Opinion ID: 1234122
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: special jury verdict form

Text: Did the District Court err in refusing to grant defendants' motion for a new trial because the special verdict form was inadequate? The jury verdict form did not comply with this Court's decisions on the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. In actions in which allegations of breach of a covenant of good faith and fair dealing are based upon a contractual relationship between the parties, this Court has recently required a finding of breach of contract as a condition precedent to consideration of breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. E.g. Montana Bank of Circle v. Ralph Meyers & Son, Inc. (Mont. 1989), 769 P.2d 1208, 1214, 46 St.Rep. 324, 331; Nordlund v. School Dist. No. 14 (1987), 227 Mont. 402, 406, 738 P.2d 1299, 1302. However, in this case, the main issue, other than defamation, was whether the contract was breached and by whom. This issue would have to be decided before any award of damages. In the pretrial order, both Story and the City listed whether the contract had been breached as an issue to be litigated at trial. The record reveals that the discussion and redrafting of the special verdict form took place after a long day of trial, lasting from 7:30 a.m. until after 10:00 p.m. The City's proposed special verdict form, while not a model of clarity, did include at interrogatory numbers 6 and 8 the questions, Did the City of Bozeman breach its contract with Mark Story? and, Did Mark Story breach his contract with the City of Bozeman? The court specifically rejected the City's special verdict form. The special verdict form used, which was modified by the court from the form offered by Story, does not include any question at all as to whether the contract was breached. It does not ask whether the breach arose from a violation of an explicit contract term or whether the breach arose from a violation of an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The City objected that the verdict form was not logically organized and was confusing to the jury. The City did not, however, object on the specific grounds that the special verdict omitted the issue of breach of contract. For the benefit of the reader, we reprint the special verdict with the jury's answers: