Opinion ID: 1196440
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: tort elements

Text: The Arizona court in Snow v. Western Sav. & Loan Ass'n, 152 Ariz. 27, 730 P.2d 204, 211-12 (1986) carefully considered the principle involved in applying the five elements of tort, cf. Mudge, 748 P.2d 713 (using four element test), which in some jurisdictions subdivide intention and impropriety as separate elements: The tort is intentional in the sense that Western must have intended to interfere with the Snows' contract or have known that this result was substantially certain to be produced by its conduct. Restatement § 8(A) and § 766 comment j; accord 2 F. HARPER, F. JAMES & O. GRAY, [THE LAW OF TORTS] supra § 6.8 [2d ed. 1986], at 321-22. The question of intent ordinarily is for the finder of fact.          The final element  whether a defendant has acted improperly  generally is determined by weighing the social importance of the interest the defendant seeks to advance against the interest invaded. 2 F. HARPER, F. JAMES & O. GRAY, supra § 6.12, at 350-51; Restatement § 767 comment b; H & M Associates v. City of El Centro, 109 Cal. App.3d 399, 409, 167 Cal. Rptr. 392, 398-99 (1980) (question of justification comprises a factual issue which should properly be placed before the trier of fact). To be improper, an interference must be wrongful by some measure beyond the fact of the interference itself. Top Service Body Shop, Inc. v. Allstate Insurance Co., 283 Or. 201, 209, 582 P.2d 1365, 1371 (1978), quoted in 2 F. HARPER, F. JAMES & O. GRAY, supra § 6.6, at 306-07; see also Restatement § 767. That court, in reversing summary judgment, concluded that triable issues of fact existed on the due-on-sale intentional interference case on both questions of good faith and privilege. This court has also assessed the relationship of the three terms  privilege, justification and not improper  in the same fashion in Basin Elec. Power Co-op.- Missouri Basin Power Project v. Howton, 603 P.2d 402, 405 (Wyo. 1979), where, in speaking to the changes in terminology from First Restatement to Second Restatement to use improperly rather than privilege, we said: Section 766, Restatement of the Law of Torts (1939), cited in Wartensleben, stated that liability for purposeful interference with a contract will not arise if there was a privilege to act. A cause of action will arise if one who, without a privilege to do so, induces another not to perform a contract. The authors of the second edition of Restatement of the Law of Torts (see introductory note to Ch. 37, p. 4, et seq., Vol. 4 (1979)) chose not to use the word privilege or justification in the revised § 766. They considered these terms to lack clarity and therefore not meaningful. Section 766 of the Second Restatement of the Law of Torts (1979) states that [o]ne who intentionally and improperly interferes with the performance of a contract    is subject to liability   . While we do not find this change of language particularly helpful in our inquiry, it still is consistent with the view that however the tort of interference is expressed  whether as conduct without justification, without privilege, or merely improper  the question is one of fact rather than one of law. The subcontractor bonding case of Morrow v. FBS Ins. Montana-Hoiness LaBar, Inc., 230 Mont. 262, 749 P.2d 1073, 1076 (1988) provides the same authority requiring resolution of intent and whether improper is a factual decision: We cannot say that interference motivated to gain business advantage among the relationships between bonding agents, general contractors, and subcontractors is necessarily proper. And when there is room for different views, the determination of whether the interference was improper or not is ordinarily left to the jury, to obtain its common feel for the state of community mores and for the manner in which they would operate upon the facts in question. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 767 at 38-39 (1977). First, in questioning whether the interference was intentional, the Montana court observed that it certainly was not accidental. After Restatement (Second) of Torts, supra, § 767 is cited, the Montana court analyzed the relationship of decision to summary judgment. That consideration is explicitly appropriate here. Other Courts have emphasized the impropriety of granting summary judgment where the credibility of an affiant may be crucial to decision of a material fact. See Durant v. Stahlin (Mich. 1965), 135 N.W.2d 392, 398; Arnstein v. Porter (2d Cir.1946), 154 F.2d 464, 469-70. Morrow, 749 P.2d at 1075. The same factual concept reappeared by another reversal in this same case which came after remand by a directed verdict in Phillip R. Morrow, Inc. v. FBS Ins. Montana-Hoiness Lebar, Inc., 236 Mont. 394, 770 P.2d 859 (1989). Justification, e.g. privilege or not improper, is a question of fact. Northside Mercury Sales & Service, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 871 F.2d 758 (8th Cir.1989); Phil Crowley Steel Corp. v. Sharon Steel Corp., 782 F.2d 781 (8th Cir.1986); In re Scallywags, Inc., 84 B.R. 303 (Bkrtcy. D. Mass. 1988); Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Aurora Air Service, Inc., 604 P.2d 1090, 1094 (Alaska 1979); Irwin & Leighton, Inc. v. W.M. Anderson Co., 532 A.2d 983 (Del. 1987); and Larocco v. Bakwin, 108 Ill. App.3d 723, 64 Ill.Dec. 286, 439 N.E.2d 537 (1982).