Court Opinion

ID: 9579417
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:54:58.100083+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:35:30.100539
License: Public Domain

CURETON, J.,
dissents in a separate opinion.
I respectfully dissent. I would reverse the finding of contempt and the award of attorney fees.
I do not dispute that the Form 4 order is a final order of the court; however, I find the Form 4 order did not incorporate the terms of the settlement, thereby making the settlement agreement an enforceable order of the court. The settlement was announced in open court and noted upon the record. In announcing the settlement, the respondents’ attorney stated the following:
Yes, Sir. The terms are as follows: The defendants in those cases will pay to the plaintiffs in those cases the sum of Eighty-Thousand Dollars ($80,000.00). Sixty-Thousand Dollars ($60,000.00) of that eighty will be paid immediately; twenty thousand will be paid within the next two weeks. So this week, we’ll have sixty, the balance will be within the next two weeks. There will be mutual releases, mutual orders for dismissals. Neither party will — after the payment of the eighty-thousand dollars, neither party owes anybody any money. They are completely released from any liability to each other. And the court can go ahead, if it would, and do a form order.
A review of the exchange between the attorneys and the circuit court indicates that no one contemplated that the settlement agreement would be incorporated into the court’s order and made an order of the court. There was no request by the attorneys that the court approve the agreement, nor was there a request for the terms of the settlement to be made into a final order of the court. In fact the Form 4 order dismissing the case from the roster was not even signed by the judge who presided over court the day the settlement was read into the record. Instead, the Form 4 order was prepared by the chief administrative judge as a ministerial function— the effect of which was to dismiss the case.
*612In the present case, Cloyd violated no court order inasmuch as the form order signed by the court on August 15, 2000, merely served to remove the case from the docket. While Cloyd may have failed to comply with the terms of an enforceable settlement agreement, he was not in violation of any specific court order. Therefore, the court did not have authority to hold him in contempt. “A determination of contempt ordinarily resides in the sound discretion of the trial judge.” State v. Bevilacqua, 316 S.C. 122, 129, 447 S.E.2d 213, 217 (Ct.App.1994) (citing Whetstone v. Whetstone, 309 S.C. 227, 420 S.E.2d 877 (Ct.App.1992)). “It is well settled that contempt results from willful disobedience of a court order; and before a person may be held in contempt, the record must be clear and specific as to acts or conduct upon which the contempt is based.” Id. (citations omitted). “A willful act is defined as one done voluntarily and intentionally with the specific intent to do something the law forbids, or with the specific intent to fail to do something the law requires to be done; that is to say with bad purpose either to disobey or disregard the law.” Id. (citing Spartanburg Dep’t of Soc. Servs. v. Padgett, 296 S.C. 79, 82-83, 370 S.E.2d 872, 874).
The circuit court also included language in its order for contempt regarding appellants’ possible fraudulent behavior in attempting to circumvent the settlement agreement. I note the language of the petition for contempt and the rule to show cause did not encompass an allegation of fraud. Accordingly, I find notice was not given to the appellants that they would be called upon to defend this allegation, and therefore, this matter was not properly before the circuit court. See Abbott v. Gore, 304 S.C. 116, 119, 403 S.E.2d 154, 156 (Ct.App.1991) (due process requires that a litigant be placed on notice of the issues which the court will consider to afford the litigant an opportunity to be heard); Bass v. Bass, 272 S.C. 177, 180, 249 S.E.2d 905, 906 (1978) (footnote omitted) (requiring a litigant be placed on notice of the issues which the court is to consider). Moreover, because I find that the Form 4 order does not make a violation of the terms of the settlement agreement enforceable by contempt, the appellants behavior toward the respondents is irrelevant as it pertains to the ability of the court to punish for such behavior. The appellants’ alleged behavior can not constitute a basis for contempt.
*613I would also reverse the circuit court’s award of attorney fees to the respondents. I recognize that in a civil contempt proceeding, a contemnor may be required to reimburse a complainant for the costs he incurred in enforcing the court’s prior order, including reasonable attorney’s fees. See Poston v. Poston, 331 S.C. 106, 114, 502 S.E.2d 86, 90 (1998). However, having concluded the court erred in finding Cloyd in contempt, I find no support for the award of attorney’s fees. See Harris-Jenkins v. Nissan Car Mart, 348 S.C. 171, 176-79 557 S.E.2d 708, 710-12 (Ct.App.2001) (Attorney fees are recoverable only if authorized by contract, statute or court rule. There is no common law right to recover attorney fees. Where a settlement agreement did not provide for the payment of attorney fees to enforce it, the court could not require the breaching party to pay attorney fees as a sanction.)
Accordingly, I would reverse the circuit court’s order finding Cloyd in contempt. I would also reverse the award of attorney fees to the respondent.