Opinion ID: 492501
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Litman v. Mass Mutual.

Text: 23 With the foregoing principles in mind, we focus on the dispute before us which raises the issue of whether the opinion in Litman v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., 739 F.2d 1549 (11th Cir.1984) (Litman I ), when viewed in its totality, allows for the district court's order on remand.
24 This was an action for breach of general agency contract and two counts of slander brought by Bernard Litman (Litman) against Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (Mass Mutual). The trial resulted in a jury verdict for Litman on all three counts and judgment was entered in the amount of $2,500,234. The jury's verdict included separate compensatory damage awards for the breach of contract claim and each of the two claims of slander. 7 The punitive damage award for the slander was undifferentiated. It was assessed in response to a single question on the special verdict form. 8 25 Mass Mutual appealed on several grounds and challenged the punitive damage award asserting alternative theories. Mass Mutual argued that it was entitled to judgment on the issue of punitive damages and in the alternative, that the amount of punitive damages awarded was excessive entitling it to a new trial. Our court affirmed the judgment of the district court with one exception. Finding that the statement made by a Mass Mutual spokesman to a prospective employer of Litman, could not be slander as a matter of law, the court reversed the $100,000 slander award which necessarily resulted in a reversal of the entire punitive damage award. The case was remanded to the district court for a new trial solely on the issue of punitive damages. Mass Mutual made no motions to modify the ruling or to withdraw its challenge to the award of punitive damages. 26 On remand, Mass Mutual filed a written Waiver of Right to New Trial and Consent to Entry of Judgment. Mass Mutual stated that it was now content to accept the original jury verdict on the punitive damage issue in the interest of terminating the suit. The district court accepted Mass Mutual's argument that if a prima facie case for the award of punitive damages against Mass Mutual were shown at all, under our opinion 9 a jury would consider only a portion of the original $250,000 award for the remaining claim which was based on the statements made by two Mass Mutual employees to Litman's former salesmen. Memorandum in Support of Mass Mutual's Waiver at 3, Litman, (No. 78-3314 Civ-EBD). Accepting this argument the district court concluded that a new trial on punitive damages would be inappropriate, and was not required by the mandate. The district court acknowledged that the Litman I opinion did not hold that the punitive damage award was excessive as a matter of law, but interpreted the holding to indicate that the award was improperly inflated. The district court framed the issue presented by Mass Mutual as a new one. Specifically, the issue as stated by the district court was whether a [d]efendant, whose right to a new trial has been recognized by the Court of Appeals, [can] waive that right by offering to accept the original judgment, in the situation where the infirmity at the first trial necessarily inflated [p]laintiff's recovery [?]. Litman v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., No. 78-3314 Civ-EBD p. 5 (S.D.Fla. August 20, 1985). The district court answered the question in the affirmative. Final judgment was entered in favor of Litman in the amount of $250,000, with interest from the date of entry of the original final judgment, plus taxable costs of the litigation. Id.
27 Five major premises provide the analytical framework for our disposition of this case. First, the finding that the statement made by the Mass Mutual spokesman to Litman's prospective employer was not slander as a matter of law became part of the law of the case. Second, because the special verdict form posed only a single question for punitive damages on the slander, the reversal of the slander award necessitated reversal of the original $250,000 judgment for punitive damages. 10 The effect of the reversal voided the original judgment. 11 Third, the basis for an award of punitive damages on the surviving slanderous statements was affirmed on appeal and became part of the law of the case. Litman was entitled to punitive damages. Fourth, the litigants were sent back to the district court for a new determination of punitive damages as if the first trial never occurred. 12 Fifth, a jury trial on punitive damages is the only proper outcome under Florida law unless a settlement was negotiated between the parties or the mandate modified by the court of appeals. 28 Given the law of the case established in Litman I, the mandate was clear and specific--the district court was to conduct a new trial solely on the issue of punitive damages. Mass Mutual argues that under Florida law and the facts of this case, a right to a new trial on punitive damages belonged to it alone. We disagree. Our opinion in Litman I governs the rights and obligations of both parties. Once the appellate ruling became final, the right to a new trial belonged to neither party individually but rather to both. The law of the case prescribed the outcome and could not be altered. Although Litman had no right under Florida law to seek a new trial on punitive damages, the first appeal left Litman in a position where the original judgment was set aside yet the basis for the punitive damage award was affirmed. The law of the case established that Litman was entitled to punitive damages. Both parties had a right for a jury to set the amount. But the original judgment as to the amount of punitive damages was null and void. It no longer existed. 29 The Florida Supreme Court defines the respective provinces of the court and jury explicitly when claims for punitive damages are presented. The court decides whether there is a legal basis for recovery of punitive damages, the jury sets the amount, if any. A trial judge may not substitute its judgment for that of the jury. Arceneaux v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc., 767 F.2d 1498, 1503 (11th Cir.1985); St. Regis Paper Co. v. Watson, 428 So.2d 243, 247 (Fla.1983); Arab Termite & Pest Control v. Jenkins, 409 So.2d 1039, 1041 (Fla.1982). Once the error was established on the slander claim, the case necessarily went back for a jury determination of the amount of punitive damages on the surviving claim. 13 30 The district court erred when it stated that since the first reasonable jury that heard the evidence awarded an amount of $250,000 based on three slanderous statements, it follows, inexorably, that another reasonable jury, when presented with the assessment of the amount of punitive damages for only two slanderous statements, would fix an amount at less or equal to the $250,000 award. 14 Litman v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., No. 783314 CIV-EBD p. 4 (S.D.Fla. August 20, 1985). There simply is no basis in law to support such a conclusion. Speculating what a reasonable jury would decide is not within the province of the judicial office. The notion undermines the integrity of the jury system. In addition, it improperly imposes on the clear policy underlying Florida law on punitive damages. Punitive damages 'are peculiarly left to the discretion of the jury as the degree of punishment to be inflicted must always be dependent on the circumstances of each case, as well as upon the demonstrated degree of malice, wantonness, oppression, or outragefound by the jury from the evidence.'  (emphasis supplied). Arab Termite, 409 So.2d at 1041 (quoting Wackenhut Corp. v. Canty, 359 So.2d 430, 436 (Fla.1978)). Courts are not free to postulate about what a reasonable jury might decide. The mandate ordered a new trial based on certain slanderous statements, the basis for recovery of punitive damages having been affirmed. Litman I, 739 F.2d at 1562. The jury, as dictated by the law of Florida must take that circumstance and determine the amount of punitive damages that would best serve the public policy of punishment and deterence. St. Regis Paper, 428 So.2d at 247; Arab Termite, 409 So.2d at 1041. Judges' feelings that other results are more reasonable do not displace the jury function. Tennant v. Peoria & Pekin Union Ry, 321 U.S. 29, 35, 64 S.Ct. 409, 412, 88 L.Ed. 520 (1944). A new jury may award more or less. Judicial review encompasses a determination of whether an inference or conclusion drawn by jury is reasonable. Reasonableness by definition encompasses a wide range of possibilities. It is not for any judge to substitute his judgment in making the inferences or drawing the conclusions. Since the district court did not conduct a new trial on the amount of punitive damages pursuant to Florida law, Litman became an aggrieved party, Piambino, 757 F.2d at 1120, and is entitled to redress. 31 It is uncontroverted that money is the center of this dispute. This is the reality of many lawsuits. Litman concedes a desire to maximize his recovery by insisting that Mass Mutual submit to a new trial which it obtained at his expense. Mass Mutual, on the other hand, suggests that its sole interest is terminating the litigation. Although understandable such a decision is not possible after one has taken full advantage of its appellate rights and lost. It is rather the type of decision required prior to an appeal. Perhaps justifiably fearful of the consequences, Mass Mutual waived its right to a new trial and consented to reinstate the original verdict and judgment. Mass Mutual has no right to waive the trial ordered by the law of the case nor can the district court reinstate a verdict which has been vacated by this court. See Slokin v. Citizens Casualty Co., 698 F.2d 154, 157 (2d Cir.1983). District courts lack the authority to resurrect that which the court of appeals has voided. 32 That the result may be fair is not the issue we address. Mass Mutual's waiver effectively modified the mandate by unilateral action. We hold today that a successful appellant cannot change its mind and take unilateral action in a trial court to modify a mandate of this court. Such post-decision maneuvering undermines the process creating confusion, uncertainty and potential abuse. 15 When the district court accepted Mass Mutual's waiver of a new trial solely on the issue of punitive damages, it disregarded the instructions of this court. Even at the joint request of the litigants, the district court may not deviate from the mandate of an appellate court. Atsa of California, Inc. v. Continental Insurance Co., 754 F.2d 1394, 1396 (9th Cir.1985). When the district court agreed with Mass Mutual that a reasonable jury would necessarily conclude that the award would be equal to or less than the original judgement it decided contrary to the law of the case established on the prior appeal and exceeded its institutional authority. See Farr v. H.K. Porter Co., 787 F.2d 1014, 1016 (5th Cir.1986); Trahan v. First National Bank, 720 F.2d 832, 833 (5th Cir.1983). We feel confident the district court thought it was doing justice in this case by issuing the order reinstating the jury verdict. 33 Trial judges are more directly and immediately confronted by the demands of doing justice, case by case, than are we; indeed, this is their primary office and duty. Yet it is the considered judgment of our policy that in the long run--if not perhaps in the given case--justice is better served by adherence to general rules. 34 Trahan, 720 F.2d at 834. 35 The consequences of ad hoc examinations of the propriety of unambiguous mandates are too grave to be allowed. 36 Mass Mutual's failure to seek modification of our decision had the effect of binding the district court to our instructions as set forth in the clear mandate. Mass Mutual couched the waiver as a new issue raised for the first time in the district court on remand. We disagree. We consider the waiver to be an attempt by Mass Mutual to circumvent the mandate rule in order to minimize the exposure created when its request on appeal was granted. Mass Mutual had an opportunity to bring the matter before this court. A motion to modify our ruling or withdraw the challenge asserted would have received full consideration. 37 Mass Mutual advocates the position that the mandate rule is not an inexorable command to be followed mindlessly by the district courts without regard to consequences. We agree that the mandate rule is not an inexorable command. The consequences which may materialize due to circumstances arising after remand, however, are governed by the law of the case doctrine. If circumstances after remand fall into one of the three exceptions to the mandate rule, the district court has greater discretion to act. If the circumstances after remand do not fall into one of the exceptions, as conceded in this case, then the district court is constrained to follow the mandate issued by the appellate court. Since our case falls into the latter category, the district court erred by not conducting a trial on punitive damages. 38 There are downside risks to appeals. Litigants must use their best judgment when mapping out strategy. If a new trial is requested and the mandate instructs the district court to conduct a trial solely on the issue of punitive damages, the potential risk of a larger award is apparent. Mass Mutual should have assessed and evaluated that risk before it challenged that award in this court. 39