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Martinez v. Northern Rio Arriba Electric Cooperative6/12/2002
Verna Martinez, a retired Northern Rio Arriba Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NORA) employee, brought suit against her former employer, arguing that she was not adequately compensated for unused sick leave upon her retirement. NORA appeals from a judgment entered upon a jury verdict in Martinez's favor. NORA contends that the district court erred in permitting the jury to award Martinez compensatory damages for breach of an implied contract and emotional distress, and in entering judgment upon the jury award for punitive damages. We affirm the award of contract damages, but reverse the awards for emotional distress and punitive damages. We remand for verdict restructuring and recalculation of pre-judgment interest.
BACKGROUND
NORA is the electric utility cooperative for northern Rio Arriba county. Martinez worked for NORA for forty-four years, retiring in January 1994. Martinez began her employment at NORA in 1949 as an office clerk and cashier. At the time of her retirement, Martinez held the position of office manager and accountant. Because she took very little time off from work, Martinez accrued a large amount of sick leave, in excess of 2800 hours.
A few days before Martinez retired, NORA's manager, Emery Maez, informed her that the compensation for her unused sick leave would be considerably less than she had expected. Martinez appealed the amount of her sick leave compensation, first to the personnel committee and then to NORA's Board of Trustees, but was unsuccessful.
In 1995, Martinez filed a federal lawsuit for gender discrimination, claiming that she had been treated differently from a similarly situated male employee, and also raising several state law claims. The federal district court entered summary judgment for NORA on the gender discrimination claim and dismissed the state claims without prejudice.
In March of 1997, Martinez filed a complaint in Rio Arriba County district court for her sick leave compensation, alleging three legal theories: breach of implied contract, prima facie tort, and constructive fraud. The case went to trial in June 2000. After denying NORA's motion for directed verdict, the court submitted all three theories of liability to the jury, along with instructions permitting the jury to award damages for breach of contract, emotional distress, and punitive damages.
The jury found NORA liable on all three theories and then awarded three kinds of damages. As compensation for breach of implied contract, the jury awarded Martinez $38,183.18 for unpaid sick leave, representing the difference between the amount Martinez was actually paid for her sick leave and the amount she had expected to be paid. The jury also awarded emotional distress damages totaling $53,600 ($41,600 for general emotional distress, $9000 for psychological counseling, and $3000 for mileage to obtain counseling). The award of punitive damages proved more problematic. Instead of entering a dollar amount, the jury wrote on the verdict form, in the space provided for punitive damages, " ll court costs and lawyer fees acquired over the last 6 years related to this case." The verdict form did not specify under which theory or theories the jury awarded each type of damages. Neither party objected to the form of the verdict.
After the trial was concluded and the jury discharged, Martinez asked the court to award her attorney fees and costs based on the jury's undetermined award of punitive damages. She submitted a statement of all of her attorney fees and costs, including those accrued during her unsuccessful federal lawsuit, and also moved for pre-judgment interest. NORA opposed Martinez's motions and moved for
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