Opinion ID: 2330512
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: interest on compensatory damages

Text: Ms. Lively also asserts that the trial court abused its discretion in denying her interest after October 17, 2005, on the compensatory damages owed to her by FPA on her Hostile Work Environment claim. This ruling was grounded in a letter sent to Ms. Lively's counsel on October 17, 2005, wherein FPA requested instructions on how the check is to be styled and . . . a tax identification number or social security number for Ms. Lively. It further stated that [s]hould the court rule in your favor on the question whether interest accrues on a punitive damages award, we can write your client a second check at that time. Ms. Lively's counsel replied that accepting partial payment at this time poses substantial risks to Plaintiff, and proposed that FPA draft a stipulation addressing potential risks that such acceptance might pose to Ms. Lively's remaining claims. The next day, FPA's counsel sent a letter which stated that such a stipulation was unnecessary. In an email dated October 25, 2005, Ms. Lively's counsel nonetheless sent FPA's counsel a proposed stipulation that appears to suggest that the concern of Ms. Lively's counsel pertained to the outstanding issues of costs, interest and attorney's fees. FPA did not agree with the stipulation and thus made no further offer to pay the compensatory damages at that time. Although we have not had occasion to address the issue of whether a party can stop the accrual of interest on an award of damages by offering to pay the damages in full, other jurisdictions that have done so have held that an unconditional offer to make partial payment stops interest from running on the amount offered. E.g., Welch v. McClure, 123 Ariz. 161, 598 P.2d 980, 984-85 (1979); Certified Corp. v. Market Ctr., Ltd., 51 Haw. 121, 452 P.2d 442, 443 (1969); Packard v. Joint Sch. Dist. No. 171, 104 Idaho 604, 661 P.2d 770, 780 (Ct.App.1983). To hold otherwise would allow rate-shopping; that is, plaintiffs could refuse partial payment because court-ordered interest rates are higher than market interest rates, or defendants could be encouraged to drag their feet in paying to benefit from the current high rate of interest they are receiving on the money. Ms. Lively argues that the offer was not unconditional. We disagree. It was Ms. Lively who insisted on conditions for the offer; FPA merely asked to whom the check should be written. Ms. Lively insists that accepting the payment without the stipulation could be interpreted as waiver of her rights to the amounts still in dispute, yet she fails to provide us with a single case where this has been a problem. [16] Moreover, she could have done her own letter, indicating that she was accepting it without prejudice to any other specific claims she might have. Thus, we affirm the trial court's decision to deny interest accumulated after October 17, 2005.