FDP Corp. v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.

749 S.W.2d 569, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 735, 1988 WL 29994
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 7, 1988
Docket01-87-00573-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 749 S.W.2d 569 (FDP Corp. v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
FDP Corp. v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 749 S.W.2d 569, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 735, 1988 WL 29994 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

COHEN, Justice.

Appellant sued alleging deceptive trade practices, negligence, and breach of contract when the advertisement it contracted and paid for did not appear in the 1980 edition of the Southwestern Bell Yellow Pages Directory. After a jury verdict in appellant’s favor, but which found no damages, the court entered a take-nothing judgment.

On its deceptive trade practices claim, appellant contends (1) that the jury’s finding of no damages is so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust; (2) that the evidence established that appellee’s breach of warranty was a producing cause of damages; and (3) that the court erred in disregarding the jury’s liability findings (i.e. that the warranty was breached and caused damages to the appellant) because the evidence supported these findings. Appellee contends that the evidence showed only a breach of contract.

In January 1980, Max Williams, appel-lee’s salesman, met with Frank Prasek, appellant’s president, to sell an ad for the next issue of the Yellow Pages. Prasek testified that he expressed concern that the ad be accurate because of the business’ change of address and the fact that a previous ad had listed a wrong address for the business. He testified that Williams assured him that there would be no errors, that he would make sure that the ad was right, that the ad would be published, and that it would draw customers. Prasek agreed to buy a one-eighth page display ad and signed appellee’s Application for Directory Advertising, which contained a standard clause limiting its liability to the amount paid for the ad. When the new Yellow Pages appeared in June 1980, appellant discovered that although its business was listed in the alphabetical directory, the one-eighth page ad it had contracted for was not in the directory. Nevertheless, appellant was billed for the display ad, and there was testimony that appellant was told that phone service would be terminated if the bill was not paid in full. Appellant paid the charges for the ad for several months. In January 1981, appellee finally corrected its records and credited appellant’s account for all erroneous charges relating to the omitted Yellow Pages ad. Appellant then sued alleging breach of contract, negligence, and breach of warranty under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices —Consumer Protection Act, Tex.Bus. & Com.Code Ann. sec. 17.41 et seq. (Vernon 1987).

We first address appellee’s contention that this was a mere breach of contract case, not a DTPA or negligence claim, and thus appellee’s liability was limited by contract to the amount paid for the ad. Because that amount was refunded prior to suit, appellee claims that the jury’s finding of no damages was proper, despite the findings of liability on the DTPA breach of warranty issues.

In addition to contractual obligations, a contractor has a duty to perform with care, skill, and faithfulness, the breach of which may give rise to common law negligence liability. Montgomery Ward & Co. v. Scharrenbeck, 146 Tex. 153, 204 S.W.2d 508, 510 (Tex.1947). Additionally, a breach of warranty is actionable under DTPA sec. 17.50.

The DTPA is liberally construed to protect consumers against breaches of warranties, sec. 17.44, and its protection may not be waived. Sec. 17.42. When, as here, an express warranty is made or a promised service is not performed in a good and workmanlike manner, a consumer can sue for breach of warranty under sec. 17.-50. DTPA recovery has been repeatedly allowed on facts like those here. Martin v. Lou Poliquin Enterprises, 696 S.W.2d 180, 186 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1985, *571 writ ref’d n.r.e.); Reuben H. Donnelley Corp. v. McKinnon, 688 S.W.2d 612, 613 (Tex.App.—Corpus Christi 1985, writ ref d n.r.e.); Southwestern Bell Tel. Co. v. Nask, 586 S.W.2d 647 (Tex.Civ.App. — Austin 1979, no writ); see generally White v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 651 S.W.2d 260 (Tex.1983).

Because this was a case of a breached express warranty to provide goods or services, appellant could sue under sec. 17-50, and the contractual limitation of liability was ineffective. Sec. 17.42; Martin v. Lou Poliquin Enterprises, 696 S.W.2d at 186; Hycel, Inc. v. Wittstruck, 690 S.W.2d 914, 923 (Tex.App.—Waco 1985, writ dism’d).

Because the DTPA claim was properly submitted, the jury’s findings for appellant on breach of warranty and on causation could be disregarded only if there was no evidence to support them. Navarette v. Temple Indep. School Dist., 706 S.W.2d 308, 309 (Tex.1986). On a judgment non obstante veredicto, we review the record in the light most favorable to the jury’s findings, considering only the evidence and inferences that support the finding, and rejecting the evidence and inferences to the contrary. Id.; Williams v. Bennett, 610 S.W.2d 144, 145 (Tex.1980).

We find more than a scintilla of evidence supporting the jury’s findings of liability on the warranty claim. Appellee’s salesman stated that the ad would be published correctly, would draw new customers, and would be valuable. Appellant’s president specifically mentioned his concern that the ad be correct, because of a previous error in the business’ address and because the address had recently changed, and appellee’s salesman reassured him. This supported the jury’s finding that omitting the ad was a breach of warranty. Point of error three is sustained.

Appellant contends in points of error one and two that the evidence supported the jury’s finding that the breach of warranty caused the appellant’s damages, but it contends that the jury’s finding of no damages was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence.

The DTPA allows recovery of “actual damages” produced by a breach of warranty. Tex.Bus. & Com.Code Ann. secs. 17.-50(a)(2), 17.50(b)(1). The Act does not define “actual damages,” but it has been construed to mean common law damages, Brown v. American Transfer & Storage Co., 601 S.W.2d 931, 939 (Tex.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1015, 101 S.Ct. 575, 66 L.Ed. 2d 474 (1980); see also Kish v. Van Note, 692 S.W.2d 463, 466 (Tex.1985). Lost profits are allowed as DTPA damages. White v. Southwestern Bell Tel. Co., 651 S.W.2d 260; Martin v. Lou Poliquin Enterprises, 696 S.W.2d at 187.

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Bluebook (online)
749 S.W.2d 569, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 735, 1988 WL 29994, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fdp-corp-v-southwestern-bell-telephone-co-texapp-1988.