Pay attention to legal papers or pay a hefty price

As busy professionals, HR managers have hundreds of pages of paper that cross their desks each week. A recent Montana Supreme Court case highlights the importance of paying attention to legal papers. The court refused to set aside a default judgment when an HR manager failed to timely respond to legal papers.

Facts

Jerome Frye worked for Roseburg Forest Products in Missoula until November 2018, when it terminated his employment. Roseburg is a large multistate corporation with its headquarters in Oregon.

On December 21, 2018, Frye filed a complaint against Roseburg in Missoula County alleging violations of Montana's Wrongful Discharge from Employment Act. He served the company through its registered agent, Minta Johnson, at its Missoula office on January 4, 2019. The summons directed the company "to file [its] answer and serve a copy thereof on [his] attorney within 21 days after service of the summons" and advised that "in case [Roseburg fails] to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against [it] by default, for the relief demanded in the complaint."

Johnson is a controller at Roseburg's Missoula facility. She isn't an attorney. She sent the summons and complaint to John Mikkelson, the HR manager at the Missoula office. He also is not an attorney. Upon receiving the complaint and summons, he opened an investigation into Frye's allegations, reviewed his work history with Roseburg, and interviewed relevant parties at the Missoula office. He determined the company had a very good defenses to Frye's claims, but it didn't file an appearance or answer the complaint with the district court.