Opinion ID: 449209
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Errors in the Jury Instructions

Text: 30 In the district court's charge to the jury, it instructed that the damages for promissory estoppel and breach of duty of good faith were the full measure of contract damages, an amount arguably equivalent to the fifteen percent producer's fee. Omni contends that under both theories only reliance damages are available, and therefore, in light of the general verdict, the erroneous damage charges were prejudicial and a new trial is warranted. Although we agree with Omni that an error in the jury instructions would be prejudicial, we are not persuaded that there was an error in this case. 31 To determine the proper measure of damages in this diversity action we apply Massachusetts law, Segovia Development Corp. v. Constructora Maza, Inc., 628 F.2d 724, 726 n. 4 (1st Cir.1980), and in doing so, we are guided by the trial court's interpretation of that law, Garcia v. Friesecke, 597 F.2d 284, 295 (1st Cir.1979). Massachusetts has recently endorsed the theory of promissory estoppel, although it has chosen not to adopt the doctrine by name: 32 When a promise is enforceable in whole or in part by virtue of reliance, it is a 'contract,' and it is enforceable pursuant to a 'traditional contract theory' antedating the modern doctrine of consideration. See Sullivan v. O'Connor, 363 Mass. 579, 588 n. 6, 296 N.E.2d 183 (1973); Restatement (Second) of Contracts Sec. 90, Comment a (Tent. Drafts Nos. 1-7, 1973). We do not use the expression 'promissory estoppel,' since it tends to confusion rather than clarity. Loranger Construction Corporation v. E.F. Hauserman Company, 376 Mass. 757, 760, 384 N.E.2d 176, 179 (1978). 33 Under Sec. 90 of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts, adopted in its tentative form by the Massachusetts court in Loranger, damages available under promissory estoppel range from full contract damages to reliance or restitution damages: 34 d. Partial enforcement. A promise binding under this section is a contract, and full-scale enforcement by normal remedies is often appropriate. But the same factors which bear on whether any relief should be granted also bear on the character and extent of the remedy. In particular, relief may sometimes be limited to restitution or to damages or specific relief measured by the extent of the promisee's reliance rather than by the terms of the promise. Restatement (Second) Contracts Sec. 90, comment d. 35 The district court, therefore, was clearly authorized under Massachusetts law to charge contract damages for promissory estoppel; whether to charge full contract damages, or something less, is a matter of discretion delegated to the district court. We cannot say that the district court abused its discretion in this instance. 36 As to Omni's remaining claims of error in the jury instructions, we find them either to have been waived (measure of damages for misrepresentation), subsequently cured by the court (charge to the jury that the breach of duty of good faith requires a finding that no contract exists), or without merit (measure of damages for breach of duty of good faith).