Court Opinion

ID: 9709991
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 03:59:07.472968+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:53.231604
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). The majority apparently concludes that an action for tortious interference with the performance of a contract is available only when there has been interference with a specific right bargained for under the contract. I believe that this conclusion is an overly narrow interpretation of the legal standard.
The leading Wisconsin case on tortious interference with contract, Wisconsin Power & Light Co. v. Gerke, 20 Wis. 2d 181, 187 (1962), does not tie the tort of intentional interference to the violation of any specific right. Gerke affirmed the existence of an action for tortious interference by a party who sought redress "because the performance of his contract was made less profitable." 20 Wis. 2d at 187. The Gerke court relied on *74Harper & James, Law of Torts, sec. 6.9, which states that "any conduct which is intended to, and which in fact, makes performance more onerous is, unless privileged, a tort against the promisor." The Restatement of Torts, sec. 766A, likewise states that the action in tort is available against "[o]ne who intentionally and improperly interferes with the performance of a contract (except a contract to marry) between another and a third person, by preventing the other from performing the contract or causing his performance to be more expensive or burdensome ...."
The majority apparently derives its test from Pros-ser and Keeton on Torts, sec. 129 (1984). The quoted language from Prosser, however, does not support the majority's application. Prosser states that "tort liability may be imposed upon a defendant who intentionally and improperly interferes with the plaintiffs rights under a contract with another person if the interference causes the plaintiff to lose a right under the contract or makes the contract rights more costly or less valuable." Section 129, p. 978 (emphasis added).
I am not saying that an action exists in tort every time a third party makes the performance of a contract more costly. The social interest in protection of the contractual relationship is balanced against the interest in free competition. As the court of appeals for the seventh circuit stated: "In cases where no breach of contract results from the interference, the tort is really a branch of the law of unfair competition, and it is necessary for liability that the alleged tortfeasor have gone beyond the accepted norms of fair competition." Frandsen v. Jensen-Sundquist Agency, Inc., 802 F.2d 941 (7th Cir. 1986) (applying Wisconsin law). See also Harper, James & Gray, The Law of Torts, § 6.13 (2d ed. 1986). To be actionable, interference with contract *75must be intentional, unjustified and improper. Restatement (Second) of Torts, sec. 766; Harper, James & Gray, The Law of Torts, sec. 6.6; Prosser and Keeton, sec. 129.
Because I believe that the majority applies an incorrect legal standard, I dissent from that part of the opinion discussing the action for tortious interference.
I am authorized to state that Justice Donald W. Steinmetz joins this opinion.