Opinion ID: 1989929
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Error regarding jury's award of compensatory damages.

Text: Deere also raises several assignments of error concerning the compensatory damage awards as calculated by the jury.
Deere first contends that the jury's awards of damages concerning Revere's claims for tortious interference with contract and civil conspiracy were not supported by the evidence. We will not set aside or alter a judgment regarding damages unless it is (1) flagrantly excessive or inadequate, or (2) shocks the conscience or sense of justice, or (3) raises a presumption it is the result of passion, prejudice or other ulterior motive, or (4) lacks evidential support. Claus v. Whyle, 526 N.W.2d 519, 525 (Iowa 1994). In reviewing damage awards, we consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Id. We thus will uphold an award of damages so long as the record discloses a reasonable basis from which the award can be inferred or approximated, Westway Trading Corp. v. River Terminal Corp., 314 N.W.2d 398, 403 (Iowa 1982), and will not disturb an award of damages on appeal that is within the range of evidence presented, Hawkeye Motors, Inc., v. McDowell, 541 N.W.2d 914, 918 (Iowa App.1995). Upon our review, we conclude that substantial evidence exists to support the jury's awards of damages for tortious interference with contract and civil conspiracy. Both parties called witnesses who testified concerning Revere's alleged lost profits as a result of Deere's decision to terminate its contract with Revere and instead utilize the D E Sensor device. Not surprisingly, the experts did not agree on the amount or method of computing lost profits. Lost profits was the only measure of damages submitted to the jury as to each of Revere's claims. We believe that any question regarding the proper amount of damages related more to the weight of the evidence, rather than lack of proof. It was the jury's responsibility to assess damages for lost profits and it did so. See Sallis v. Lamansky, 420 N.W.2d 795, 799 (Iowa 1988) (fixing amount of damages is function for the jury). Revere's evidence showed over $800,000 in lost profits, while Deere's expert witness testified that Revere only sustained lost profits in the range of $50,000 to $70,000. The jury's damages award is supported by and was within the range of the evidence presented.
Deere also contends that the district court erred by refusing to submit its requested jury instruction concerning calculation of loss of profits. Our standard of review regarding challenges to jury instructions is stated above. The court's jury instruction No. 28 concerning damages for loss of profits by Revere stated as follows: If you should find, from a preponderance of the evidence in this case, that the Plaintiff is entitled to a verdict, the law provides that the Plaintiff is to be fairly compensated for all damages, if any, to its business, which were proximately caused by the Defendant's conduct. In arriving at the amount of any loss of profits sustained by the Plaintiff, you are entitled to consider any past earnings of the Plaintiff in the business in question, as well as any other evidence in the case bearing upon the issue. If you should find, from a preponderance of the evidence in this case, that damage to Plaintiff's business in the form of lost profits was proximately caused by the Defendant's wrongful conduct complained of, then the circumstance [that] the precise amount of the Plaintiff's damages may be difficult to ascertain should not affect the Plaintiff's recovery. On the other hand, damages for lost profits must be established with reasonable certainty and may not be based upon speculation and conjecture. There must be a reasonable basis in the evidence for determining that the Plaintiff has, in fact, suffered a loss of profits, even though the amount of such loss is difficult to ascertain. The court refused to submit to the jury an instruction requested by Deere that would attempt to establish a formula for determining lost profits. Deere contends that the district court erred in telling the jury that any damages awarded should be based on gross profits, rather than net profits and that the jury was left to arbitrarily fix the amount of damages because there was no mathematical formula mentioned in the instructions to guide it. We conclude that the district court properly instructed the jury regarding calculation of loss of profits. We do not believe that a jury instruction on loss of profits must include a mathematical formula. See 22 Am.Jur.2d Damages § 989, at 1029 (1988) (trial court is not bound to formulate or prescribe a method of computation which the jury should pursue in determining damages). As noted above, each party presented evidence concerning Revere's lost profits and each party presented a different method for calculating lost profits damages. What evidence the jury chose to believe and what award of damages it thought was appropriate was its decision. The damages award was within the range of the evidence and we will not interfere with it. Hawkeye Motors, 541 N.W.2d at 918.
Three verdict forms were submitted to the jury, with the court's instructions, one for each theory of plaintiff Revere's recovery: (1) intentional interference with a business contract, (2) misappropriation of trade secrets, and (3) civil conspiracy. The jury awarded Revere damages against Deere in the amount of $350,000 on Revere's tortious interference claim and awarded $200,000 in damages against Deere on the civil conspiracy claim. The jury found in favor of Deere concerning Revere's claim for misappropriation of trade secrets. Deere contends that the district court erred by submitting special verdict forms to the jury that allowed it to award damages for both tortious interference with contractual relations and civil conspiracy. Deere asserts that an award of damages on both theories is duplicative because its gives double recovery for the same injuryloss of profits. This issue was raised in Deere's objections to jury instructions and in its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. A `successful plaintiff is entitled to one, but only one, full recovery, no matter how many theories support entitlement.' 205 Corp. v. Brandow, 517 N.W.2d 548, 551 (Iowa 1994) (quoting Clark-Peterson Co. v. Independent Ins. Assocs., 514 N.W.2d 912, 915 (Iowa 1994)). Duplicate or overlapping damages are to be avoided. Team Cent., Inc. v. Teamco, Inc., 271 N.W.2d 914, 925 (Iowa 1978). In 205 Corp. a jury awarded damages for misappropriation of trade secrets ($145,000) and inducement to breach a duty of loyalty ($195,000). 517 N.W.2d at 549-50. We concluded that the misappropriation claim and the inducement claim were alternative theories of recovery for the same injury and that to allow recovery for both claims was clearly duplicative. Id. at 551. We therefore ordered that the case be remanded so that judgment could be amended so as to allow recovery for the claim regarding inducement to breach a duty of loyalty, which was the claim on which the jury awarded a greater amount of damages. Id. We reached a similar result in Team Central. 271 N.W.2d at 924 (plaintiff only entitled to collect on damages award for tortious interference with business claim and not for separate claims of wrongful attachment, trespass, and conversion). Here, Revere alleged three theories of recovery, but only one type of damage was submitted to the jurylost profits. Following our decisions in 205 Corp. and Team Central, we conclude that to allow Revere to recover damages both for its tortious interference with contract and civil conspiracy claims would be duplicative recovery. We thus conclude that the jury's damages award on the tortious interference claim should stand and that the verdict on the civil conspiracy claim fall. We therefore reverse as to this issue and remand the case so that the judgment can be amended for entry of judgment for compensatory damages only on Revere's claim for tortious interference with contract in the amount of $350,000 plus applicable interest.