Opinion ID: 1643072
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: James McLendon and Teresa McLendon

Text: Plaintiff James McLendon (Jay) began delivering papers for the News in 1973; in 1987, he purchased a dealership branch for $75,000 and sold it four years later for $110,000. In 1995 he purchased the dealership branch his father owned, for three times its gross annual earnings, a total $275,000, to be financed over 20 years. Jay experienced few difficulties and no reprimands in connection with the operation of his branch until Pearson and Keeble were hired by the News. After that, he began receiving reprimand letters. When he was forced to split his deliveries, he transferred his home deliveries to his wife, Teresa, who had more than 20 years experience as a delivery person for the News. Jay and Teresa thereafter both executed agreements containing the automatic-renewal provision, and both testified that they were assured that they would retain their dealership franchises as long as they performed their jobs satisfactorily. In December 1999, Jay was presented with the agreement that eliminated the automatic renewal; the News rejected his offer to sell his branch to the News. When he subsequently refused to sign the revised agreement, his dealership was not renewed on its anniversary date in January 2000 and it was taken over by the News. The News mistakenly allowed Teresa's agreement to renew for an additional year but presented her with the revised agreement in January 2001; when she refused to sign it, the News took over her portion of the branch upon the expiration of her agreement. The McLendons testified that the value of their franchise was $309,600. Williams valued it at $285,000, and he calculated the McLendons' lost profits, reduced to present value, to be $975,955 over a 20-year period.