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Jensen v. Walsh3/22/2001
In this bitter dispute between neighbors, we consider whether punitive damages are available in an action for intentional damage to property where the only damage is to property. We hold that a plaintiff may seek punitive damages in an action for intentional damage to property. We reverse the court of appeals and remand to the district court.
Appellants M. Jay and Patricia Jensen and respondents James and Patricia Walsh owned land adjacent to one another along a channel of the Mississippi River. The Jensens lived in their houseboat, moored along the bank of the channel, and rented the house on their property to appellants William and Celeste Spooner. William Spooner is Patricia Jensen's nephew. The Walshes maintained that the Jensens' houseboat restricted their access to the river.
Respondent Timothy Schacher, a business associate of respondent James Walsh, admitted that the following acts occurred in the summer of 1996 in an effort to drive the Jensens from the property or, at least, to convince them to remove the houseboat. James Walsh and Schacher stole the Jensens' electric meter and Schacher cut the Jensens' telephone line. Early in the morning of the day that the Spooners were to be married at the Jensen property, Schacher and Patricia Walsh's daughter, S.W., apparently with Patricia Walsh's knowledge, spray-painted an obscenity and "welcome" on the Jensens' garage and threw eggs against the houseboat and other property. Schacher and S.W. took the Walshes' cordless drill and S.W. used the drill to puncture tires on vehicles parked at the Jensen property. In addition, James Walsh pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct for operating his boat in an alarming manner near the Jensens' houseboat.
The Jensens brought an action against the Walshes and Schacher for intentional damage to property and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The district court granted the Walshes' motion for partial summary judgment, dismissing the Jensens' emotional distress claim. The Jensens later moved to amend their complaint to include a claim for punitive damages and the district court denied the motion, concluding that punitive damages are not available where the only damage is to property. Before trial, the parties stipulated to a settlement for the property damage with the Walshes and Schacher paying damages of $5,765 to the Jensens. The stipulation, however, reserved the Jensens' right to appeal both the partial summary judgment dismissing their emotional distress claim and the district court's order denying their motion to amend their complaint to include a claim for punitive damages. The court of appeals affirmed the partial summary judgment dismissing the Jensens' emotional distress claim and the order denying the Jensens' motion to amend their complaint to include a punitive damages claim, concluding that punitive damages were not available in the absence of personal injury .
The only issue on appeal to this court is the legal issue of whether punitive damages are available in an action for intentional damage to property where the only damage is to property. We review legal issues de novo. See Marzitelli v. City of Little Canada, 582 N.W.2d 904, 905 (Minn. 1998).
Two lines of authority converge to form our analysis of the issue, our common law and our statutory law, specifically the punitive damages statute, Minn. Stat. ยง 549.20 (2000). The statute was intended to codify our common law on punitive damages. Lewis v. Equitable Life Assurance Soc'y, 389 N.W.2d 876, 891 (Minn. 1986).
We begin with a brief review of the availability of punitive damages under our common law, limiting our inquiry to actions where the only damage is to property
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