Court Opinion

ID: 9627075
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 08:32:57.803431+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:27:14.359636
License: Public Domain

*878Justice HODGES
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent.
I would reverse that part of the judgment and jury award of $48,000 for the plaintiff on her outrageous conduct claim. I perceive nothing from the plaintiffs testimony and other evidence which approaches outrageous conduct on the part of defendant Buckley during the polygraph test and subsequent interview with the plaintiff.
Viewing all the evidence in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, I cannot conclude that defendant Buckley’s questions, comments, and conduct during the interview with plaintiff were so egregious as to be actionable. That is, in my view, they were not so outrageous in character and so extreme in degree that a reasonable member of the community would regard them as atrocious, going beyond all possible bounds of decency, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. See Rugg v. McCarty, 173 Colo. 170, 476 P.2d 753 (1970) and Hansen v. Hansen, 43 Colo.App. 525, 608 P.2d 364 (1979).
According to the testimony of the plaintiff, defendant Buckley at times during the post-test interview spoke to her in a harsh manner and repeatedly asked her if she had not in fact stolen money or goods from her employer. She testified that apparently he did not believe her denials. She also testified that near the conclusion of the interview she began to cry and defendant Buckley handed her a tissue and then left the room at her request. The questioning ended shortly thereafter. I would classify this as no more than an unpleasant experience for the plaintiff who was anguished by the fact that defendant Buckley would not believe her denials of wrongdoing.
It is my strong view that the evidence falls far short of showing a cause of action for outrageous conduct. Hence, I would hold that the trial court erred in denying defendant’s motion for a directed verdict on the outrageous conduct claim.
I would also reverse that part of the judgment awarding $125,000 to the plaintiff as exemplary damages on her claims of outrageous conduct and negligence, and remand to the trial court for a new trial on exemplary damages only. I believe the $125,000 award is not sustainable here for two reasons.
First, there is a real and significant question of law concerning whether this plaintiff may be awarded $48,000 in damages for outrageous conduct and also be awarded $125,000 as exemplary damages for outrageous conduct and negligence. Exemplary damages and damages for outrageous conduct are both directed toward deterrence and as punishment for intentional or reckless misconduct. Therefore, it would appear that that part of the exemplary damages award applicable to outrageous conduct is duplicative of the award for outrageous conduct. On this basis, the defendant is being doubly punished.
This issue has not been specifically resolved in Colorado. In Vogel v. Carolina International, Inc., 711 P.2d 708 (Colo.App.1985), the issue was raised but not resolved in a situation in which there were two plaintiffs, one of whom was awarded punitive damages and the other was awarded damages arising out of the defendant’s outrageous conduct. Under the ruling there, the duplicative damages issue, if applicable, would pertain only to cases involving a single victim.
In other jurisdictions, the courts have declined to award both punitive damages and damages for outrageous conduct because they are duplicative. See, e.g., Knierim v. Izzo, 22 Ill.2d 73, 174 N.E.2d 157 (1961).
Second, on the claim for negligence, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiff and awarded her damages of $74,-000. In its ruling on defendants’ post-trial motions, the trial court stated that this award “is grossly and manifestly excessive considering the evidence in this case.” The trial court then made a finding that the evidence of damages resulting from defendants’ negligence would support an award of $11,400 and ordered a new trial on negligence damages unless plaintiff accepted a remittitur of $62,600. The plaintiff accepted the remittitur. Thus, as to the defendants’ negligence, the award is now $11,-*879400 rather than the $74,000 awarded by the jury.
Since exemplary or punitive damages must bear some relation to the actual damages, Frick v. Abell, 198 Colo. 508, 602 P.2d 852 (1979), the amount of exemplary damages applicable to defendant’s negligence should be reconsidered for this reason also. I also agree with the defendant’s contention that there was a complete lack of sufficient evidence of the economic status of the defendants to support any substantial award of exemplary damages. Higgs v. District Court, 713 P.2d 840 (Colo.1985).