Court Opinion

ID: 9531693
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:13:57.459788+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:34.053235
License: Public Domain

DYKMAN, J.
(dissenting). The bill containing what became sec. 943.51, Stats., was introduced at the behest of the "Wisconsin Coalition to Prevent Shoplifting,” See Legislative Reference Bureau file, 1985 Wis. Act 179 and 1985 A.B. 212. The aim of this organization is self-evident. The legislature’s method of deterring shoplifting was to create civil remedies for merchants victimized by shoplifters. However, recovery of exemplary damages plus attorney fees was limited to a total of $300. Sec. 943.51(3).
I do not agree with the majority’s conclusion that all common law punitive damage factors are relevant to a determination of exemplary damages under sec. 943.51(2)(a)2, Stats. We are not to construe statutes in derogation of common sense. State v. Clausen, 105 Wis. 2d 231, 246, 313 N.W.2d 819, 826 (1982). The legislature intended that proof of shoplifting be enough to support an award of exemplary damages. Thus, whether the offense warrants the "added sanction of ... punitive damage[s],” Entzminger v. Ford Motor Co., 47 Wis. 2d 751, 757-58, 177 N.W.2d 899, 903 (1970), is irrelevant to a claim under sec. 943.51(2)(a)2. Other factors, such as a defendant’s wealth, are not *604incompatible with the sec. 943.51(2)(a)2 requirement that proof of shoplifting alone supports an exemplary damage award. The jury trial the majority authorizes should involve only those issues compatible with sec. 943.51(2)(a)2. Common sense dictates that the legislature did not intend, as a shoplifting deterrent, extensive jury trials over $300.
The net result of the majority’s decision is that La Crosse county is required to provide a judge, jury, courtroom and court services to decide whether Shop-ko should receive exemplary damages, the maximum amount of which cannot exceed $90. Sec. 943.51(2)(a)l, Stats. I doubt that the legislature intended such an impact on La Crosse county taxpayers when it set about to draft legislation to combat shoplifting.
All this need not have been. We review motions for summary judgment de novo. In re Cherokee Park Plat, 113 Wis. 2d 112, 115-16, 334 N.W.2d 580, 582 (Ct. App. 1983). The law and the undisputed facts, not the parties’ desires and requests, dictate the result of a summary judgment motion. Summary judgment methodology does not permit an inquiry into arguments made at a motion hearing. The trial court and this court is concerned only with the parties’ pleadings and affidavits. Id. at 116, 334 N.W.2d at 582-83. We therefore need not consider whether exemplary damages must be determined by a jury because it is undisputed that Shopko’s reasonable attorney fees exceeded $300, and sec. 943.51(3), Stats., limits the total of attorney fees plus exemplary damages to $300.
I would conclude that Shopko is entitled to $300 as attorney fees under sec. 943.51(3), Stats., thus avoiding the necessity of a jury trial over $90.