Union National Bank of Little Rock v. Mosbacher

933 F.2d 1440
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
DecidedMay 24, 1991
DocketNo. 90-1854
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 933 F.2d 1440 (Union National Bank of Little Rock v. Mosbacher) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Union National Bank of Little Rock v. Mosbacher, 933 F.2d 1440 (8th Cir. 1991).

Opinion

BEAM, Circuit Judge.

Union National Bank of Little Rock appeals from the district court’s denial of its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict following a lengthy jury trial. The adverse verdicts stem from Union’s action against the United States Secretary of Commerce to enforce the Secretary’s guarantee on loans made by Union, and from actions brought against Union by Leird Church Furniture Manufacturing Company [1441]*1441and Edward Kutait, Leird’s sole shareholder. The Leird-Kutait complaint alleged fraud and breach of fiduciary duty.

The actions arise from mutual participation in a recovery plan, designed to resurrect Leird, pursuant to which the Secretary guaranteed loans Union made to Leird. In essence, Leird, Kutait, and the Secretary argue that Union misapplied the guaranteed loan proceeds by using them primarily to pay itself on Leird’s prior indebtedness rather than for the benefit of Leird. The jury found for Leird and Kutait on their claims and awarded actual and punitive damages of $5,760,000. In addition, the jury found that the Secretary, due either to Union’s misrepresentations or to its failure to comply with the terms of the loan agreements and guarantee, was not obligated on its guarantee. Union argues that Leird and Kutait did not prove fraud or breach of fiduciary duty, that lost profits cannot be recovered in a fraud action, and that Leird and Kutait failed to present a submissible case of either actual or punitive damages. Union does not appeal the merits of the judgment in favor of the Secretary. Except for our reservations about the constitutionality of punitive damages in this case, we think that the verdicts are well supported by the evidence. Accordingly, we affirm in part and remand in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Leird Church Furniture Manufacturing Company started business in the early 1930’s as Leird Lumber Yard. Not until 1939 did Leird become Leird Manufacturing Company, specializing in the manufacture of solid oak pews and other church furniture. Eventually, Leird’s position in the church furniture market became unique; of thirty-some competitors, Leird was the sole company to produce only solid-wood furniture. Leird’s annual sales placed it among the top dozen church furniture makers. At its peak, in 1975, sales reached $1,409,752, and Leird employed 112 people. Plaintiff Edward Kutait began his career with Leird in 1960 as a salesman. Several witnesses at trial characterized Ku-tait as a tremendous salesman, who, indeed, was successful enough to purchase Leird in 1970. Kutait was Leird’s sole shareholder, and he ran the company as president until its bankruptcy in 1984.

Following Kutait’s purchase of Leird in 1970, the company’s sales doubled in the first year. Sales were $1,070,759 in 1973; $1,083,810 in 1974; and $1,409,752 in 1975. These peak years were due in part to sales made to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At Kutait’s urging, the Mormon Church centralized its purchasing in Salt Lake City in the early 1970’s and Leird became its sole supplier, with annual sales reaching $1,000,000. The Mormon account also created problems for Leird, however, for Leird’s outdated factory in Little Rock at full capacity was unable to satisfy the production demands of the Mormon Church contracts. As Kutait put it: “We just had more business than we could produce.”

In an effort to expand and increase production, Kutait, in February 1974, purchased the Oxford Church Manufacturing Company in Oxford, Nebraska. Kutait hoped that the Oxford plant could satisfy all orders destined for the western United States. At the same time, Leird planned to build a new factory in Little Rock. These efforts together were too much for Leird to accommodate. Kutait had trouble finding skilled wood-workers in Oxford and difficulty managing two plants. Due to its inability to meet production demands and maintain quality, Kutait closed the Oxford plant in November 1976. Meanwhile, the new Little Rock plant, scheduled to open in the winter of 1977-78, suffered numerous construction delays and problems. Start-up was difficult, and, even though the plant was out of production for several weeks that winter and construction overruns were depleting Leird’s cash flow, Kutait paid all Leird employees during the shut-down. These problems were exacerbated by the loss of the Mormon account to a Canadian manufacturer in 1976. Partly in reliance on the Mormon account, Leird’s once-strong sales force had declined to a fraction of its former size. Thus, sales fell to $1,250,892 in 1976 and further to $1,158,-[1442]*1442049 in 1977. Declining sales and debt incurred from construction of the new plant led to losses of $38,543 in 1977 and $214,-833 in 1978. Leird never climbed out of this hole.

Financing for the new plant in Little Rock had been arranged with First American Bank, but, in 1978, Kutait refinanced these loans with Union National Bank through an initial loan of $450,000. From the beginning, Kutait and Leird dealt with Don Denton, a commercial loan officer and senior vice-president at Union. By 1980, Leird's indebtedness to Union had grown to about $600,000, and Kutait began to look for some way out. In late 1979, he became aware of the Secretary’s program, administered through the Economic Development Administration (EDA), to guarantee loans for businesses hurt by foreign competition. Henry Troell at EDA testified that he first heard of Leird in February 1980 through a letter from Denton. Leird’s initial inquiries were met with a summary rejection in March 1980, due to EDA’s concern that Union sought merely to substitute the government’s exposure for its own. Leird and Union persisted, however, and through the efforts of a consultant developed a recovery plan designed to help Leird. Under the recovery plan, which provided for $1,000,000 in working capital loans, Kutait would resign as president and concentrate on rebuilding the sales force.

No one disputes that Leird was in serious financial trouble in early 1980. Indeed, the recovery proposal, dated July 1, 1980, notes that Leird was on course to liquidation within a few months. Given these dire straits and its perception that Union still sought relief from its own exposure on Leird’s indebtedness, EDA again rejected Leird’s proposals. Negotiations continued, however, and in June 1980, Union introduced Roger Morin, a friend of Denton’s who had done some liquidation work for Union, to Leird. Union told Kutait that Morin was a well-qualified turn-around consultant who could help Leird. When Ku-tait objected to Morin's help, partly because of his initial, personal dislike of Morin, who was widely characterized at trial as abusive and profane, Union told Kutait that he must either accept Morin or face liquidation, which would include calling a $300,000 personal guarantee given by Ku-tait’s brother, Kemal Kutait. Thus, at a meeting with EDA officials on October 17, 1980, at which Leird and Union offered a further-amended recovery plan, Union presented Morin to EDA as a turn-around consultant already at Leird.

EDA was impressed by Union’s commitment, which, together with Union’s agreement to subordinate its security on existing loans to Leird, convinced EDA that it should fund the recovery plan. The plan, calling for a $1,000,000 working capital loan and a $600,000 fixed asset loan, was approved on March 9, 1981. Loan documents were signed on April 27, 1981, and Union made its first disbursements to Leird on April 28.

Under the approved plan, Leird was effectively controlled by Union through Den-ton and Morin.

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