Opinion ID: 2187773
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: insufficient specificity of damages

Text: R & B Construction argues that it was entitled to a directed verdict at the close of the Ellisons'/Sullivans' evidence because the Ellisons/Sullivans failed to prove their damages within a reasonable degree of specificity as required by law. R & B Construction alleges that the evidence introduced by the Ellisons/Sullivans merely demonstrated that the contours of the property had changed since 1985, but was silent as to important questions relating to the source of the fill material. The subcontractor emphasizes that the evidence at trial showed that fill material had been placed on the property at other times (both before and after the highway project) by persons unconnected with the highway project, and the Ellisons/Sullivans introduced no evidence which would enable a jury to determine what portion of the contour-analysis-produced figure of 14,500 cubic yards of material came from the highway project. In other words, it is alleged that the extent of the Ellison/Sullivans' evidence at trial was: (1) Between 1985 and 1995, 14,500 cubic yards of material were added to the Ellison/Sullivan property; (2) Some of this material came from the highway construction project; and (3) Some of the highway waste material was deposited on the property by R & B Construction. We disagree with this characterization of the Ellisons'/Sullivans' evidence, and believe the damages were proven with sufficient specificity. While R & B Construction correctly identifies that the testimony at issue merely deduced from changes in the contour of the property that the elevation of the property had changed by 14,500 cubic yards, other evidence demonstrated that R & B construction contributed substantially to this total. Perhaps the most telling evidence that this material came from R & B Construction's highway excavation project can be found in the physical description of the material itself, which Bud Ellison described at trial as huge chunks of concrete and blacktop, culvert pipe, dirt and gravel. At trial and now before this Court, R & B Construction maintains that the Ellisons'/Sullivans' failure to prove the exact proportion of the fill material traceable to the highway construction companies mandated a directed verdict because without such data, a reliable damage calculation would be impossible. Our review of the record leads us to believe the evidence presented by both sides created a factual issue appropriate for jury resolution with regard to the amount of highway waste material dumped on the Ellisons'/Sullivans' property by the construction companies. Accordingly, the trial court correctly denied R & B Construction's motion for directed verdict. The subcontractor cites Howard v. Carmichael, 237 Ky. 462, 35 S.W.2d 852 (1931) [24] a factually unique trespass case concerning a trespass suit complicated by a litany of land ownership questions, in support of its claim that the plaintiffs failed to prove their damages with requisite specificity. Our predecessor court held that the commissioner below acted within his discretion in denying damages for timber removal because of two factually unique aspects of that case: (1) the Commissioner could not determine what proportion of the timber removed in connection with the coal mining operations came from the disputed property as opposed to property owned by the coal mining company, and (2) the Commissioner could not determine from which of the claimants' property timber was removed: Evidence was submitted as to the various items of damage, and it was shown that the taking of timber was a major item. But it was very vague and indefinite. Representatives of the coal companies testified that in taking the timber no consideration was given to any particular portion of the boundary, and it was cut indiscriminately .... It was shown that these particular seams of coal yielded about 4,000 tons to the acre, and it required 20,000 feet to timber an acre. The quantity of coal removed from the Gibson property was definitely ascertained to be 462,265 tons. On this basis about 2,310,000 feet were required, which, at the lowest price of $6 per thousand feet on the stump, made the value of the timber used in the Gibson mine $13,260. But it cannot be ascertained how much of the timber came from the Howard and how much from the Gibson land. Perhaps it might be reasonably concluded that one-half of the timber used in the entire mining operations on both the Howard and Gibson properties was taken from the Howard lands. But when it comes to allocating the value of that timber among the different Howard parcels, we quite agree with the chancellor that the evidence was too vague and uncertain to justify any decree respecting the item. It consisted only of estimates of some of the parties, and those estimates were as far apart as the poles. A court is not expected to guess the correct solution, and litigants ought not to complain when the court refuses to do so because of their failure to produce the proof. [25] The case before us contains none of the land ownership issues which prevented apportionment in the authority cited by the subcontractor, and here all of the evidence demonstrates that R & B Construction deposited highway waste material upon property owned by the Ellisons/Sullivans. We find that the Ellisons/Sullivans proved their damages through just and reasonable inference as far as was reasonably possible, and with as much certainty as the nature of the tort and the circumstances permitted. [26] We decline R & B Construction's invitation to hold plaintiffs to a standard of mathematical precision. R & B Construction's dispute is, at its essence, a factual one: it maintains that it deposited no more than 4,000 cubic yards of material on the property, while the Ellisons/Sullivans argue for a larger volume. Under any interpretation, the Ellisons'/Sullivans' evidence warranted submission of the case to the jury for it to determine the extent of the construction companies' liability and the trial court correctly denied this motion for directed verdict.