Park Electrochemical Corp. v. Delco Electronics Corp.

65 F. App'x 602
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit·Decided May 7, 2003·No. Nos. 01-15326, 01-15690·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinions

MEMORANDUM *

We affirm the jury verdicts on appeal, as well as the denial of Nelco’s attorneys fees. We reverse the denial of Nelco’s costs. Because the facts are familiar to the parties, we recount them only as necessary to explain our decision.

1. The district court did not prejudice Nelco by refusing its request to modify the jury instructions on the breach of contract claim. The additional sentence Nelco requested simply repeated, in slightly different words, the explanation contained in the jury instructions given. That instruction stated that the buyer could not “reduce or eliminate its requirements solely to avoid its contract with the seller.” The instruction thereby limited the “legitimate business reason” referred to in the next sentence of the instruction in very much the same manner as the sentence Nelco sought to add. Nelco could not have been prejudiced by the district court’s refusal to adopt Nelco’s language. See Swinton v. Potomac Corp., 270 F.3d 794, 806 (9th Cir.2001) (absent prejudice from instructional error, new trial not warranted).

2. Because the jury found for Delco on the breach of contract claim, Delco argues, Delco cannot be liable on the good faith claim. Embedded within that argument are two distinct issues:

(a) Instructional Error

First, Delco appears to argue that the trial court erred in submitting to the jury distinct instructions on both the breach of contract claim and the breach of good faith claim. Delco, however, never objected to the jury instruction separately setting forth the good faith claim; indeed, Delco offered the instruction. Thus, Delco cannot now complain that the instruction was improper. Fed.R.Civ.P. 51; see also Deland v. Old Republic Life Ins. Co., 758 F.2d 1331, 1336 (9th Cir.1985).

(b) Inconsistent Verdicts

Whether Delco’s failure to object to the covenant of good faith and fair dealing instruction also waived its right to object to inconsistent verdicts is an issue we need not, and do not, decide. Even if we reach it, Delco’s inconsistency claim fails.

Consonant with our Seventh Amendment duty to honor jury verdicts, we must uphold a judgment against a challenge of inconsistent verdicts “if it is possible to reconcile the verdicts on any reasonable theory consistent with the evidence.” Vaughan v. Ricketts, 950 F.2d 1464, 1470 (9th Cir.1991). Where, as here, Delco has waived any objection to the form of the instruction, we analyze the verdicts in light of the instructions actually given. Id. (considering verdicts “in light of the judge’s instructions to the jury.”) (quoting Toner v. Lederle Laboratories, 828 F.2d 510, 512 (9th Cir.1987)).

[604] Applying this standard, the verdicts can be readily reconciled. The breach of contract instruction spoke to the possibility that Delco breached the extension agreement by deciding to close the circuit board plant and thereby terminate the requirements contract. The breach of good faith verdict, in contrast, spoke in more general terms, requiring that “neither party do anything that prevents the other from receiving the benefits to which it is entitled under the contract.” (emphasis added).

The jury could have concluded that Del-co acted in bad faith in the manner in which it implemented its decision to close the circuit board plant. Evidence supported the conclusion that Delco failed to inform Nelco of the final plant closure decision until March 1998, three months prior to placing its last order, even though Delco came to a final closure decision significantly earlier. Evidence also supported the conclusion that Delco had a good faith duty to provide a longer transition period.

There was also evidence supporting the inference that Nelco was damaged by the shortened transition period. Nelco witness Smoot testified that Nelco did not line up alternate customers nor even begin its attempts to do so until late 1997. In both its opening and closing argument, Delco highlighted this issue, disparaging Nelco for “putting all its eggs in one basket,” and for not “trying to take care of what might happen in the eventuality of CBF closing.” Rather than blame Nelco for failing to hedge its bets, however, the jury could have concluded that Delco deserved much of the blame, for failing to provide timely notice of its decision to close the plant.

An internal Nelco document further suggested that once Nelco officially learned of the plant closure, it had to scramble to “retool” its factory, acquire new talent, refocus its sales energy, and do so all with a “sense of urgency.” According to Del-co’s economist, these efforts eventually bore fruit, in that Nelco was able to replace a large portion of the lost Delco business. As it was a permissible inference that Nelco could have replaced Delco volume sooner than it did had it received adequate notice, the jury could properly award Nelco lost profits for the period during which Nelco operated without the benefit of either Delco orders or replacement business. The amount of the jury award — substantially less than Nelco’s request for approximately $56 million, representing lost profit for the entire period of the extension contract — supports our reconciliation of the jury verdict.

The breach of good faith verdict is also consistent with the jury’s verdict for Delco on Nelco’s negligent misrepresentation claim. The instructions relevant to the negligent misrepresentation claim focused on Delco’s duty to disclose material facts prior to the formation of the extension agreement:

Concealing the truth of a material matter is a representation of false information where the concealing party has a duty to disclose the truth of the material matter. A party to a contract has a duty to disclose facts if the party knows that the other party is about to enter into the contract under a mistake regarding facts basic to the contract ...

(emphasis added). As we have explained, the breach of good faith claim could reasonably rest on Delco’s conduct after the formation of the extension agreement.

3. Even if the district court erred in failing to give a limiting instruction regarding certain oral promises Delco allegedly made to Nelco prior to the execution of the extension agreement, that error was harmless. The jury found in favor of Del-[605] co on the claims related to Delco’s preextension agreement conduct.

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Park Electrochemical Corp. v. Delco Electronics Corp., 65 F. App'x 602 (9th Cir. 2003).

65 F. App'x 602 (Park Electrochemical Corp. v. Delco Electronics Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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