Opinion ID: 1138780
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Prima Facie Tort and New Mexico Jurisprudence.

Text: The Bank contends that we should refuse this opportunity to recognize prima facie tort. It claims that the two jurisdictions that have recognized prima facie tort as a specific tort cause of action, New York and Missouri, have found prima facie tort to be arcane and unworkable, spawning much litigation without appreciable benefit to plaintiffs. We disagree, and hold today that prima facie tort is recognized in New Mexico. As will be shown, it accords with our recent tort jurisprudence, and, if properly used, provides a remedy for plaintiffs who have been harmed by a defendant's intentional and malicious acts that fall outside of the rigid traditional intentional tort categories. Prima facie tort is not a recent innovation; its development has been discussed in various law reviews and decisions spanning practically a century. See Beardsley v. Kilmer, 236 N.Y. 80, 140 N.E. 203 (1923); Holmes, Privilege, Malice, and Intent, 8 Harv.L.Rev. 1 (1894); Brown, The Rise and Threatened Demise of the Prima Facie Tort Principle, 54 Nw.U.L.Rev. 563 (1959) (hereinafter Brown); Forkosch, An Analysis of the Prima Facie Tort Cause of Action, 42 Cornell L.Q. 465 (1957). The theory underlying prima facie tort is that a party that intends to cause injury to another should be liable for that injury, if the conduct is generally culpable and not justifiable under the circumstances. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 870 (1977). With variations in the several jurisdictions that have adopted the tort, its elements are generally recognized to be: 1. An intentional, lawful act by defendant; 2. An intent to injure the plaintiff; 3. Injury to plaintiff, and 4. The absence of justification or insufficient justification for the defendant's acts. Porter v. Crawford & Co., 611 S.W.2d 265, 268 (Mo. Ct. App. 1980); see ATI, Inc. v. Ruder & Finn, Inc., 42 N.Y.2d 454, 458, 368 N.E.2d 1230, 1232, 398 N.Y.S.2d 864, 866 (1977). Although the concept that unjustified intentionally caused harm should be the basis for liability has been utilized without denominating the theory as prima facie tort throughout recent jurisprudence, see, e.g., Diaz v. Kay-Dix Ranch, 9 Cal. App.3d 588, 592 n. 3, 88 Cal. Rptr. 443, 445 n. 3 (1970); Moran v. Dunphy, 177 Mass. 485, 59 N.E. 125 (1901); Tuttle v. Buck, 107 Minn. 145, 119 N.W. 946 (1909); Mangum Electric Co. v. Border, 101 Okla. 64, 222 P. 1002 (1923), New York was the first state to adopt prima facie tort as a specific cause of action. See Advance Music Corp. v. American Tobacco Co., 296 N.Y. 79, 70 N.E.2d 401 (1946); Brown, 54 Nw.U.L.Rev. at 566. The cause of action as it developed in New York, became stylized, as courts added requirements; for example, that special damages be proven, that the complaint not plead any other tortious conduct, that the activity complained of be otherwise lawful and not fit into any other established tort category, and that the activity complained of be motivated by a solely malicious intent. Note, Prima Facie Tort, 11 Cumb.L.Rev. 113, 116-18 (1980). In recent years, New York has retreated somewhat from these requirements, allowing alternative pleadings and expanding the definition of prima facie tort. Board of Educ. v. Farmingdale Classroom Teachers Ass'n, Local 1889, 38 N.Y.2d 397, 406, 343 N.E.2d 278, 284-85, 380 N.Y.S.2d 635, 644-45 (1975). Restatement (Second) of Torts § 870 (1977) has adopted a much more general theory of prima facie tort, providing that: One who intentionally causes injury to another is subject to liability to the other for that injury, if his conduct is generally culpable and not justifiable under the circumstances. This liability may be imposed although the actor's conduct does not come within a traditional category of tort liability. The Restatement approach embodies a balancing process, because not every intentionally caused harm ... deserves a remedy in tort. Id. comment e. Thus, the activity complained of is balanced against its justification and the severity of the injury, weighing: (1) the injury; (2) the culpable character of the conduct; and (3) whether the conduct is unjustifiable under the circumstances. Id. The dual nature of the determination is manifested by the requirement that the conduct be both culpable  wrongful or improper in generaland unjustifiableunder the circumstances no privilege should apply. Id. The Restatement further breaks down the analytical process into four considerations that should be considered in balancing the above factors: (1) the nature and seriousness of the harm to the injured party, (2) the nature and significance of the interests promoted by the actor's conduct, (3) the character of the means used by the actor and (4) the actor's motive. Id. It is apparent from a discussion of the Restatement view that, although it considers the same factors as do the New York courts, it does so in a more flexible way, by balancing the factors rather than by creating stylized requirements. Instructive to this court in our consideration of prima facie tort is the Missouri experience. In Porter v. Crawford & Co., 611 S.W.2d 265 (Mo. Ct. App. 1980), the court addressed the issue we consider today: whether to allow recovery in tort for a lawful act performed maliciously and with the intent to injure the plaintiff. Id. at 266. Porter involved an automobile accident, where the defendant-insurance agent settled the plaintiff's claim and delivered a check to plaintiff in release of claims. Plaintiff deposited the draft and wrote checks against it, while, without plaintiff's knowledge, the defendant cancelled the draft. Plaintiff incurred injuries as a consequence, and brought suit alleging that, by acting with careless and reckless disregard for plaintiff's rights and without just cause, the defendant had maliciously acted with intent to injure plaintiff. Id. at 267. The Missouri court examined the New York experience and the Restatement view, and fashioned a prima facie tort doctrine that combined the fundamental policy view of the Restatement with the analytically consistent aspects of the New York experience. We feel that their approach was analytically sound, and we adopt it, with refinements as discussed below. To constitute a prima facie tort, the tort-feasor must act maliciously, with the intent to cause injury, and without justification or with insufficient justification. One early development in New York was that the defendant was required to have acted with disinterested malevolencethe intent to harm being the sole motivation for the action. This was a means to determine if otherwise lawful conduct was done without any beneficial end but solely to injure the plaintiff. See Porter, 611 S.W.2d at 269. We reject this approach in favor of the balancing approach sanctioned by the Restatement. A sole intent to injure is, by definition, unjustifiablea purpose other than to injure the plaintiff is a justification for the act. Id. Thus, if a defendant offers a purpose other than the motivation to harm the plaintiff as justification for his actions, that justification must be balanced to determine if it outweighs the bad motive of the defendant in attempting to cause injury. See id.; Restatement (Second) of Torts § 870 comment c (1977); but see Rodgers v. Grow-Kiewit Corp.-Mk., 535 F. Supp. 814, 816 (S.D.N.Y.), aff'd 714 F.2d 116 (2d Cir.1982) ([M]otives of profit, economic self-interest or business advantage are by their terms not malicious, and their presence, even if mixed with malice or personal animus, bars recovery under prima facie tort.) We believe that to allow a defendant to escape liability solely because he can demonstrate some economic benefit to himself from the complained of act would defeat the policy behind our recognition of prima facie tortto allow a plaintiff to recover for intentionally committed acts that, although otherwise lawful, are committed with the intent to injure. Thus, we hold that the act must be committed with the intent to injure plaintiff, or, in other words, without justification, but it need not be shown that the act was solely intended to injure plaintiff. Porter, 611 S.W.2d at 269; Restatement (Second) of Torts § 870 (1977); see Speer v. Cimosz, 97 N.M. 602, 606, 642 P.2d 205, 209 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 98 N.M. 50, 644 P.2d 1039 (1982); Bynum v. Bynum, 87 N.M. 195, 197-98, 531 P.2d 618, 620-21 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 87 N.M. 179, 531 P.2d 602 (1975). We also accept the view held by New York and Missouri that prima facie tort may be pleaded in the alternative; however, if at the close of the evidence, plaintiff's proof is susceptible to submission under one of the accepted categories of tort, the action should be submitted to the jury on that cause and not under prima facie tort. Bandag of Springfield, Inc. v. Bandag, Inc., 662 S.W.2d 546, 552-53 (Mo. Ct. App. 1982); Farmingdale Classroom Teachers Ass'n, 38 N.Y.2d at 406, 343 N.E.2d at 284-85, 380 N.Y.S.2d at 644-45. Thus, double recovery may not be maintained, and the theory underlying prima facie tortto provide remedy for intentionally committed acts that do not fit within the contours of accepted tortsmay be furthered, while remaining consistent with modern pleading practice. Id.