Opinion ID: 39696
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Lack of Evidence of Damages Incurred

Text: 14 In determining whether Harrell Equipment demonstrated a material issue as to whether it suffered damages, we consider Harrell Equipment's statement that The district court improperly acted as an advocate in this case. Harrell's assertion is not supported by the record. In fact, by failing to refer to any fact or evidence of loss in the record that would allow it to overcome the evidentiary threshold for summary judgment, the grant of summary judgment is compelled. In short, nothing in the record or briefs 6 explain to us how Harrell Equipment is damaged by the events which we have described. 15 Even if SunTrust had succeeded in what it referred to in oral argument as the showdown, and even if it sold the assets and inventory of Harrell Equipment to a third party of Harrell Equipment's choice (i.e.: Vada), Harrell Equipment's assets and inventory would still belong to someone other than Harrell Equipment. Furthermore, as the district court explained, the claimed damages we discuss are damages pertaining to Harrell Equipment, not Hugh Harrell. That Hugh Harrell individually might have been better off had Vada purchased Harrell Equipment is not at issue in this appeal. Moreover, it is not enough for Harrell Equipment to state, as it did in its brief, that Harrell was left holding the bag. Without concrete evidence of loss or deprivation by Harrell Equipment, the district court correctly rejected it claims for damages. 16 Having determined that Harrell Equipment has not raised a material issue as to damages it incurred and cannot assert the rights of another party, namely Hugh Harrell or Vada, we now determine how this conclusion impacts Harrell Equipment's additional claims: 17 On its fraud claim, the lack of damages is fatal because one of the requirements of a fraud action is that the plaintiff suffer damages as a proximate result of the defendant's false representations. Longino v. Bank of Ellijay, 228 Ga.App. 37, 491 S.E.2d 81, 84 (1997) (listing the five elements for fraud and emphasizing that the plaintiff must sustain a loss as a result of the fraud). Further, to establish a cause of action for fraud, [one] must show that actual damages, not simply nominal damages, flowed from the fraud alleged. Stiefel v. Schick, 260 Ga. 638, 398 S.E.2d 194, 196 (1990). Therefore, because Harrell Equipment has shown no actual damages and because Georgia law does not provide for nominal damages in a fraud claim, the district court was correct in awarding summary judgment to SunTrust on this issue. 18 To understand how a lack of cognizable damages affects Harrell Equipment's promissory estoppel claim, we look to the statutory definition under Georgia law of this equitable doctrine: 19 (1) the defendant made a promise or promises; (2) the defendant should have reasonably expected the plaintiff[ ] to rely on such promise; (3) the plaintiff[ ] relied on such promise to [its] detriment; and (4) an injustice can only be avoided by the enforcement of the promise, because as a result of the reliance, plaintiff [ ] changed [its] position to [its] detriment by surrendering, forgoing, or rendering a valuable right. 20 Ga.Code Ann. § 13-3-44 (2005). Turning to the final element, in Rental Equipment Group, LLC v. MACI, LLC, 263 Ga.App. 155, 587 S.E.2d 364 (2003), the Georgia Court of Appeals explained the relevance of damages in analyzing a claim of detrimental reliance. In that case, Rental Equipment Group entered into a written agreement with MACI to purchase its rental assets, but Rental Equipment Group later backed out of its commitment. Id. Thereafter, MACI filed suit claiming that, among other allegations, the doctrine of promissory estoppel applied and acted to hold Rental Equipment Group to its agreed-upon part of the bargain. Id. In analyzing the detrimental reliance issue, the court stated that MACI, 21 [i]n reliance upon the agreement . . . acted to their detriment by rebuffing [other potential purchaser's] repeated offers to purchase; by selling off needed equipment that Rental Equipment Group did not want to buy; by not moving the []store from an unprofitable location; and by delaying the installation of a newly purchased computer system, which was not compatible with the Rental Equipment Group's computer system. [MACI] delayed obtaining long-term financing and had a resulting cash flow problem after the sale did not go through, because they had to rely upon short-term financing. 22 Id. at 367. The MACI court went on to hold that, 23 [r]easonable reliance by the plaintiffs to their detriment is an essential element, and the evidence supports such detriment with the rejection of another bona fide offer to purchase, change in value, sale of inventory later needed, failure to obtain permanent financing, failure to change business locations, nonuse of a new computer system, and other harm shown by the evidence. 24 Id. at 368. In the case before us, however, there is no such evidence. There is nothing in the record to convince us that SunTrust's actions were detrimental to Harrell Equipment's interests. We are unpersuaded about how the selling of Harrell Equipment's assets to a third party of SunTrust's choosing rather than Harrell Equipment's choosing, even if SunTrust did make such a promise, supports the notion that Harrell Equipment relied to its detriment on SunTrust's promise. Thus, Harrell Equipment's lack of damages indicates a lack of detriment and ultimately a lack of a successful promissory estoppel claim. 25 Regarding Harrell Equipment's breach of contract claims, its lack of damages is not fatal. Georgia law explains that [i]n every case of breach of contract the injured party has a right to damages, but if there has been no actual damage, the injured party may recover nominal damages sufficient to cover the costs of bringing the action. Ga.Code Ann. § 13-6-6 (2005). Therefore, that Harrell Equipment has put forth no evidence of damages is not dispositive of all claims against SunTrust. We turn now to Harrell Equipment's breach of contract claim and its remaining claims.