Badgley v. Bay Clinic, Inc.

NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

Electronically Filed
Intermediate Court of Appeals
CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX
06-FEB-2025
07:51 AM
Dkt. 56 SO

NO. CAAP-XX-XXXXXXX

IN THE INTERMEDIATE COURT OF APPEALS

OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I

LAURENCE E. BADGLEY, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
BAY CLINIC, INC., Defendant-Appellee

APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE THIRD CIRCUIT
PUNA DIVISION
(CASE NO. 3DRC-XX-XXXXXXX)

SUMMARY DISPOSITION ORDER
(By: Leonard, Acting Chief Judge, Hiraoka and McCullen, JJ.)

Laurence E. Badgley, representing himself,1 appeals
from the March 9, 2022 Final Judgment for Bay Clinic, Inc.
entered by the District Court of the Third Circuit, Puna
Division.2 We vacate the Final Judgment and remand for entry of
an amended judgment.
Badgley filed a second amended complaint against Bay
Clinic on March 8, 2021. He claimed that Bay Clinic breached his
employment contract by not letting him attend a continuing
medical education (CME) conference. A bench trial was held over

1
Badgley's opening brief doesn't comply with Hawai#i Rules of
Appellate Procedure (HRAP) Rule 28(b). To promote access to justice, we
liberally interpret pleadings prepared by self-represented litigants and do
not automatically foreclose them from appellate review because they fail to
comply with court rules. Erum v. Llego, 147 Hawai#i 368, 380-81, 465 P.3d
815, 827-28 (2020).
2
The Honorable Jeffrey A. Hawk presided.
NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

two days. On March 9, 2022, the trial court entered the Final
Judgment; it awarded $19,103.31 in attorneys fees and costs to
Bay Clinic. Badgley moved for reconsideration of the attorneys
fee award. An order denying reconsideration was entered on
March 23, 2022. This appeal followed.
We ordinarily review a trial court's findings of fact
for clear error, and conclusions of law de novo. Est. of Klink
ex rel. Klink v. State, 113 Hawai#i 332, 351, 152 P.3d 504, 523
(2007). Badgley didn't ask the trial court to prepare findings
of fact and conclusions of law under District Court Rules of
Civil Procedure Rule 52(a). We glean the trial court's findings
and conclusions from the trial transcripts and exhibits.
Badgley's Exhibit 8 is his Provider Employment
Agreement with Bay Clinic. It required that he "maintain forty
(40) clinic hours hours [sic] per week, fifty-two (52) weeks per
year, except for approved . . . CME . . . in accordance with the
schedule of clinic hours established from time to time by BAY
CLINIC." It also required that he "give BAY CLINIC at least
sixty (60) days advance written notice . . . to request PTO days
to attend continuing medical education programs." Time off for
attending CME programs "shall be subject to BAY CLINIC's prior
approval."
On September 23, 2019, Badgley told Bay Clinic by email
he would be taking leave from October 25 through November 13 to
attend a CME program in Belgium. The next day, Bay Clinic told
Badgley it didn't approve his request because it wasn't made
60 days in advance "so that so many patients don't have to be
rescheduled," and the medical director wanted him to "reach our
basic expectations for your job duties before approving an
extended absence."
Badgley testified he had a job interview with Bay
Clinic's then-medical director, Tamara Todd, on February 22,
2019. He told Dr. Todd he had paid to go to a CME program in
Amsterdam in October. "I wanted to know if that was going to be

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NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN WEST'S HAWAI#I REPORTS AND PACIFIC REPORTER

a problem, and she told me it was not." After hearing closing
arguments, the trial court stated:

I do not believe that there was ever any prior
agreement with Dr. Tamara Todd about any CME travel. I
don't believe Dr. Badgley on that issue. I don't think that
happened.
. . . .

There was no 60-day advanced notice. Bay Clinic was
not required to authorize the travel.
Furthermore, the Bay Clinic employee handbook
specifically provided that at no time will Bay Clinic pay or
otherwise reimburse for travel expenses or travel outside
the continental U.S., Hawaii or Alaska, including travel by
providers for the purpose of attending continuing medical
education activities.

. . . .
So, Dr. Badgley, I'm dismissing your complaint.
Dismissal will be with prejudice.

"[A]n appellate court will not pass upon issues
dependent upon the credibility of witnesses and the weight of
evidence; this is the province of the trier of fact." Fisher v.
Fisher, 111 Hawai#i 41, 46, 137 P.3d 355, 360 (2006). The trial
court's stated findings were not clearly erroneous, and its
conclusion that Bay Clinic did not breach the Provider Employment
Agreement was not wrong.
The trial court set a March 14, 2022 hearing date on
Bay Clinic's request for attorneys fees and costs. On March 8,
2022, Bay Clinic's attorney filed a declaration asking for fees
of $19,091.00 and $12.31 in costs. The record does not contain a
transcript of the hearing. The order denying Badgley's motion
for reconsideration states that Badgley orally objected to the
attorney's declaration during the hearing. The court considered
it "an oral motion for reconsideration of the Court's decision to
grant Bay Clinic's request to order the payment of attorneys'
fees and costs."
We review an award of attorneys fees for abuse of
discretion. Gailliard v. Rawsthorne, 150 Hawai#i 169, 175, 498
P.3d 700, 706 (2021). Badgley sued Bay Clinic for breach of
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contract. He lost. Bay Clinic was entitled to recover attorneys
fees under Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) § 607-14 (2016). The
trial court acted within its discretion by awarding fees to Bay
Clinic. But the trial court plainly erred by awarding $19,091.00
in fees. HRS § 607-14 limits a fee award to 25% of "the amount
sued for if the defendant obtains judgment." Badgley sued for
damages of $5,093.92. Badgley also asked for $5,093.92 in his
closing argument. Bay Clinic should have been awarded 25% of
$5,093.92 — $1,273.48 — under HRS § 607-14.
The March 9, 2022 Final Judgment is vacated, and this
case is remanded to the district court for entry of an amended
judgment awarding Bay Clinic $1,273.48 for attorneys fees and
$12.31 in costs from Badgley.
DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, February 6, 2025.

On the briefs:
/s/ Katherine G. Leonard
Laurence E. Badgley, M.D., Acting Chief Judge
Self-represented
Plaintiff-Appellant. /s/ Keith K. Hiraoka
Associate Judge
Joseph A. Ernst,
Lincoln S.T. Ashida, /s/ Sonja M.P. McCullen
for Defendant-Appellee. Associate Judge

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