Metro Waste Systems, Inc. v. A.L.D. Services, Inc.

924 S.W.2d 335, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1159, 1996 WL 360649
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 28, 1996
DocketNo. 68273
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 924 S.W.2d 335 (Metro Waste Systems, Inc. v. A.L.D. Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Metro Waste Systems, Inc. v. A.L.D. Services, Inc., 924 S.W.2d 335, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1159, 1996 WL 360649 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

PUDLOWSKI, Presiding Judge.

A.L.D. Services (ALD) appeals the trial court’s denial of ALD’s motion for a new trial, made after the trial court entered judgment on a verdict in favor of respondent Metro Waste Systems (Metro). ■ We find ALD’s multifarious assignments of error meritless.

Facts

The evidence presented at trial, viewed favorably to the judgment as required by our standard of review, reveals that in 1989, ALD entered into a contract with Metro which called for Metro to provide trash removal services for ALD at its facility in Fenton, Missouri. The original contract, which contemplated a monthly charge of $119, was executed by Troy Holt (acting for Metro) and Rich Blase (an employee of ALD at the time). Holt testified that upon arriving for the first time at the ALD warehouse, he asked to see the person in charge of waste removal service and was thereupon introduced to Blase. Blase, who described himself to Holt as the warehouse manager, indicated to Holt before signing the service agreement that he had authority to enter such contracts.

The original contract, which covered a three year term, contained a liquidated damages clause; that clause provided that if ALD breached the contract, Metro would be entitled to six times the monthly service charge applicable at the time of the breach. The same paragraph included a provision which compelled the loser in any litigation between the parties to pay the attorney’s fees of the prevailing party. The contract renewed automatically upon expiration unless cancelled in writing, and allowed for adjustments in the frequency and extent of service (with corresponding adjustments in cost).

Metro commenced service immediately after execution of the contract. Over the next few years, there were several adjustments in [337]*337the service provided and the charges for such service. Both parties performed their contractual obligations without incident until June, 1993, when Metro learned that ALD had moved from its Fenton location to St. Charles, Missouri. Tensions soon flared as ALD attempted to escape the contract, eventually claiming that no valid contract existed because Blase lacked the authority to enter such a contract. The lawsuit underlying this appeal soon followed. That action culminated in a jury award of liquidated damages, prejudgment interest and attorney’s fees for Metro. ALD then filed a new trial motion, which the trial court denied; ALD now appeals from that order.

Issues

A. Jury Instruction Eight

ALD’s initial claim of error is that the court erred when it approved Metro’s jury instruction number eight, a damage instruction which is based on Missouri Approved Instruction (MAI) 4.01, which reads as follows:

If you find in favor of plaintiff, Metro Waste Systems, Inc., then you must award plaintiff such sum as you believe will fairly and justly compensate plaintiff for any damages you believe plaintiff sustained as a direct result of the occurrence mentioned in the evidence.

ALD contends that because one component of the damages which Metro sought was a liquidated damage award, use of MAI 4.09 was mandatory and failure to use it was reversible error. ALD did not offer an instruction patterned on MAI 4.09 to the trial court. The only objection ALD lodged with regard to Metro’s instruction eight was that the term “occurrence” needed modification or replacement. Even this “objection” (ALD never suggested an appropriate modification) was arguably waived, as the discussion inaugurated by it came to an unresolved conclusion when ALD’s attorney abruptly stated “Let’s just move on.” However, we will address ALD’s contention because we believe doing so will have some jurisprudential value.

ALD’s argument is founded on Standard Improvement Co. v. DiGiovanni, 768 S.W.2d 190 (Mo.App.1989), a precedent which stands for the proposition that use of MAI 4.09 is mandatory when the only element of damage sought is a liquidated damage amount. DiGiovanni does not control the instant situation, where the liquidated damage sum provided for under the contract was but one of the damage elements sought. Use of MAI 4.09 would have been inappropriate in this case, since the proper amount of attorney fees was disputed and, therefore, called for a factual evaluation. Conversely, there is authority which holds that MAI 4.01 is the correct damage instruction in breach of contract actions. Boten v. Brecklein, 452 S.W.2d 86, 93 (Mo.1970); Hopkins v. Goose Creek Land Co., Inc., 673 S.W.2d 465, 469 (Mo.App.1984).

ALD also seems to complain that failure to modify the word “occurrence” in Metro’s instruction eight was error, though ALD apparently does not consider this argument worthy of a separate point relied on in its brief. In essence, ALD protests that use of MAI 4.09 was mandatory while simultaneously insisting that MAI 4.01 would have been correct if it had been altered. The nature of the modification which ALD advocates remains a mystery, and ALD’s failure to elucidate the question violates Rule 70.03 and precludes further discussion. Steffens v. Paramount Properties, Inc., 667 S.W.2d 725, 727 (Mo.App.1984).

ALD also asserts that the prejudice of this and other alleged trial court errors is demonstrated by an excessive liquidated damage award. While we do not agree, we do find that the liquidated damage portion of the jury’s award must be decreased. The liquidated damage amount awarded by the jury was $1,450, which is the amount requested by Metro’s counsel in his closing argument. Under the contract, the liquidated damage amount was six times the monthly service fee applicable at the time of the breach, or $1,248 ($208 x 6). Thus, the additional $202 liquidated damage award was not supported by substantial evidence, and the trial court should reduce the judgment [338]*338by this amount on remand.1

B. Jury Instruction Six

ALD argues that jury instruction number six was erroneously submitted to the jury because it requires the jury to decide legal questions. Instruction six, the verdict director, stated:

Your verdict must be for plaintiff Metro Waste Systems, Inc., if you believe:
First, Richard Blase entered into a service agreement whereby defendant promised to pay plaintiff for trash hauling services, and
Second, Richard Blase was acting within the course and scope of his agency when he signed the service agreement, and
Third, plaintiff was ready, willing, and able to continue to perform under the terms of the service agreement between the parties, and
Fourth, defendant did not permit plaintiff to continue trash hauling services, and
Fifth, because of such refusal, defendant’s contractual obligations were not performed, and
Sixth, plaintiff was thereby damaged.

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Bluebook (online)
924 S.W.2d 335, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1159, 1996 WL 360649, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/metro-waste-systems-inc-v-ald-services-inc-moctapp-1996.