Opinion ID: 436179
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Contempt Ruling

Text: 37 The district court preliminarily enjoined Auto Publisher from continuing its pattern of unfair competition pending the trial on the merits. Finding that appellee continued to publish additional magazines without sufficient alteration and to place its magazines in sales racks owned by Rickard, the district court determined that appellee had violated the preliminary injunction. The court, however, awarded no damages and no attorneys' fees; rather, the court imposed a civil fine in the amount of $750, to be paid to Rickard. In support of this award, the court stated that Rickard offered no proof of any damage which he may have sustained by virtue of the violations of the preliminary injunction .... 38 The district court found appellee in civil contempt. Civil contempt can be either coercive, which is intended to make the recalcitrant party comply, or compensatory, which reimburses the injured party for the losses and expenses incurred because of his adversary's noncompliance. This [reimbursement] includes losses flowing from noncompliance and expenses reasonably and necessarily incurred in the attempt to enforce compliance. 35 By the time the district court found that the appellee was in civil contempt for having violated the preliminary injunction, Auto Publisher had already sufficiently modified its magazine to satisfy the district court's concerns. Therefore, because compliance was no longer at issue, the finding of contempt was compensatory, not coercive. 39 The district court was correct in noting that appellant failed to offer any evidence of damages to support a compensatory award, but, under the circumstances of this case, the district court's denial of compensatory relief was premature. This case had been bifurcated such that the merits of the unfair competition claim and the contempt charge would be tried first, and damages would be determined at a later hearing. Thus, it comes as no surprise that appellant failed to proffer any evidence of damages. Thus, the district court effectively denied appellant an opportunity to present such evidence. 36