Opinion ID: 1965068
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Jury Instruction on Duty to Disclose

Text: Nielsen also claims that the trial court erred in not deciding the issue of duty as a matter of law. We have stated that the question of whether a legal duty exists is a question of law dependent on the facts in a particular situation. See Doe v. Gunny's Ltd. Partnership, 256 Neb. 653, 593 N.W.2d 284 (1999). In fraudulent concealment cases, existence of a duty to disclose is a question of law, but the breach of that duty is a question of fact for the jury. See, Berger v. Security Pacific Inf. Systems, 795 P.2d 1380 (Colo.App. 1990); Maack v. Resource Design & Const., Inc., 875 P.2d 570 (Utah App.1994); DeBry v. Valley Mortg. Co., 835 P.2d 1000 (Utah App.1992). The record in this case shows that the court decided the issue of whether a duty to disclose existed as a matter of law. Prior to trial, Nielsen made a motion for summary judgment, which was denied as to the fraudulent concealment claim. Furthermore, Nielsen made a motion for directed verdict at the close of Streeks' evidence, and that motion was denied. The court, in ruling on the motion for summary judgment and motion for directed verdict, decided that Streeks had shown a duty to disclose. Had the court determined there was no duty to disclose, Nielsen would have prevailed. This assignment of error is without merit. Nielsen also asserts that instruction No. 10 was an incorrect statement of the law. Instruction No. 10 paraphrases Restatement (Second) of Torts § 551(2)(e) (1977) as it relates to the element of duty in a fraudulent concealment claim. We have determined that § 551(2)(e) is a correct statement of the law. The jury needed to understand the duty Nielsen owed to Streeks in order to determine whether the facts demonstrated that Nielsen breached that duty by not disclosing to Streeks that the seed had been downgraded. The jury was properly instructed that a party to a business transaction has a duty to disclose facts basic to the transaction when the other party would reasonably expect a disclosure. Thus, this assignment of error is without merit. All the jury instructions read together and taken as a whole correctly state the law, are not misleading, and adequately cover the issues supported by the pleadings and the evidence. Thus, there is no prejudicial error necessitating a reversal. See Doe v. Gunny's Ltd. Partnership, supra.