A. No. N20C-08-249 CCLD
October 15, 2024
Page 2 of 6
On October 7, 2024, counsel for Holdco wrote a letter to the Court. 6 Instead
of following the Court’s directive, counsel used the letter to criticize the Court,
request that the Court remove a factual finding from the Opinion as being
“inappropriate,” and rehash points previously decided by the Court. The Court will
address the points raised in the letter in turn.7
First, Holdco questions whether the Court considered the evidence and legal
arguments it presented,8 stating that it has “no way of knowing whether the Court
determined that any of [Holdco’s] factual and legal arguments were unnecessary to
resolve this case in the way the Court chose to resolve it in the Opinion.”9 As stated
in the Opinion, as the fact-finder in a bench trial, the judge considers “all exhibits,
live and deposition witnesses, the parties’ arguments, and the applicable Delaware
law.”10 Here, the Court did just that. The Court thoroughly reviewed and considered
the entire record in this case, including all briefing and oral arguments previously
presented to then-Judge LeGrow.
6
D.I. 288.
7
The Court is also in receipt of Holdco’s October 14, 2024 letter to the Court (D.I. 290). The
Court will address the issues raised in that letter separately.
8
D.I. 288 at 3. (Stating that Holdco “thoroughly presented every factual basis and legal argument
necessary to resolve the two key issues” and “rests on the record it has presented and does not
waive any of its arguments.”)
9
Id.
10
Buck, 2024 WL 4352368 at *7.
Michael Buck v. Viking Holding, et al.
C.A. No. N20C-08-249 CCLD
October 15, 2024
Page 3 of 6
Second, Holdco criticizes the Court’s factual finding that the FGMK Report
was “manufactured.”11 In doing so, Holdco recycles arguments from its post-trial
briefing regarding Buck’s termination.
Holdco argues the “only issue appropriately raised about the manufacturing
of evidence was Buck’s bad faith allegation early in the case that Holdco
manufactured reasons for Buck’s firing to satisfy the ‘Cause’ definition were not the
real reasons for which Novus fired Buck.”12 Holdco mischaracterizes the Court’s
prior ruling.
In the Court’s September 3, 2021 Order on Holdco’s Motion to Dismiss,
regarding “manufacturing,” it stated:
Section 9.10(b) of the Holdco Agreement allows Holdco to repurchase
the plaintiff’s units for “cost,” but only if Holdco determines the
plaintiff’s termination was for “Cause.” The Amended Complaint
pleads that the reasons given by Holdco and Novus for the plaintiff’s
termination were “manufactured.” See Am. Compl. ¶¶ 45, 120. The
Amended Complaint also pleads Holdco knew Novus’s stated reasons
for termination were manufactured. Those allegations, combined with
the plaintiff’s non-conclusory allegations disputing the basis for the
articulated reasons for his termination, permits the Court to infer
reasonably that Holdco did not rely on the reasons stated in the June
17 letter as its basis for reaching its “cause” conclusion. That inference
further is supported by the two-month gap between the cause
determination and the issuance of the June letter.13
11
D.I. 288 at 7-8.
12
Id. at 7 (emphasis in original).
13
D.I. 35.
Michael Buck v. Viking Holding, et al.
C.A. No. N20C-08-249 CCLD
October 15, 2024
Page 4 of 6
The Court notes that in the Amended Complaint, Buck alleges that much of
the information FGMK relied upon in its report was based on false information from
Murphy and others at Novus, including issues regarding the NetSuite ERP
implementation project, purported organizational deficiencies in Novus’ Finance
Department, and the AMR Account.14 As discussed in the Opinion, Buck proved
his allegations from the Amended Complaint: much of the information relied upon
in the FGMK Report turned out to be incorrect or lacked support in the trial record.15
After reviewing all the evidence and arguments, the Court found the FGMK
report was “manufactured” in the sense that Murphy hired FGMK because he was
unhappy with prior findings from Grant Thornton and Ernst & Young, both of whom
found no wrongdoing in connection with the AMR Account.16 In a mere two weeks
after being hired, and during the holiday season, FGMK issued a report that fell in
line with Murphy’s “train to a conclusion” to fire Buck.17 For all of these reasons,
as more fully discussed in the Opinion, the Court found that the FGMK Report was
manufactured for the purpose of meeting the Cause definition.18
14
D.I. 24 at ¶¶ 85-99.
15
See generally 2024 WL 4352368.
16
Id. at 11.
17
Id.
18
To be clear, the Court made no adverse findings regarding FGMK or its reputation as a
professional services firm. Rather, the Court noted that in the context of Buck’s firing, the
Court was suspicious of FGMK’s report and timing.
Michael Buck v. Viking Holding, et al.
C.A. No. N20C-08-249 CCLD
October 15, 2024
Page 5 of 6
Dissatisfied with the Court’s finding, Holdco asserts that the “Court’s
conclusions about FGMK in a public opinion are inappropriate and, respectfully,
they should be removed.” Holdco’s attempt to alter the Court’s factual finding is
improper. Holdco could have presented evidence relating to FGMK’s work, but
resisted any such third-party discovery.19 As discussed in the Opinion, Holdco
“barely touches upon” the FGMK Report in its post-trial briefing to support the
Cause determination.20 In doing so, Holdco appeared to recognize the low
evidentiary value of the FGMK Report. If Holdco is dissatisfied with the Court’s
ruling, its remedy is an appeal, not to seek an alternative factual finding.21
Third, Holdco’s counsel takes issue with the Court noting that there were
numerous typographical errors in two key pieces of evidence, stating “we assume …
the comment was not gratuitous and came from a genuine concern about typos.”22
19
Buck v. Viking Hldg. Mgmt. Co., N20C-08-249 AML CCLD (Del. Super. Oct. 6, 2022); D.I. 62
(at Holdco’s request, significantly narrowed the scope of discovery, including third-party
discovery, in this case).
20
Id.
21
See Christopher v. State, 824 A.2d 890 (Del. 2003) (“In judicial proceedings, the judges are in
charge. Lawyers are ‘officers of the Court,’ who must conform to the judge’s instructions
without derogatory comments or debate. Lawyers are entitled to protect the record for
subsequent review, but must do so in a dignified manner. The judge and the judge’s decisions
must be respected.”)
22
D.I. 288 at 8. The Court hopes that counsel’s reference to their assumption is not a suggestion
that the Court would make a comment without good reason. See 395 Assoc., LLC v. New Castle
Cty., 2005 WL 3194566 (Del. Super. Nov. 28, 2005) (“Professional civility is conduct that
shows respect … for the courts [which] requires … the absence of scorn and superiority in
Michael Buck v. Viking Holding, et al.
C.A. No. N20C-08-249 CCLD
October 15, 2024
Page 6 of 6
To be clear, the Court will explain its reasoning. Given the importance of the Lorenc
Letter and Termination Script to this action, instead of attempting to correct the
errors, the Court incorporated the text of both into the Opinion as they appeared in
the original and made a notation regarding the typos so that the reader understood
the Opinion was accurately reflecting the documents.23
Finally, Holdco argues the Court missed the “critical issue” raised at the
outset, namely the application of Section 5.7(b) of the Holdco Agreement. The
Court, however, addressed this issue in its February 15, 2024 summary
judgment/Daubert decision.24 There, the Court held that “Holdco’s reliance on the
liability-limiting provisions in Section 5.7 of the Holdco Agreement misses the
mark.”25 Having ruled on Section 5.7, the Court will not revisit the issue.
Sincerely,
/s/ Meghan A. Adams
______________________
Meghan A. Adams, Judge
cc: All Counsel via File and Serve
words of demeanor….”) (citing Principles of Professionalism for Delaware Lawyers, Subpart
A (1)-(4)).
23
2024 WL 4352368, at *4 n.51. Counsel further urges the Court to re-issue its Opinion to fix one
minor typographical error. (D.I. 288 at 8). The Court declines to do so, and instead will focus
its judicial resources on the remaining issues in this action.
24
Buck v. Viking Hldg. Mgmt. Co. LLC, 2024 WL 639391 (Del. Super. Feb. 15, 2024).
25
Id. at *6.