Opinion ID: 1443756
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the jury instruction which combined the claim for bad faith and fraud was harmless error.

Text: The district court gave a jury instruction which combined the bad faith denial of benefits tort and fraud for the purpose of determining damages. The jury rendered a special verdict which awarded Walston $120,000 based on Monumental's bad faith and fraudulent conduct. There is no breakdown as to how much of that award is attributable to each cause of action. This is problematic because the elements of damage for each cause of action are not necessarily the same. According to Umphrey v. Sprinkel, 106 Idaho at 711, 682 P.2d at 1258, recovery cannot be had for mental anguish in fraud cases. However, mental anguish may be an element of damage with the tort of bad faith in insurance contracts. Monumental asserts that it was prejudiced by this instruction and that a new trial must occur. In O'Neil v. Schuckardt, 112 Idaho 472, 733 P.2d 693 (1986), this Court remanded a case for a new trial because it was impossible to determine what portion of a $250,000 verdict was awarded for alienation of affection, which was abolished by the Court, and what portion was awarded for invasion of privacy. 112 Idaho at 480, 733 P.2d at 701. Consequently, if the fraud verdict did not stand in this case, it would be proper to remand for a new trial. However, the fraud verdict is valid, and it must then be determined if Monumental was prejudiced by the jury instruction on damages. At trial Walston proposed a jury instruction which only addressed damages for a bad faith claim and a special verdict form which set forth a separate damage line for bad faith and fraud. Monumental made a blanket objection to all instructions it did not propose, but Monumental did not propose either instructions or a special verdict addressing the issue. Despite objecting to the verdict form that separated damages for bad faith and fraud, Monumental asserts that the bad faith and fraud causes of action should not have been considered together for the purpose of damages. The judge modified Walston's proposed special verdict to combine fraud and bad faith in the belief that the elements of damage were coextensive, and combining would avoid the problem of double recovery. Counsel for Walston questioned whether emotional distress damages for fraud were allowable, but the court indicated they were. Monumental interposed no specific objection to combining the two theories for purposes of damages. The jury found Monumental liable on both theories. While combining the bad faith and fraud theories for purposes of determining damages was error, since emotional distress damages are not awardable for fraud, the error is harmless. The combining did eliminate the possibility of a double recovery. As discussed later, emotional distress damages are awardable for the bad faith claim. The evidence of fraud was properly before the jury to establish that claim and was also relevant on the claim of bad faith to establish the state of mind and practices of Monumental. Therefore, the error in combining the theories for purposes of determining damages was harmless.