Opinion ID: 1288202
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Actions Against Plaintiff Caperton Personally

Text: The trial court identified, by way of example, specific actions which the jury could find were directed by Defendants against Plaintiff Caperton in his personal capacity, as follows: [i] Massey's conduct in negotiating directly with Caperton and under the February 9, 1998 letter agreement: Massey submitted a letter agreement to Mr. Caperton as President of Sovereign and Harman in which Massey and Wellmore expressly agreed to pursue good faith negotiations toward concluding the described transactions. The transaction described in the agreement was intended to settle all issues relating to 1997 Coal Supply Agreement between the parties and permit Massey to acquire Caperton's interest in the Corporate Plaintiffs. [ii] Massey's conduct in negotiating a letter of intent with Grundy: In the letter of intent, Massey agreed to purchase the note held by Grundy. Massey entered into the letter of intent with Grundy with full knowledge of Caperton's personal guarantee on the Grundy note. [iii] Massey's conduct affecting Caperton's Terra obligations: Knowing Caperton's personal responsibilities for reclamation obligations to Terra, Massey agreed to replace the Terra reclamation bond with a Massey bond. During negotiations, Massey internal documents reflect that Caperton's personal guarantees were discussed and, as a consideration for the transaction, the parties specifically negotiated the release of his personal guarantee obligations. Recognizing Caperton's personal interest in the negotiations, Massey required Caperton to be a signatory to the closing documents, sought a far-reaching release from Caperton personally, and agreed to give Caperton a personal release in return. [iv] Massey's duty to mitigate based upon knowledge of Caperton's actions taken in detrimental reliance: Massey knew through confidential information exchanged during the December 1997 and January 1998 discussions with Caperton, about Caperton's plans to shut down Harman as a result of Massey's wrongfully declaration of force majeure. Massey further knew that, in reliance upon an agreement in principle reached concerning the key terms and a proposed closing date of January 31, 1998, Caperton intended to shut down Harman's operations on January 19, 1998. Massey was also aware of the impact Massey's failure to close as planned would have on Caperton personally (based on his personal guarantees, likely AVS violator listing, etc.). Unknown to Caperton, Massey made an internal decision not to close the transaction by the agreed-to date of January 31, 1998, but chose instead to let Caperton move forward with his plans based upon his mistaken belief concerning the closing date.