Court Opinion

ID: 9655979
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 19:29:04.712636+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:25.509413
License: Public Domain

RUSSELL A. ANDERSON, Justice
(concurring specially).
I concur in the result but write separately because I believe that a legal action with the attendant right to a jury trial is consistent with promissory estoppel.
The right to a jury trial is inviolate for those actions and issues that were known at common law in the Territory of Minnesota when the Minnesota Constitution was adopted in 1857. See Minn. Const, art. I, § 4; Rognrud v. Zubert, 282 Minn. 430, 433, 165 N.W.2d 244, 247 (1969); Whallon v. Bancroft, 4 Minn. 109 (Gil. 70) (1860). The general rule for determining whether an action is legal, as opposed to equitable, is set forth in Morton Brick & Tile Co. v. Sodergren: “[I]t is not the label affixed by the pleader, but the nature and character of the controversy, that determines whether or not the action is legal or equitable.” 130 Minn. 252, 255, 153 N.W. 527, 528 (1915). I concur that appellant does not have the right to a jury trial because the nature and character of appellant’s action is equitable. I disagree, however, that all actions in promissory estoppel are invariably equitable.
An action that is legal in nature and character is consistent with promissory es-toppel. Promissory estoppel is, first of all, a principle of contract law. Grouse v. Group Health Plan, Inc., 306 N.W.2d 114, 116 (Minn.1981). It is not a doctrine that simply adds to the facts a missing element of a binding contract but is an independent basis for enforcement of a promise based on reliance. Constructors Supply Co. v. Bostrom Sheet Metal Works, Inc., 291 Minn. 113, 120, 190 N.W.2d 71, 75 (1971). Promissory estoppel “is the name applied to a contract implied in law where no contract exists in fact. The effect of promissory estoppel is to imply a contract from a unilateral or otherwise unenforceable promise coupled by detrimental reliance on the part of the promisee.” Del Hayes & Sons, Inc. v. Mitchell, 304 Minn. 275, 283, 230 N.W.2d 588, 593 (1975).
Second, while both equitable and legal remedies are available under promissory estoppel, legal remedies may be sufficient. See Christensen v. Minneapolis Mun. Employees Ret. Bd., 331 N.W.2d 740, 750 (Minn.1983) (“As recognized by the Restatement, promises binding through es-toppel are entitled to normal enforcement *156remedies of contract law.”).1 In Cohen v. Cowles Media Co. (Cohen II), on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, we upheld a jury award on the theory of promissory estoppel even though the plaintiff argued breach of contract to the jury. 479 N.W.2d 387, 389-92 (Minn.1992). The jury was instructed:
A party is entitled to recover for a breach of contract only those damages which: (a) arise directly and naturally in the usual course of things from the breach itself; or (b) are the consequences of special circumstances known to or reasonably supposed to have been contemplated by the parties when the contract was made.
Id. at 392. We declined to order a retrial on the basis of the jury instruction, concluding that the jury instruction provided an appropriate damages remedy for the broken promise whether considered under a breach of contract or promissory estop-pel theory. Id.
Third, the common law action of as-sumpsit provided reliance-based recovery for breach of a promise in territorial Minnesota when the Minnesota Constitution was adopted in 1857. See Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 90, cmt. a (“It is fairly arguable that the endorsement of informal contracts in the action of assumpsit rested historically on justifiable reliance on a promise.”); Messenger v. Miller, 2 Pin. 60, 64 (Wis.1847) (reviewing an assumpsit action in territorial Wisconsin); Brewster v. Leith, 1 Minn. 56 (Gil.40) (1851) (reviewing an assumpsit action in territorial Minnesota); Bidwell v. Madison, 10 Minn. 13 (Gil.1, 7) (1865) (discussing assumpsit shortly after the Minnesota Constitution was adopted). In Bidwell we observed that assumpsit was available for the breach of all “simple” contracts. 10 Minn, at 13. Simple contracts include informal promises that are “enforceable without any expression of assent by the promisee and without any consideration in the sense of an equivalent given in exchange.” 3 Eric Mills Holmes, Corbin on Contracts § 8.1 (Joseph M. Perillo ed., rev. ed., West, 1996).
Assumpsit means literally “he promised.” 1 Arthur Linton Corbin, Corbin on Contracts § 1.18 (Perillo ed., rev. ed., West 1993). Historically, relief based on detrimental reliance on a promise was first recognized in the Chancery courts, but, under the theory of assumpsit, recovery based on detrimental reliance on a promise was adopted by common law courts in England as early as the mid 16th century. J.B. Ames, The History of Assumpsit, 2 Harv. L.Rev. 1, 16-17 (1888); Holmes, supra, § 8.11; see also Merex A.G. v. Fairchild Weston Sys., Inc., 29 F.3d 821, 825 (2d Cir.1994) (“[T]he protean doctrine of ‘promissory estoppel’ eludes classification as either entirely legal or entirely equitable, and the historical evidence is equivocal. * * * [I]ts application in any particular case depends on the context in which it appears.”). Good faith or justifiable reliance was integral to assumpsit, just as detrimental reliance was integral to recovery in equity. See Restatement (Second) of Contracts, § 90, cmt. a; Ames, supra, at 14 (“[Ejquity gave relief, before 1500, to a plaintiff who had incurred detriment on the faith of the defendant’s promise * * *.”) . As an action at law, assumpsit was entitled to a jury trial. J.B. Ames, The History of Assumpsit II — Implied As-sumpsit, 2 Harv. L.Rev. 53, 57 (1888); Corbin, supra, § 1.18.
*157Assumpsit is a doctrinal antecedent to promissory estoppel. Holmes, supra, § 8.11 (stating that promissory estoppel “is a venerable, ancient form of relief with historical origins in both the common law action of assumpsit and early equity decisions.”); Merex A.G., 29 F.3d at 824. Like promissory estoppel, relief was available in assumpsit through a variety of remedies. In an early 20th-century decision, the South Carolina Supreme Court said, “As-sumpsit * * * includes every case by simple contract * * * from whence a promise, either express or implied, can arise. The damages to be recovered must always depend upon the nature of the action and the circumstances of the case.” Welborn v. Dixon, 70 S.C. 108, 49 S.E. 232, 235 (1904). Minnesota courts have applied a variety of remedies under assumpsit. E.g., Boardman v. Ward, 40 Minn. 397, 401, 42 N.W. 202, 203 (1889) (providing relief for the reasonable value of services rendered). In assumpsit, damages were measured by the extent of the harm suffered by the plaintiff in reliance on the defendant’s promise. Holmes, supra, § 8.8; see Reynolds v. Franklin, 41 Minn. 279, 281-82, 43 N.W. 53, 54 (1889) (“When one party to a contract refuses to fulfill upon his part, the other may rescind, if he chooses, and recover in assumpsit the money he has paid, or the value of what he has done for the other party for which he has received no benefit.”).
Promissory estoppel’s lineage includes the common law action of assumpsit, but, like assumpsit, has its roots in equity. Because promissory estoppel is both a legal and equitable doctrine, our analysis of whether a right to a jury trial attaches should be whether the particular action raises a legal or equitable issue. We have held that an action that is seemingly legal in form may not entitle a plaintiff to a jury trial if the essence of the action is equitable. Coughlin v. Farmers & Mechs. Sav. Bank, 199 Minn. 102, 104, 272 N.W. 166, 167 (1937) (holding that plaintiffs claim for money damages actually involved setting aside and invalidating trusts, an equitable action); Swanson v. Alworth, 168 Minn. 84, 91, 209 N.W. 907, 909-10 (1926) (holding that a contract claim actually was an equitable claim alleging a fiduciary duty to account for profits); Morton, 130 Minn. at 255, 153 N.W. at 528 (holding that a claim for recovery of money only was “essentially an action to charge the defendant as a trustee of certain property, the legal title to which he holds, and to require him to account as such trustee”). Conversely, an action that is grounded in equitable principles may entitle a plaintiff to a jury trial if the essence of the controversy is legal. For example, this court has held that particular actions claiming unjust enrichment and the recovery of money had and received, two theories grounded in equitable principles,2 were legal in character and entitled to trial by jury because they sought to recover specified sums arising out of separate sales. Thorn v. Geo. A. Hormel & Co., 206 Minn. 589, 592-94, 289 N.W. 516, 517-18 (1940). We have also said that one cannot abrogate the right to a jury trial by seeking to characterize an action as declaratory. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Skluzacek, 208 Minn. 443, 447, 294 N.W. 413, 415 (1940); Gilbertson v. Indep. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 208 Minn. 51, 54, 293 N.W. 129, 130 (1940).
We also adopted this approach with respect to a kindred doctrine to promissory estoppel — quasi contract. Roske v. Ilykanyics, 232 Minn. 383, 45 N.W.2d 769 (1951).3 In Roske the plaintiffs sought the *158recovery of money under the theory of quasi-contract for services rendered. Id. at 388, 45 N.W.2d at 773. A husband and wife orally agreed to give up their jobs and care for the wife’s elderly parents in exchange for the parents’ farm when the older couple died. See id. at 385, 45 N.W.2d at 771-72. Conflict arose and the daughter and her husband sued under quasi-contract to recover the value of improvements made to the farm and the reasonable value of services under an oral contract. See id. at 386, 45 N.W.2d at 772. Importantly, the Roskes did not sue for a share of ownership of the farm or for specific performance of the oral contract. The court held that the plaintiffs were entitled to a jury trial even though the right to recover was governed by equity because the remedy sought was legal in nature and was adequate. See id. at 389, 45 N.W.2d at 774.
Quasi-contract is grounded even more firmly in equity than promissory estoppel, because, unlike promissory estoppel, quasi-contract requires no promise and is “independent of any real or expressed intent of the parties.” Id. at 389, 45 N.W.2d at 774.4 In Roske we recognized that “[t]he right to recover [in quasi-contract] is governed by principles of equity, but the remedy is governed by the law, much as if an actual contract had been established. The legal remedy being adequate, the court may not decide' the case as one sounding in equity and thereby deprive the parties to the right of a jury trial in the absence of a waiver of such jury.” Id. (citations omitted).5 The majority's decision is not consistent with this court’s decision in Roske because it precludes a complainant from receiving a jury trial in a promissory es-toppel action even though the complainant has an adequate legal remedy.
In this case, plaintiff claims in her promissory estoppel count that she contributed significant financial and personal resources to Syntech' and now has been unjustly denied the value that accrued to defendant and that the defendant has been unjustly enriched. Plaintiff repeats these claims in her equitable estoppel count. In light of these pleadings, I would uphold the trial court’s conclusion that the plaintiff seeks an ownership interest in Syntech — a type of action that is equitable in nature. I would therefore uphold the trial court’s determination that plaintiff does not have the right to a jury trial because the thrust of this action in promissory estoppel is equitable in nature.

. The reporter of section 90 of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts commented, "A promise binding under this section is a contract, and full-scale enforcement by normal remedies is often appropriate.” Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 90 cmt. d (1981).

. See, e.g., Seastrand v. D.A. Foley & Co., 144 Minn. 239, 242-43, 175 N.W. 117, 119 (1919).

. Quasi-contract is an obligation "created by law for reasons of justice. Such obligations *158were ordinarily enforced at common law in the same form of action (assumpsit) that was appropriate to true contracts * * McArdle v. Williams, 193 Minn. 433, 438, 258 N.W. 818, 820 (1935) (quoting Restatement (First) of Contracts § 5 cmt. a (1932)).

. See Town of Balkan v. Village of Buhl, 158 Minn. 271, 275, 197 N.W. 266-67 (1924) ("[W]here one has money or property belonging in equity and good conscience to another, the latter is entitled to it, and * * * the law in such a case will enforce, in order to accomplish justice, what is best known as a quasi contractual obligation, so called because it is precisely like a contract as to method of enforcement and result upon the parties.”).

. The civil jury instruction guides provide jury instructions for promissory estoppel. 4 Minn: Dist. Judges Ass’n, Minnesota Practice-Jury Instruction Guides, Civil, JIG 20.50 (4th ed.1999).