Gordon H. Thompson, et al. v. John W. Logan

Defendants appeal the trial court’s award to plaintiff of damages under an agreement wherein defendants and plaintiff were sharing brokerage commissions generated by plaintiff’s clients. The trial court found the term “retirement,” which governed whether plaintiff was entitled to a five (5) year pay out, was ambiguous and resorted to consideration of extrinsic evidence. We reverse and hold that the term is not ambiguous and that plaintiff is not entitled to payment under the retirement provision of the agreement. We also find that the defendants are not precluded by Tenn. R. App. P. 3(f) from raising the post-judgment imposition of discovery sanctions against them. However, we decline to reverse the sanctions decision since the trial court did not abuse its discretion in awarding them.