Court Opinion

ID: 9849074
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:34:18.186565+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:59.792034
License: Public Domain

SCOTT, Justice
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s final disposition of the Jacobses’ claim of fraudulent inducement. Although I agree with the majority that punitive damages cannot be awarded on a claim for rescission, I believe that the pleadings and record in this case indicate that the plaintiffs alleged an independent claim of fraud in tort on which punitive damages can be awarded. The Jacobses, therefore, should be granted a new trial and allowed to prove a claim of fraud in tort in order to establish punitive damages.
In Count VI of their amended complaint, the Jacobses set forth the specific facts leading up to the signing of the insurance release. They then alleged that:
Defendant Gentile * * * fraudulently offered the sum of $4,000.00 in settle*447ment for all damages sustained by [the plaintiffs], knowingly and intentionally relying upon the fraudulent misrepresentations of American Family Insurance Company and fraudulently misrepresenting the value of the claims arising out of the death of plaintiffs’ decedent, and did commit said acts with the intent to induce said plaintiffs to rely upon his * * * fraudulent misrepresentations * * * and did thereby induce said plaintiffs to accept such settlement.
(Emphasis added.) The Jacobses asked that the release be declared “null and void,” and that the court award plaintiffs punitive damages in the amount of $50,-000.00. To me, the amended complaint sets forth a general claim of fraud, rather than simply a claim of fraud sufficient to sustain only a cause of action for rescission, and the plaintiffs should not be precluded from establishing fraud in tort simply because it was not specifically pleaded. Although it is true that a party must state the circumstances constituting fraud with particularity, Minn.R.Civ.P. 9.02, it is unnecessary for a party to allege in a complaint the type of fraud he or she is intending to litigate. See Minn.R.Civ.P. 8.01. “[A]ll the Rules require is ‘a short and plain statement of the claim’ that will give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff’s claim is and the grounds upon which it rests.” Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102-03, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) (footnote omitted); see 1 D. Herr and R. Haydock, Minnesota Practice: Civil Rules Annotated § 8.3, at 174-75 (2 ed. 1985) (“All that is necessary for a claim to be stated sufficiently is for the pleading to give notice of the claim and contain a reference to the occurrence or transaction with enough particularity to permit application of the doctrine of res judicata”). Here, the plaintiffs generally alleged fraud and put defendants on notice that this would be an issue at trial. They did not intend, I believe, to limit their claim of fraud only to that sufficient to support a cause of action for rescission. To so limit the plaintiffs’ complaint, as the majority implicitly does by refusing to remand this case for a new trial, violates the modern rules of notice pleading and restricts the plaintiffs’ ability to plead general, rather than specific, allegations.
In addition, the record in this case indicates that the parties were under the assumption that an independent claim of fraud in tort was being litigated. In the discussion regarding requested jury instructions, Gentile’s attorney specifically requested a written jury instruction regarding fraud. He then asked the court to verbally instruct the jurors that before punitive damages could be awarded, the jury must find that all the elements of fraud existed. This is in conformity with the law regarding punitive damages. See Wild v. Rang, 302 Minn. 419, 440, 234 N.W.2d 775, 790 (1975), cert. denied 424 U.S. 902, 96 S.Ct. 1093, 47 L.Ed.2d 307 (1976). While Farmland’s attorney objected to the submission of both the claim of fraud and punitive damages, he requested that if such claims were submitted there should first be a finding on the question of fraud and then a finding on the question of punitive damages. Similarly, the Jacobses’ attorney merely objected to the form of the instruction and not to its submission. This discussion indicates that the parties assumed that a claim of fraud in tort was being litigated.
There is also a question in this case of whether the plaintiffs can establish a claim of fraud in tort and whether further compensatory damages exist that can be the basis of a claim for punitive damages. Although I, too, have doubts about whether these claims can be established, I do not believe that it is this court’s duty to determine these questions of fact for the plaintiffs. Our scope of review is narrow for questions of fact determined by either a jury or the trial court. See, e.g., City of Minnetonka v. Carlson, 298 N.W.2d 763 (Minn.1980) (scope of review for questions of fact determined by a trial court); San-dhofer v. Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, 283 N.W.2d 362 (Minn.1979) (scope of review for questions of fact determined by a jury). We would be violating this review standard by making assumptions as to *448whether the plaintiffs can establish a claim of fraud or further compensatory damages in this case. Therefore, “[the plaintiffs] should be allowed to establish, if they can,” a claim of fraudulent inducement under tort law. Doerr v. Clayson, 375 N.W.2d 488, 490-91 (Minn.1985).
For the above-stated reasons, I dissent from that part of the majority’s opinion that disposes of the Jacobses’ claim of fraudulent inducement without remanding it to the trial court for further proceedings.