Court Opinion

ID: 9642872
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 18:11:18.458002+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:10:53.747016
License: Public Domain

Steele Hays, Justice, concurring in part; dissenting in part. I have no disagreement with the court with respect to compensatory damages, but I do not agree that punitive damages were improperly awarded. To reach this conclusion the majority opinion largely skirts the facts while carefully examining the language of appellee’s complaint to determine whether it sounds more nearly in tort than in contract and settles on the latter, citing Atkins Pickle v. Burrough-Uerling-Brasuell, 275 Ark. 135, 628 S.W.2d 9 (1982). But there is a marked difference between that case and the case before us. In Atkins Pickle v. Burrough-Uerling-Brasuell, the trial court had dismissed a suit by Atkins Pickle attempting to fix venue in Pope County, rather than in a county less to its liking, and thus the issue there hung by a thread on whether the cause of action was for injury to real property, which would establish venue in Pope County, or for breach of contract, which would place venue elsewhere. Here the trial court held, correctly I think, that the proof sustained a submissible issue for the jury on punitive damages and on appeal the fine wording of the complaint should not concern us so much as whether under the appellee’s pleading and proof punitive damages are recoverable under our law. Bearing in mind that we view the evidence in appellee’s favor, I believe the punitive damages were sustained on both counts, though without reference to the amount awarded, which I do not address. We have recognized, as we should, that punitive damages may be recovered where the cause of action is essentially contractual in nature if accompanied by conduct which is willful or malicious. McClellan v. Brown, 276 Ark. 28, 632 S.W.2d 406 (1982); Curtis v. Partain, 272 Ark. 400, 614 S.W.2d 671 (1981); Morrow, et al v. Hot Springs First National Bank, 261 Ark. 568, 550 S.W.2d 429 (1977). This is the overwhelming view. Restatement of Contracts, Second, § 355, states the rule to be: "Punitive damages are not recoverable for a breach of contract unless the conduct constituting the breach is also a tort for which punitive damages are recoverable.” And this is said to be true in “almost every jurisdiciton in which the matter has been considered judicially or resolved legislatively.” (See Punitive Damages, Law and Practice, Ghiardi and Kircher, § 5.16, citing some thirty-five jurisdictions.) The remaining question is, was the breach of appellee’s lease such as to give rise to a cause of action in tort? Only one answer is possible. Appellee alleged and proved facts which would be cognizable under either of two recognized torts, i.e. intentional infliction of mental distress (See Prosser, Law of Torts, 4th Ed., § 12, p. 49) and intentional interference with contractual rights. Prosser, § 129, and Mason v. Funderburk, 247 Ark. 521, 446 S.W.2d 543 (1969), where we upheld a cause of action for interference with a contract: The basic elements going into a prima facie establishment of the tort are (1) the existence of a valid contractual relationship or business expectancy; (2) knowledge of the relationship or expectancy on the part of the interferor; (3) intentional interference inducing or causing a breach or termination of the relationship or expectancy; and (4) resultant damage to the party whose relationship or expectancy has been disrupted.” Here, appellee’s complaint accused the appellant of "deliberately, maliciously and wantonly, in complete disregard for the property rights of the plaintiff,” breaching the contract, alleging specific acts of interference; further, that appellant pursued a course of conduct toward the plaintiff designed to "harass, ridicule and embarrass the plaintiff;” that appellant would call plaintiff at hours between midnight and 2:00 a.m. and would "curse and abuse” him with the intent of causing emotional distress. The allegations fully state a cause of action in tort and the proof presented in trial sustained these allegations: The appellee testified that after being ordered off one of the two rice fields leased to him (after he had completed preparations for planting), he was subjected to intentional interference on the other field by the appellant, who removed the key to a relift pump, thereby depriving appellee’s rice of water for three or four days, resulting in crop damage. Appellee testified that at various times, including “all hours of the night,” the appellant would call him to threaten him in his efforts to produce a crop, using such terms as "liar, lazy, stupid and goddamn dog,” in reference to the appellee. Granted, the law does not ordinarily protect the individual from harsh words alone, although there are exceptions [see Fisher v. Carrousel Motor Hotel, Inc., 424 S.W.2d 627 (Texas, 1967)], but in this case the abusive language was coupled with affirmative, tortious conduct. The trial court correctly submitted the issue of punitive damages to the jury under the proof and the law. Justice Hollingsworth joins in this dissent.