Opinion ID: 1438987
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Damage remedies are compensatory; equitable remedies are coercive or restitutionary.

Text: Washington law defines damages as: [T]he sum of money which the law imposes or awards as compensation, or recompense, or in satisfaction for an injury done, or a wrong sustained as a consequence, either of a breach of a contractual obligation or a tortious act or omission. Puget Constr. Co. v. Pierce Cy., 64 Wn.2d 453, 392 P.2d 227 (1964) (citing 15 Am. Jur. Damages § 2). See also D. Dobbs, Remedies § 1.2, at 3 (1973). Damages for injury to property are measured in terms of the amount necessary to compensate for the injury to the property interest. D. Dobbs § 5.1, at 311. Therefore, damages for injury to property are limited under Washington law to the lesser of diminution in value of the property or the cost to restore or replace the property. Koch v. Sackman-Phillips Inv. Co., 9 Wash. 405, 37 P. 703 (1894); Burr v. Clark, 30 Wn.2d 149, 158, 190 P.2d 769 (1948); Hogland v. Klein, 49 Wn.2d 216, 220, 298 P.2d 1099 (1956); Grant v. Leith, 67 Wn.2d 234, 235, 407 P.2d 157 (1965); Falcone v. Perry, 68 Wn.2d 909, 913, 416 P.2d 690 (1966); Butler v. Anderson, 71 Wn.2d 60, 426 P.2d 467 (1967), overruled on other grounds in Chaplin v. Sanders, 100 Wn.2d 853, 676 P.2d 431 (1984). See also D. Dobbs, Remedies § 1.2, at 3, § 3.1, at 135-36. Damages compensate for the injured party's loss. Restitution stands in bold contrast to damages, because it is based upon a benefited party's gain. D. Dobbs, Remedies § 3.1, at 137. Restitutionary recovery is appropriate when the defendant has received a benefit under circumstances which make it unjust for him to retain it. Chandler v. Washington Toll Bridge Auth., 17 Wn.2d 591, 601, 137 P.2d 97 (1943). A person confers a benefit upon another if he gives to the other possession of or some other interest in money, land, chattels, or choses in action, performs services beneficial to or at the request of the other, satisfies a debt or a duty of the other, or in any way adds to the other's security or advantage. He confers a benefit not only where he adds to the property of another, but also where he saves the other from expense or loss. The word `benefit,' therefore, denotes any form of advantage. (Italics mine.) Chandler, 17 Wn.2d at 602-03 (quoting Restatement of Restitution § 1(b), at 12 (1937). The measure of recovery is the reasonable value of the benefit received by the defendant. Noel v. Cole, 98 Wn.2d 375, 383, 655 P.2d 245 (1982). Unlike compensatory damages, the amount of a restitutionary recovery can therefore greatly exceed the value of any property harmed. Olwell v. Nye & Nissen Co., 26 Wn.2d 282, 285, 173 P.2d 652, 169 A.L.R. 139 (1946).