Opinion ID: 170014
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Other Aspects of the Misrepresentation Claim

Text: In two footnotes, the district court held that even if the Hospital could establish that Healthcare Realty had conveyed false factual information, its misrepresentation claim would also fail as a matter of law because the Hospital could not prove it had reasonably relied on the figures or that Healthcare Realty had been negligent. We reverse these alternative holdings. The district court held that the claim that Healthcare Realty had been negligent failed as a matter of law because the Hospital had only shown one or two potentially unfounded estimates . . . amidst thousands of pages of projections. App. 739 n. 15. It is true that, even on generous estimates, the negligent misrepresentations identified by Memorial Hospital account for far less than half of the ultimate shortfall. A jury might find that the plaintiffs would have proceeded with the project even if these misstatements had not been made, in which case Healthcare Realty would not be liable. But we cannot say, on the summary judgment record, that the identified misstatements were so minor that they could not have affected Memorial Hospital's decisions on the margin; they were significant enough that, if corrected, they would have turned the projected sixth year profit into a loss. If the plaintiffs had received nonnegligent projections of the project's costs and revenues, they might have scaled back the building's size, made other economies, or even cancelled the project. Healthcare Realty can point to no undisputed facts in the record that would support a grant of summary judgment on the reliance issue. The district court also held that the Hospital's reliance on the false information in the Assessment of the Property Operating Agreement could not have been reasonable in light of the Assessment of Building Vacancythat is, that no reasonable person could have relied on the Year 6 bubble predicted in the former document. This conclusion is at odds with Healthcare Realty's litigating position, since it now defends its prediction of the Year 6 bubble. This conclusion is also an inappropriate matter for summary judgment because it fails to view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party opposing summary judgment. On the record as it stands, a reasonable jury could decide that the Hospital's decision to trust Healthcare Realty's final prediction was reasonable. The district court also held that the Hospital's reliance on the false figures was unreasonable because Healthcare Realty initially warned the Hospital that a 137,196-square-foot building was too large. However, the disputed projections that Healthcare Realty provided were specifically about a 137,196-square-foot building. The problem is that Healthcare Realty falsely made the project seem financially viable, despite its size. Healthcare Realty's earlier expression of disapproval of the project did not relieve it of a duty of care with respect to its final financial assessment of the project. Finally, Healthcare Realty makes two related arguments that the contractual relationship created by the Operating Agreement precludes the Hospital's misrepresentation claim. First, Healthcare Realty argues that the economic loss doctrine bars the Hospital's tort claim. In negligent misrepresentation claims, that doctrine forbids a party from suing in tort for economic losses that arise only from a breach of contract. Rissler & McMurry Co. v. Sheridan Area Water Supply Joint Powers Bd., 929 P.2d 1228, 1234-35 (Wyo. 1996). The purpose of this rule is to keep all contract claims from collapsing into tort claims. Id. Here, however, the Hospital's negligent misrepresentation claim does not arise from or rely on any provision of the contract at all, but is based on the information that Healthcare Realty conveyed in its written assessments of the financial viability of the project. Wyoming law does not forbid tort claims between contracting parties if tort liability [is] premised on a duty independent of contractual duties. JBC of Wyoming Corp. v. Cheyenne, 843 P.2d 1190, 1197 (1992). Second, Healthcare Realty argues that Memorial Hospital's claim is barred by the Operating Agreement's merger clause, which states that the Agreement embodies and constitutes the entire understanding between the parties with respect to the transactions contemplated herein, and all prior or contemporaneous agreements, understandings, representations and statements (oral or written) are merged into this Agreement. App. 107. The Wyoming Supreme Court has held that when a contract clearly and unambiguously waives all claims for negligent misrepresentation, the tort claim cannot be brought. Snyder v. Lovercheck, 992 P.2d 1079, 1089 (Wyo.1999). In Snyder, the court held that a negligent misrepresentation claim was barred by a contract that contained not only a merger clause but also an express disclaimer of reliance on any warranties or representations. The court did not suggest that a merger clause alone would be enough to bar an independent tort claim for misrepresentation. Id. at 1088-89. Here, the district court concluded that the vague and general integration/modification clause did not waive the Hospital's misrepresentation claims, App. 733 n. 9, and we agree.