Opinion ID: 2636000
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Contractual Claims

Text: We turn first to Robinson's contractual claims for relief: (1) breach of express contract; (2) breach of UCC express warranties; (3) breach of UCC implied warranties; and (4) breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Underlying these claims are the following factual allegations regarding the Lottery's conduct. The Lottery sells instant scratch game tickets for a significant time period after all represented and advertised prizes are awarded when players have no chance of winning the prizes. The Lottery is aware that these scratch tickets do not have the represented prize available and that an instant scratch ticket without a grand prize would not sell. In fact, the Lottery continues to encourage the purchase and sale of scratch tickets that have no more represented prizes available. By ignoring the fact that it is selling scratch tickets that cannot win the prize used to induce purchase, the Lottery brings in millions of dollars per year in revenue from tickets purchased when the scratch player has no chance of winning the prize that he or she sought to win. For example, tickets that Robinson purchased were emblazoned with the words win up to $10,000 even though the last $10,000 prize had already been awarded. Robinson paid $1 to $2 per scratch ticket and would not have done so if she had been aware that the represented and advertised prizes were no longer available at the time of purchase. Robinson contends that her underlying injury arises out of the Lottery's failure to deliver what it offered, namely a chance to win one of the represented and advertised prizes. Specifically, Robinson submits that she is not arguing that the Lottery wrongfully induced her to enter into an unfavorable contract. However, the CGIA is less concerned with what the plaintiff is arguing and more concerned with what the plaintiff could argue. See Berg, 919 P.2d at 258. As we stated previously, the form of the complaint is not determinative of whether the claim lies in tort or could lie in tort. Id. Here, a review of the factual allegations supporting Robinson's claims for relief reveals that the underlying injury is based on the Lottery's alleged misrepresentations. Specifically, the injury arises out of the Lottery's misrepresentations regarding the availability of the represented prizes, which induced the purchase of scratch tickets. Thus, unlike Berg and DeLozier, where the court determined that the plaintiff's allegations could not support a claim for fraud or misrepresentation, Robinson's allegations in the complaint would appear to support a tort claim. Consequently, regardless of whether the Lottery breached any contractual duties, the essence of the injury here is tortious in nature and would support a claim for the breach of a duty arising in tort. Furthermore, in this instance, the nature of the relief requested does not deter our conclusion that Robinson's contractual claims could lie in tort. Although Robinson is vague about the specific damages she is requesting in conjunction with her contractual claims, Robinson does state that the Lottery's conduct has resulted in damages including but not limited to the money expended on lottery tickets. In her prayer for relief, Robinson requests actual damages and appropriate damages, including restitution of the revenues received either after a represented prize was no longer available or when it was unwinnable. Robinson contends, based on our opinion in Conners, that her contractual claims do not lie in tort because they are equitable in nature and are not claims for compensatory relief for personal injuries. See 993 P.2d at 1176. However, contrary to Robinson's suggestion, Conners does not stand for the proposition that the CGIA will never bar claims for equitable relief because they are not claims for compensatory relief. In Conners, we addressed the question of whether a former city employee's claim for backpay and reinstatement under Colorado's Civil Rights Act (the CRA), a civil rights statute designed to redress workplace discrimination, was a claim that lies in tort or could lie in tort. See id. at 1176-77. In that case, we were presented with a statutory claim, without origins in common law, which was intended by the legislature to address constitutionally based concerns of equality rather than mere compensation for personal injuries. See id. at 1173-75. On the clean slate of a statutorily imposed duty, we analyzed the CRA's conception of injury and remedy in order to inform our understanding of the nature of the underlying claim. See id. at 1176-77. Regarding the nature of the relief requested, we stated that the form of relief alone, whether damages or equitable relief, does not govern the categorization of a claim as a tort or other type of action. Id. at 1176. However, we noted that courts must consider the nature of the relief, particularly in cases such as Conners where the statutory claim was not based on an action with common law roots in tort or contract. See id. Thus, by looking at the nature of the relief requested in order to inform our understanding of the underlying duty that the statute imposes, we determined that CRA claims are not tortious in nature because they are non-compensatory, equitable claims, which are intended to redress general discriminatory employment practices rather than compensate the plaintiff for tort-like personal injuries. See id. at 1176-77. Accordingly, we held that the CRA claims did not lie in tort for the purposes of the CGIA. Id. at 1177. In sum, contrary to Robinson's contention, the nature of the relief is not dispositive as to the question of whether a claim lies in tort. Rather, the relief requested is merely an aid in understanding the duty breached or the injury caused to determine if the claim lies or could lie in tort. Here, we need not determine whether a statutorily created claim lies in tort. Instead, we have determined above that regardless of whether Robinson has presented valid contract claims, the pleaded allegations underlying the contract claims could be alternatively pleaded in tort  in other words, the claims could lie in tort. The complaint and the pleadings in this case clearly reveal an injury that is tortious in nature. Consequently, analysis of the relief requested plays a less significant role in informing our understanding of the underlying injury. Thus, irrespective of the label attached to the damages requested, Robinson cannot elude the conclusion that the underlying injury and the duty breached are tortious in nature and therefore her claims could lie in tort. [6] Accordingly, Robinson's contract claims are barred by the CGIA.