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Martinez v. Northern Rio Arriba Electric Cooperative6/12/2002
judgment as a matter of law, or in the alternative for a new trial, arguing that the punitive damages verdict was a legal nullity.
In response, the court set a hearing for August 2000, but the trial judge was unable to conduct the hearing due to a family emergency. Instead, another judge, acting as a substitute, canceled the hearing and issued a memorandum decision. That judge entered judgment for Martinez in the full amount of the jury verdict for contract damages and emotional distress, and added an award of $144,281.51 in attorney fees as punitive damages. The substitute judge also awarded $91,783.18 in pre-judgment interest.
DISCUSSION
Contract Damages
NORA argues that the trial court erred in denying its motion for directed verdict and then submitting the implied contract claim to the jury. We treat NORA's argument as a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence upon which the jury based its verdict. See Gonzales v. N.M. Dep't of Health, 2000-NMSC-029, 18, 129 N.M. 586, 11 P.3d 550 (stating that when a case has been fully tried on the merits, an appellate court reviews the record to determine whether the evidence is sufficient to support the jury's verdict, rather than assessing only the sufficiency of the prima facie case).
We will affirm a verdict supported by substantial evidence, which we have defined as "such relevant evidence that a reasonable mind would find adequate to support a conclusion." Landavazo v. Sanchez, 111 N.M. 137, 138, 802 P.2d 1283, 1284 (1990). Accordingly, we review the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict to determine, "not whether substantial evidence exists to support the opposite result, but rather whether such evidence supports the result reached." Las Cruces Prof'l Fire Fighters v. City of Las Cruces, 1997-NMCA-044, 12, 123 N.M. 329, 940 P.2d 177.
Focusing on the sufficiency of the evidence, the question before us is not whether NORA had an obligation to pay Martinez for unused sick leave; the parties do not dispute that NORA undertook such a commitment. The sole question is how NORA should have calculated that compensation, and specifically whether substantial evidence supports the jury's determination of an implied contract between NORA and Martinez to calculate that compensation in the manner Martinez suggested at trial. We begin by examining the evidence in support of the verdict.
A few days before Martinez retired, Maez informed her that the compensation for her unused sick leave would be $19,532.61, which was less than half of what she expected to receive. Maez presented Martinez with a chart that detailed her proposed sick leave compensation. According to Maez's chart, Martinez was to be paid for all of her 2845 sick leave hours, but only at the wage rates she was earning during the years of accrual. For example, sick leave accrued in 1949, when she was earning only 89 cents an hour, would be calculated at that low hourly rate. Martinez disagreed with Maez's proposal and appealed to NORA's personnel committee.
The personnel committee, using a different method of calculation, arrived at a slightly lower figure: $19,313.87. The committee began its calculations by deducting 600 hours from the 2845 sick leave hours that Martinez had accrued. The deduction was based on a 1986 change in sick leave policy that limited employee sick leave accrual to 600 hours and provided for the annual redemption of all excess hours (over 600) at a rate of one-half of an employee's base rate. The personnel committee calculated the hours that Martinez had accrued before 1986 at the wage rate she was earning in 1986. Sick leave earned after 1986 was calculated at t
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