Opinion ID: 750117
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: R.A. Bruner's Appeals

Text: 23 R.A. Bruner appeals the district court's denial of its post-judgment motion regarding the Pierringer release and the court's calculation of conversion damages.
24 As noted previously, R.A. Bruner filed a postjudgment motion in the district court arguing that the Pierringer release between Bruner Corporation and John Balogh reduces the damages owed by R.A. Bruner to zero. It does not appear that R.A. Bruner raised this argument before the district court during its consideration of the parties' motions for summary judgment. The district court clearly knew of the existence of the Pierringer release during the summary judgment phase, but R.A. Bruner points to nothing to indicate that it raised this legal argument about the effect of the release on the damages that R.A. Bruner must pay. This is unfortunate, for if R.A. Bruner had raised the argument and the district court had found it meritorious, the court would have been spared the task of calculating the damages. 25 R.A. Bruner argues that discussing the effect of the release was not ripe until after the district court found that R.A. Bruner did not know the goods it purchased from Balogh were stolen, a finding that was not made until the summary judgment motions were decided. Only then was it established that Balogh would be 100% liable to R.A. Bruner in a contribution action. 26 This argument does not excuse R.A. Bruner's failure to raise this issue before the district court during the summary judgment phase. R.A. Bruner knew that Bruner Corporation had moved for summary judgment on the issue of liability for conversion and the amount of damages; any argument that damages should be mitigated because of the Pierringer release would have been timely at that point. Because the argument was not properly raised before the district court entered judgment, it is waived below and for purposes of appeal. Anderson v. Flexel, Inc., 47 F.3d 243, 247 (7th Cir.1995) ([P]ost-judgment motions cannot be used to raise arguments or legal theories that could have been and should have been brought before judgment.).
27 After finding R.A. Bruner liable for conversion, the district court turned to the issue of damages. Under Wisconsin law, the plaintiff in a conversion suit may recover the value of the property at the time the conversion took place, plus interest up to the date of trial. Production Credit Ass'n v. Nowatzski, 90 Wis.2d 344, 280 N.W.2d 118, 123 (1979). 28 The district court found that no genuine issue of material fact existed as to the amount of conversion damages, and accordingly it calculated the damages based on the summary judgment record. In determining the award, the district court relied on the affidavit of Marty Ring, the General Accounting Supervisor of Bruner Corporation. The affidavit contains a summary of documentation of sales of stolen Bruner [Corporation] products to ... R.A. Bruner. It describes 159 transactions in stolen goods between John Balogh and R.A. Bruner beginning on December 13, 1985 and ending on December 31, 1992. According to the list prices set forth in the affidavit, the stolen goods sold during this period were worth $220,498.70, and the district court ordered R.A. Bruner to pay this amount. 6 29 R.A. Bruner argues that the district court made two errors in calculating conversion damages. First, the court should have looked to the discounted prices at which Bruner Corporation sold its goods to retailers, not the higher prices at which these merchants then sold the goods to the public. 7 Second, even if the price offered to the public is the relevant benchmark, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that Bruner Corporation goods actually sold at their list prices. Remand for further proceedings is therefore required, it is argued, to resolve this factual issue. 30 As to the first objection, we agree with the district court that the price that R.A. Bruner charged to consumers is a valid measure of conversion damages under Wisconsin law. Topzant v. Koshe, 242 Wis. 585, 9 N.W.2d 136, 138 (1943) (If it appears that the defendant, in case of ... conversion, has sold the chattels, the plaintiff may, at his election, recover as his damages the amount for which the same were sold, with interest from the time of sale to the day of trial.); see also Management Computer Serv., Inc. v. Hawkins, Ash, Baptie & Co., 196 Wis.2d 578, 539 N.W.2d 111, 121-22 (App.1995) (recognizing this rule but declining to apply it to a claim for unjust enrichment, as opposed to conversion), rev'd on other grounds, 206 Wis.2d 157, 557 N.W.2d 67 (1996). The brief submitted by R.A. Bruner's former co-defendants, which R.A. Bruner adopts, admits this and even provides the rationale for this rule: to prevent the tortfeasor from unjustly enriching himself by reselling the converted property above the value set by the rightful owner. See also Topzant, 9 N.W.2d at 138 (These rules will prevent the defendant from making profit out of his wrong.). Although the modern Restatement would apply this rule only when the defendant converter acted with knowledge that its actions were wrongful, RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF TORTS § 927 cmt. i, illus. 11, there is no indication that Wisconsin has qualified its rule in this way. 31 In response to R.A. Bruner's second objection that consumers did not actually pay list prices, Bruner Corporation points to the affidavit of William Baxter, its Director of Sales and Marketing. The Baxter affidavit states that Bruner Corporation goods sold for the list price in many cases, but it admits that the Corporation did not control the prices charged to consumers. Instead, retail prices were negotiated between the dealer or manufacturer's representative and the consumer. The affidavit describes the prices (and the compensation for the retailers) as follows: 32 With respect to orders for assembled equipment, representatives are entitled to a 10% commission as well as 'overages,' i.e., the difference between the selling price and Bruner's factory discounted price. With respect to orders for parts, however, manufacturers representatives are only entitled to a 10% commission on the sales price and are not entitled to overages. 33 When Bruner's manufacturers representatives solicit orders for the sale of parts, the sales price is the price negotiated between the representative and the customer, subject to Bruner's approval. It is very unusual for the sales price to reflect the full factory discount available to manufacturers representatives. To the extent a discount is offered, it is typically a lesser discount off list price. In many cases, no discount is offered, and the sales price is Bruner's list price. In any case, Bruner invoices and is paid the negotiated sales price, and the representative who solicited the sale receives a 10% commission on the sales price. 34 We cannot conclude that this information, which is the only evidence relating to the relevance of list prices, lays to rest all genuine issues of material fact regarding the prices at which R.A. Bruner sold the converted property to consumers. The affidavit describes the considerable discretion afforded retailers in setting their resale prices. This discretion is an important part of the system; savvy retailers are rewarded with higher overages and commissions that reflect their ability to negotiate favorable prices with their customers. This evidence simply does not support the inference that R.A. Bruner typically sold Corporation products at their list prices. Thus, because genuine issues of material fact remain as to the actual prices paid by consumers, we remand for further proceedings and recalculation of the conversion damages.