Opinion ID: 2633504
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Champion's Negligence on Its Counterclaim

Text: Finally, Domke argues that even if Champion's counterclaims were compulsory, the court erred when it refused to instruct the jury on Champion's possible negligence in its counterclaim based on unjust enrichment. Domke's proposed instruction would have told the jury that Champion could not recover anything on its counterclaims if the jury found that Champion acted negligently in failing to discover that it was mistakenly paying Domke for two jobs. Domke insists that the evidence supported this instruction, alleging that Champion's payroll supervisor knew of the overpayments as they occurred, and violated his duty to pay[ ] attention to his costs like he was required. But Domke concedes that his proposed jury instruction was untimely, and he offers no valid excuse for filing it late. Domke also fails to cite any Alaska authority for the proposition that negligence on Champion's part should have barred recovery on its counterclaims completely. As the case stands now, Domke received the benefit of a comparative fault determination on Champion's counterclaims, in which the jury apportioned forty percent of the loss to Champion. The superior court's refusal to give Domke's late instruction did not amount to plain error merely because it might have produced a better result.