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Jerry Mathison Construction8/1/2000
Respondent Jerry Mathison Construction and its comprehensive general liability insurer, Great American Insurance Company (Great American), entered into a loan-receipt agreement under which Great American paid a judgment against respondent arising out of respondent's failure to maintain Wisconsin workers' compensation coverage. Respondent has now, in this Minnesota action, sued appellants Craig Binsfield and Binsfield & Associates, Inc., an insurance agency, alleging that it was Binsfield's negligence that left respondent uninsured against Wisconsin worker's compensation claims.
After a jury found that the appellants had been negligent, the Minnesota district court ruled that respondent was entitled to recover damages. On an earlier appeal, this court remanded for further findings. On remand, the district court made findings and ruled that an action against appellants in respondent's name is not barred by the fact that respondent itself did not pay any portion of the Wisconsin judgment. Appellants challenge that ruling, alleging respondent's failure to itself pay the Wisconsin judgment means it suffered no damage and precludes it from recovering from appellants. We affirm.
FACTS
In April 1991, respondent Jerry Mathison Construction was a subcontractor at a construction site in Wisconsin when one of its employees was injured on the job. Although respondent had primary responsibility to provide workers' compensation for its employees at the site, it did not have Wisconsin coverage. Therefore, as required by Wisconsin law, the general contractor paid the injured employee's claims through its own workers' compensation insurer, Wausau Underwriters Insurance Company (Wausau). The general contractor and Wausau then sued respondent and Great American in Wisconsin to recover the amount of workers' compensation benefits Wausau had paid.
The general contractor and Wausau won a $126,704 judgment against respondent, which Great American paid pursuant to a loan-receipt agreement it entered into with respondent. Respondent then, as required by the loan-receipt agreement, sued appellants Craig Binsfield and Binsfield & Associates, Inc., its insurance agent and agency, for negligence in failing to provide the required workers' compensation coverage. A jury apportioned 75% of the fault to appellants. The trial court set $95,028, 75% of the Wisconsin judgment against respondent that had been paid under the loan-receipt agreement, as the amount of damages respondent was entitled to recover from appellant. After trial, appellants brought a posttrial motion to dismiss, claiming that respondent sustained no actual damages, as it was an inactive corporation and had not paid the Wisconsin judgment.
The trial court denied appellants' motion to dismiss and ordered judgment against appellants. The trial court determined that respondent was a viable, albeit an inactive, corporation that had been sued and thus had "suffered the liability of a [Wisconsin] judgment and has sued in this case."
Appellants appealed, and this court remanded for further findings. On remand, the district court again concluded that respondent had suffered harm and was entitled to judgment against appellants in the amount of $95,028.
This second appeal follows.
ISSUE
Must this judgment be dismissed because respondent corporation has suffered no damages because it paid out nothing to satisfy the Wisconsin judgment?
ANALYSIS
Appellant argues that the district court erred in concluding that, under the judgment rule, the mere entry of a judgment against respondent was sufficient for respondent to recover damag
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