Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Londagin

37 S.W.3d 620, 344 Ark. 26, 2001 Ark. LEXIS 116
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 1, 2001
Docket00-1083
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 37 S.W.3d 620 (Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Londagin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Londagin, 37 S.W.3d 620, 344 Ark. 26, 2001 Ark. LEXIS 116 (Ark. 2001).

Opinions

Ray Thornton, Justice.

We have jurisdiction of this case pursuant to Ark. Sup. Ct. R. 1-2 (b) (1) and (6) because the appeal requires us to construe Rule 408 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence as it applies to the admissibility of evidence of an effort by Wal-Mart to satisfy a customer complaint during subsequent litigation by a third party seeking to recover damages arising out of the same transaction. The trial court ruled that Rule 408 did not require exclusion of the evidence, and the jury awarded damages. Wal-Mart brings this appeal contending that the trial court committed error in denying its motion to exclude this evidence, and asserts three additional points of appeal. We find no error and affirm.

The relevant facts are that on October 4, 1996, appellee, Laura Perkins, took her truck to the Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express in Bentonville. Ms. Perkins requested that Wal-Mart change the oil in her truck and rotate the tires. When Ms. Perkins picked up her truck, she noticed that the tires had not been rotated. Wal-Mart moved the vehicle back inside and rotated the tires.

Later in the afternoon of October 4, 1996, Ms. Perkins was traveling on Highway 59 when the left front wheel came off of her truck, crossed the center line, and struck a vehicle owned and operated by appellee, Johnny Londagin, causing his vehicle to wreck. As a result of the wreck, Mr. Londagin sustained injuries. After the wreck, Ms. Perkins called Wal-Mart to report the accident. Wal-Mart sent representatives to the scene and provided Ms. Perkins with a rental car to continue her planned trip to Oklahoma. Wal-Mart then towed her truck back to their shop and had it repaired, all without cost to Ms. Perkins.

On January 13, 1998, appellee, Johnny Londagin and his wife, appellee, Sue Londagin, filed a complaint against Wal-Mart. The complaint sought damages for injuries sustained during the motor vehicle accident on October 4, 1996. The Londagins alleged that the accident was proximately caused by Wal-Mart’s negligence and asserted that Wal-Mart failed to properly rotate Ms. Perkins’s tires and failed to properly replace the lug nuts on the left front wheel of Ms. Perkins’s truck. The complaint sought damages for personal injuries sustained by Mr. Londagin, including past and future medical expenses, pain and mental anguish, permanent disability, lost wages, and loss of enjoyment of life. The complaint also sought damages for loss of consortium on behalf of Mrs. Londagin.

On February 11, 1999, the Londagins amended their complaint to add Ms. Perkins as an additional defendant. The complaint alleged that Ms. Perkins’s negligence proximately caused the October 4, 1996, accident because she failed to inspect and to maintain control over her vehicle. On March 9, 1999, Ms. Perkins answered the complaint, denying all allegations of negligence, and filed a cross-complaint against Wal-Mart. On January 31, 2000, Wal-Mart filed a separate cross-complaint against Ms. Perkins alleging that her negligence proximately caused the accident.

On February 8, 2000, Wal-Mart filed a motion in limine requesting exclusion of certain evidence. Wal-Mart sought to exclude “evidence regarding settlement and matters relating to settlement.” Additionally, Wal-Mart wanted to “exclude evidence regarding video cameras or lack thereof.” A hearing was held to discuss Wal-Mart’s requests, and on February 14, 2000, the trial court denied Wal-Mart’s motion.

On February 15, 2000, a jury trial was held. After the Londagins’s case-in-chief, Ms. Perkins was granted a motion for directed verdict, and her case was dismissed. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury awarded Mr. Londagin $125,000 in damages and awarded Mrs. Londagin $10,000 in damages. It is from this judgment that Wal-Mart appeals, raising four points on appeal.

In its first point on appeal, Wal-Mart argues that the trial court erred when it allowed the Londagins to introduce evidence of WalMart’s actions seeking to satisfy Ms. Perkins’s complaint. The Londagins introduced evidence at trial that immediately after the accident, Wal-Mart employees came to the scene of the accident, provided a rental car for Ms. Perkins, and towed and repaired Ms. Perkins’s truck. Wal-Mart argued in a motion in limine that introduction of such evidence would be in violation of Rule 408 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence. The trial court denied Wal-Mart’s motion and allowed the Londagins to present testimony as to the actions taken by Wal-Mart after the October 1996 accident.

Rule 408 provides:

Evidence of (1) furnishing, offering, or promising to furnish, or (2) accepting, offering, or promising to accept, a valuable consideration in compromising or attempting to compromise a claim which was disputed as to either validity or amount, is not admissible to prove liability for, invalidity of, or amount of the claim or any other claim. Evidence of conduct or statements made in compromise negotiations is likewise not admissible. This rule does not require exclusion if the evidence is offered for another purpose, such as proving bias or prejudice of a witness, negativing a contention of undue delay, or proving an effort to obstruct a criminal investigation or prosecution.

Id. We have strictly applied Rule 408. See Elrod v. G & R Construction, 275 Ark. 151, 628 S.W.2d 17 (1982) (holding that the mere mention of an offer of compromise or settlement was such an egregious error that the only remedy would be to declare a mistrial). We have held that offers are inadmissible to prove a party’s liability on the underlying claim. Ciba-Geigy Corp. v. Alter, 309 Ark. 426, 834 S.W.2d 136 (1992). The rationale for Rule 408 is based upon the grounds of promotion of the public policy favoring the compromise and settlement of disputes. See John W Strong, McCormick on Evidence § 266, at 183 (5th ed. 1999). The purpose of Rule 408 is to promote complete candor between the parties to the settlement negotiations. Mo. Pac. R. R. Co. v. Ark. Sheriffs Boys’ Ranch, 280 Ark. 53, 655 S.W.2d 389 (1983). However, we have held that Rule 408 is not a blanket prohibition against the admission of all evidence concerning offers to compromise. Edwards v. Stills, 335 Ark. 470, 984 S.W.2d 366 (1998). We have further held that Rule 408 requires the exclusion of statements made in compromise negotiations of a defendant with a third party. See Ark. Sheriffs Boys’ Ranch, supra. We have also held that offers to compromise or settle a disputed claim should be excluded from evidence even if no litigation has been commenced at the time of the compromise. See Hickman v. Trust of Heath, House, and Boyles, 310 Ark. 333, 835 S.W.2d 880 (1992).

In the case before us, the actions of Wal-Mart to satisfy the customer complaint made by Ms. Perkins had been completed before Mr.. Londagin brought his complaint, and if the actions of Wal-Mart and Ms. Perkins constituted an offer of compromise and settlement of a disputed claim, the application of Rule 408 would exclude evidence of such an offer.

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Bluebook (online)
37 S.W.3d 620, 344 Ark. 26, 2001 Ark. LEXIS 116, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wal-mart-stores-inc-v-londagin-ark-2001.