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Casciola v. F. S. Air Service9/23/2005
No. 5943
Before: Bryner, Chief Justice, Matthews, Eastaugh, Fabe, and Carpeneti, Justices.
I. INTRODUCTION
Phillip Casciola and his wholly-owned corporation, Jetbroker.com, Inc. ("Jetbroker"), obtained $25,000 from F.S. Air Service, Inc. ("F.S. Air") by misrepresenting Jetbroker's ability to procure two Learjet engines for F.S. Air. F.S. Air sued Casciola and Jetbroker for misrepresentation and breach of contract after Jetbroker failed to deliver the engines or return the deposit. Following summary judgment and a damages trial, Casciola and Jetbroker were held jointly and severally liable for compensatory and punitive damages. Casciola now appeals the partial summary judgment order finding him personally liable for Jetbroker's actions, as well as the awards of compensatory and punitive damages. We affirm the superior court in all respects.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
A. Factual Background
F.S. Air is a charter flight service based in Anchorage. F.S. Air has a long-term medevac and personnel transport contract with a hospital in Bethel which requires F.S. Air to be ready to fly on forty-five minutes notice at all times. Two F.S. Air Learjets are dedicated to medevac duty.
Phillip Casciola is a resident of Florida and the founder, sole shareholder, and president of Jetbroker. Jetbroker is ostensibly in the business of buying, selling, and appraising engines and parts for jet aircraft.
In March 2002 the engines of one of F.S. Air's Learjets needed replacement. F.S. Air responded to an advertisement for freshly overhauled Learjet engines from Jetbroker. After inspecting detailed descriptions of the engines provided by Jetbroker, F.S. Air signed a letter drafted by Casciola on March 13, 2002 that listed the terms of the parties' agreement. Jetbroker agreed to broker two engines to F.S. Air in exchange for $100,000 and the cores of F.S. Air's current engines. Jetbroker required an immediate deposit of $25,000 with the remaining $75,000 due upon delivery of the engines. After agreeing to Casciola's terms and signing the letter, F.S. Air's president, Sandra Butler, immediately wired $25,000 to Jetbroker's Florida bank account.
Jetbroker did not deliver the engines. Casciola wrote to F.S. Air on March 26, 2002 that "there seems to be a logbook problem with the engines that we had anticipated securing and outsourcing for you," and asked for "a few more days" to settle the logbook problem. Casciola also asked if F.S. Air wanted Jetbroker to attempt to secure two other engines.
On April 3, 2002 Sandra Butler asked Casciola to return the $25,000 deposit because the two engines that Jetbroker had agreed to broker were unavailable. Casciola agreed to refund the deposit but asked F.S. Air to release Jetbroker from the March 13 agreement. F.S. Air agreed to release Jetbroker from the agreement as long as Jetbroker returned the $25,000. Casciola responded by asking for a mutual release and offering to secure other suitable engines for F.S. Air. On April 15, 2002 Sandra Butler signed and delivered a mutual release to Jetbroker - once again asking Jetbroker to refund the deposit. Casciola replied that the mutual release would be acceptable with a "few minor changes" but expressed his hope that the release would be unnecessary and that F.S. Air would allow Jetbroker to locate alternative engines. F.S. Air accepted Jetbroker's changes and informed Jetbroker that F.S. Air had secured engines from another source and desired "nothing further to do with [Jetbroker], except to get its money back." F.S. Air also promised to file suit against Jetbroker if the deposit was not promptly refunded.
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