 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Murcott v. Best Western International8/31/2000
nnot Obtain Reversal Based Upon One Component Of Damages Awarded In A General Verdict.
Best Western alternatively argues that Murcott's evidence fails to justify emotional distress damages because the sole evidence of such damage was Murcott's statement that he "had not had a happy day" since leaving Best Western. It accordingly asks this court to overturn both the economic and emotional distress awards.
We uphold a general verdict if evidence on any one count, issue or theory sustains the verdict. See Reese v. Cradit, 12 Ariz. App. 233, 238, 469 P.2d 467, 472 (1970); see also Dunlap v. Jimmy GMC of Tucson, Inc., 136 Ariz. 338, 341-42, 666 P.2d 83, 86-87 (App. 1983) (appellant could not challenge a general verdict because of ample evidence to sustain the award at least for the consumer fraud count). The trial court instructed the jury that, in calculating the damages award, it was to consider both "Plaintiff's lost earnings and the value of lost benefits to date and to be lost in the future" and the " ental anguish and emotional distress suffered by plaintiff." The jury responded by returning a general verdict for $1.75 million. Murcott argues that expert evidence indicated that his economic losses alone exceeded $2 million; Best Western does not rebut the point. Because there indisputably was evidence to support the verdict as to economic damages alone, Best Western's argument fails and the verdict must stand. See Dunlap, 136 Ariz. at 341, 666 P.2d at 86.
Moreover, although Best Western argues that Murcott's lone statement about not having a "happy day" since his termination was insufficient to support emotional distress, it ignores the entirety of the evidence. Murcott's demeanor at trial coupled with his statement constituted sufficient evidence for the jury to consider.
Finally, if Best Western wished to preserve an attack on the sufficiency of emotional distress damages, it should have requested special interrogatories or special verdict forms for each damage component. Such forms would have shown amounts awarded for each damage component and allowed Best Western to attack individual components of the award. Best Western did not do so. In the absence of such special forms, we will not reverse an award well-supported by the evidence of economic damages alone.
C. Murcott's Cross-Appeal
Murcott cross-appeals the trial court's directed verdict on his punitive damages claim. In order for a plaintiff to recover punitive damages, it is usually not enough to show that the defendant committed a tort; the plaintiff ordinarily must show "something more." Rawlings v. Apodaca, 151 Ariz. 149, 161, 726 P.2d 565, 577 (1986) (citation omitted). Murcott was required to show, by clear and convincing evidence, that Best Western acted with an "evil hand . . . guided by an evil mind." Thompson v. Better-Bilt Aluminum Prods. Co., 171 Ariz. 550, 556, 832 P.2d 203, 209 (1992)(quoting Rawlings, 151 Ariz. at 162, 726 P.2d at 578). The evidence must reflect that Best Western intended to injure Murcott or was deliberately indifferent to the rights of others, consciously disregarding substantial risk of significant harm. See id. (citing Rawlings, 151 Ariz. at 161, 726 P.2d 577).
Courts consider "the nature of the defendant's conduct, including the reprehensibility of the conduct and the severity of the harm likely to result, as well as the harm that has occurred[,] . . . he duration of the misconduct, the degree of defendant's awareness of the harm or risk of harm, and any concealment of it." Id. (quoting Hawkins v. Allstate Ins. Co., 152 Ariz. 490, 497, 733 P.2d 1073, 1080). Punitive damages may rest on an aggregation of several pieces of
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Arizona Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|