Court Opinion

ID: 9488963
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:00:58.564816+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:13.052286
License: Public Domain

RIPPLE, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
To the extent that the majority formulates the standard for imposing punitive damages *282for fraud as limited to situations in which a single factor — “intent to injure” — is present, I respectfully dissent.
Read in their entirety, the decisions of the Illinois courts suggest that the presence of other aggravating circumstances, many of which do not rise to the level of an intent to injure, will justify the imposition of punitive damages for fraud. E.g., Martin v. Heinold Commodities, Inc., 163 Ill.2d 33, 205 Ill.Dec. 443, 466, 643 N.E.2d 734, 757 (1994) (noting that “punitive damages are permissible where a duty based on a relationship or trust is violated and where the violation has been willful”). The cases suggest that one such aggravating circumstance is a pattern of reprehensible conduct of the type engaged in by Hyatt in the present case. See Kleidon v. Rizza Chevrolet, Inc., 173 Ill.App.3d 116, 122 Ill.Dec. 876, 527 N.E.2d 374 (1988) (punitive damages reversed where “the record does not establish a pattern of bad faith by [the defendant] during its dealings with plaintiffs”); Four “S” Alliance, Inc. v. American Nat’l Bank & Trust Co. of Chicago, 104 Ill.App.3d 636, 60 Ill.Dec. 314, 318, 432 N.E.2d 1213, 1217 (1982) (punitive damages upheld where misrepresentations were repeated at various stages of the negotiations and were material to plaintiffs’ ongoing business decisions). Indeed, this court recognized the availability of punitive damages for such conduct in West v. Western Casualty & Surety Company, 846 F.2d 387 (7th Cir.1988), where we concluded that “the jury was entitled to conclude that [defendant’s] conduct was deliberate and purposeful, orchestrated by responsible management over a significant period of time.” Id. at 398.
Although I do not join the majority’s conclusion that total abrogation of punitive damages on the fraud count is appropriate, it is clear that the amount of the award must be reassessed. The jury was permitted to consider evidence, decide issues, and award damages based on evidence of “Hyatt business” from hotels other than the HRC. The district court took the view that the jury had not awarded damages for fraud beyond the confines of the HRC, but following, as we must, the presumption that jurors follow the instructions given to them, e.g., Domes v. Volkswagen of America, Inc., 41 F.3d 1132, 1144 (7th Cir.1994); Sokol Crystal Prods., Inc. v. DSC Communications Corp., 15 F.3d 1427, 1433 (7th Cir.1994), I would remand the award of punitive damages on the fraud count for redetermination.
Remand is also the appropriate course with respect to damages on Roboserve’s claim for breach of contract. The majority correctly concludes that the jury’s award cannot be supported by the record, but an appropriate division of responsibility between the court of appeals and the district court requires that a determination of the proper amount be conducted, in the first instance, by the trier of fact. I would, therefore, remand this issue as well.