Opinion ID: 157699
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Single Recovery

Text: Not content with one recovery, in their cross-appeal the landowners first challenge the district court’s ruling on summary judgment that the fair rental value of the Simpson formation was the proper measure of damages for both their trespass and their unjust enrichment claims. Instead, the landowners argue, they were entitled to a recovery on each claim. We review de novo the legal determinations made by the district court. See Paradis v. Montrose Mem’l Hosp. , - 12 - 157 F.3d 815, 817 (10th Cir. 1998). In Kansas, a plaintiff is limited to one recovery for a wrong. See York v. InTrust Bank , 962 P.2d 405, 432 (Kan. 1998). “The basic principle of damages is to make a party whole by putting him or her back in the same position as if the injury had not occurred, not to grant a windfall.” Short v. Wise , 718 P.2d 604, 609 (Kan. 1986). To the extent that the landowners claim an entitlement to double the fair rental value, it is foreclosed by the above principle that a plaintiff is limited to one recovery for a wrong, which in this case was Northern’s failure to pay a fair rental for the use of the Simpson formation. However, the landowners argue that Northern was also liable for profits gained as a result of the use of the formation. In support of this claim, they cite Short v. Wise , where Short, the plaintiff, was awarded one-half of the income that Wise, the defendant, received from disposal haulers in breach of the contract between Short and Wise. But for Wise’s actions, these funds would have gone to Short, and the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s determination that Wise had profited unjustly at the expense of Short, and that Wise must restore to Short “that which in equity and good conscience belong[ed] to him.” Id. at 608. In contrast, in this case there is no indication that, but for Northern’s actions of storing gas in the Simpson formation, profits gained as a result would have gone to the landowners. The district court stated that the landowners “offer[ed] - 13 - nothing to show that the profits earned by Northern could reasonably be considered a benefit conferred upon Northern by them.” Aple. Brief, app. A at 18-19. We agree. The benefit that Northern received from the landowners was the use of the Simpson formation without payment of rent, for which the proper measure of damages was, as the district court found, fair rental value.