Barbara Lucinda Sawyer worked as a paralegal for Melbourne Mills, Jr., an attorney at a law firm. Sawyer proposed that Mills and the law firm become engaged in class action lawsuits. Mills agreed to pay Sawyer an unspecified bonus when “the ship comes in.” After Sawyer’s assistance and persistence, the law firm became involved in pharmaceutical class action litigation. After the law firm received millions of dollars in fees from class action lawsuits, Sawyer and her husband Steve met with Mills to discuss Sawyer’s bonus. Mills orally agreed to pay Sawyer $1,065,000 as a bonus to be paid in monthly installments over 107 months. Sawyer secretly tape recorded the conversation. Mills later refused to sign a written contract conveying the terms of the oral agreement.
After Mills had paid $165,000 to Sawyer, he quit making further payments. Sawyer sued Mills to collect the remaining $900,000. Mills defended, arguing that the oral contract exceeded one year and was therefore unenforceable because it was not in writing as required by the Statute of Frauds. Sawyer v. Mills, 295 S.W.3d 79, 2009 Ky. Lexis 195 (Supreme Court of Kentucky, 2009)
1. What does the one-year rule of the Statute of Frauds provide?
2. Does the Statute of Frauds bar Sawyer’s recovery of damages in this case?
3. Does the application of the Statute of Frauds sometimes reach unfair results?