Opinion ID: 1944194
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Wrongful Termination Claim

Text: Mrs. Beeton's wrongful termination claim may be disposed of summarily. She challenged the trial court's findings regarding damages. The trial court determined that only liquidated damages could be recovered because the District was not provided with the requisite notice of the claim under D.C.Code § 12-309. The District argues that Mrs. Beeton was made whole for all her liquidated damages, and that the trial court correctly concluded that § 12-309 bars her recovery for the requested unliquidated damages. The trial court found that the unliquidated damages she demanded for wrongful termination were related to her claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, which was dismissed before trial for failure to give the District notice under § 12-309. [9] We agree that the damages Mrs. Beeton seeks are unliquidated because they are not `an easily ascertainable sum certain.' See Hartford Accident and Indem. Co. v. District of Columbia, 441 A.2d 969, 974 (D.C.1982) (quoting Kiser v. Huge, 170 U.S.App. D.C. 407, 421, 517 F.2d 1237, 1251 (1974)). Furthermore, § 12-309 applies to actions for unliquidated damages to persons or property, see District of Columbia v. Campbell, 580 A.2d 1295, 1300 (D.C.1990), and compliance with the § 12-309 notice rule is mandatory, see District of Columbia v. Arnold & Porter, 756 A.2d 427, 436 (D.C.2000). Mrs. Beeton failed to provide the requisite notice, and thus, may not successfully claim unliquidated damages relating to her wrongful termination action. Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court's judgment. So ordered.