Convention Center Inn, Ltd. v. Dow Chemical Co.

484 N.E.2d 764, 19 Ohio Misc. 2d 15, 19 Ohio B. 422, 1984 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 206
CourtCuyahoga County Common Pleas Court
DecidedFebruary 14, 1984
DocketNo. 79-993030
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 484 N.E.2d 764 (Convention Center Inn, Ltd. v. Dow Chemical Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Convention Center Inn, Ltd. v. Dow Chemical Co., 484 N.E.2d 764, 19 Ohio Misc. 2d 15, 19 Ohio B. 422, 1984 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 206 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1984).

Opinion

Friedman, J.

The defendants Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) and Am-spec, Inc. (“Amspec”) have filed motions for judgment on the pleadings on all cross-claims for punitive damages and for summary judgment on the claims of Masonry Systems of Ohio, Inc. (“MSO”) and Kelley Steel Erectors, Inc. (“Kelley”) for loss of business and loss of business reputation.

Upon consideration of Dow’s and Amspec’s motions, the briefs of the parties, and the applicable law, Dow’s and Amspec’s motions are granted to the extent and for the reasons indicated below.

I

Principles and Policy

This action was originally filed on December 27, 1978, by Convention Center Inn, Ltd. (“CCI”) shortly after the filing of a similar action in which the properties of Sarabond, the same product, were put in issue. The first case, Central Natl. Bank of Cleveland v. Dow Chemical Co., Cuyahoga Common Pleas No. 78-992373, went to trial in 1982. The trial lasted more than four months and was concluded in February 1983. The [16]*16parties here have predicted that the trial of this case will be at least as long.

The facts are complex. The legal issues are substantial. The burden imposed upon a jury is enormous. This court will not increase that burden by converting the courtroom into a cassino parlor, with numerous parties vigorously pursuing the prospect of windfall gains in the form of extravagant punitive damages awards.

No party is entitled to punitive damages as a matter of right. There is no vested right to even sue for punitive damages. The purpose of punitive damages is not to compensate. Their purpose is to punish and deter.

“* * * [T]he court in Detling [v. Chockley (1982), 70 Ohio St. 2d 134], supra, stated, at page 136, that, ‘[t]he rationale for allowing punitive damages has been recognized in Ohio as that of punishing the offending party and setting him up as an example to others that they might be deterred from similar conduct: “The principle of permitting damages, in certain cases, to go beyond naked compensations, is for example, and the punishment of the guilty party for the wicked, corrupt, and malignant motive and design, which prompted him to the wrongful act.” ’ (Citations omitted.)” Locafrance United States Corp. v. Interstate Distrib. Serv., Inc. (1983), 6 Ohio St. 3d 198, 202.

The litigants in this case are not pursuing punitive damages solely for the purpose of achieving the social objectives of punishment and deterrence. They are clearly motivated by self-interest. Since courts recognize that few litigants would be willing to pursue social objectives at their own expense, with no promise of reimbursement and no possibility of reward, self-interest is a perfectly acceptable motivation. However, the promise of reward need not be held out to everyone who happens to get sued by an injured party. There is no suggestion that plaintiff is incapable of pursuing punitive damages without the assistance of the cross-claiming defendants. It is unseemly to have the same objective pursued by all, with the cross-claiming defendants engaged in the pursuit solely by reason of the fact that they were sued by the plaintiff.

In pretrial conferences and in pleadings submitted to this court, the court has been advised by all parties that the Bond Court Hotel is in need of very costly repairs. At various times, it has been suggested to this court that the hotel might constitute a public hazard if repairs were not undertaken immediately-

The primary purpose of this lawsuit is to determine whether any or all of the named defendants are responsible for the cost of the needed repairs and, if so, to what extent. The court will not permit the fair and expeditious resolution of that issue to be impeded by extraneous and unnecessary considerations wholly unrelated to adjudication of the rights of the parties.

All of the cross-claiming defendants are free to pursue their claims for contribution and indemnity. All of the cross-claiming defendants will be permitted to seek all compensatory damages to which they may be legally entitled. No private interests of any of the defendants will, therefore, be adversely affected by dismissal of any cross-claim for punitive damages.

Plaintiff will not be allowed to recover against any defendant, absent proof that the particular defendant is legally responsible for damages suffered by the plaintiff. The cross-claiming defendants will be free to demonstrate that any injury suffered by the plaintiff was solely the fault of Dow or of any other party.

It is in the context of those considerations that the court will assess Dow’s and Amspec’s motions for judgment on the pleadings and for summary judgment. The pleadings will be ex[17]*17amined against a rigid standard for the purpose of determining whether they legitimately state claims for punitive damages. The law requires nothing less.

II

Sufficiency of Liability Allegations

Last year, the Supreme Court of Ohio decided Hoskins v. Aetna Life Ins. Co. (1983), 6 Ohio St. 3d 272. The issue before the court in that case was virtually identical to that which is presented by Dow’s motion for judgment on the pleadings. In Hoskins, the plaintiff charged Aetna with breach of contract, and with acting in bad faith in refusing to pay a claim of an insured upon adequate proof. Prior to trial, the trial court dismissed the bad faith claim and the punitive damages prayer based on that claim. Solely on breach of contract, the plaintiff prevailed at trial. On appeal, the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County ruled that dismissal of the tort claim and its attendant prayer for punitive damages was improper. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the matter for the purpose of considering the following issue:

“The key issue presented is whether appellees have sufficiently pleaded a cause of action in tort, stemming from the refusal of their insurer to pay their claim, to allow them to proceed on a punitive damages claim against their insurer.” Id. at 275.

Notwithstanding the plaintiff’s allegation that the defendant’s conduct was “willful and wrongful,” the court concluded that the complaint did “not assert sufficient facts to demonstrate that appellant’s conduct in denying its insured’s claim was motivated by actual malice.” Id. at 278. That conclusion did not rest on the notion that the complaint failed to state a cause of action upon which punitive damages might be awarded in an appropriate case. To the contrary, the court expressly stated:

“Inasmuch as the breach of the duty to act in good faith is tortious in nature, punitive damages may be recovered against an insurer who breaches his duty of good faith in refusing to pay a claim of its insured upon adequate proof.” Id. at 277.

The principle of Hoskins is clear. A claim for punitive damages must be dismissed if the complaint fails to allege facts from which the essential element of “actual malice” may be inferred. Columbus Finance v. Howard (1975), 42 Ohio St. 2d 178, 183 [71 O.O.2d 174].

The cross-claims of each of the parties will be examined for the purpose of determining whether they satisfy the Hoskins test.

A

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
484 N.E.2d 764, 19 Ohio Misc. 2d 15, 19 Ohio B. 422, 1984 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 206, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/convention-center-inn-ltd-v-dow-chemical-co-ohctcomplcuyaho-1984.