Northside Mercury Sales & Service, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co.

• Decision Date: 03 April 1989
• Docket Number: 88-5038,Nos. 88-5037,s. 88-5037
• Citation: 871 F.2d 758
• Parties: NORTHSIDE MERCURY SALES & SERVICE, INC., Northside Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., Alton C. Ellingson and Steven E. Ellingson, Appellants, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a corporation doing business in Minnesota, Appellee. NORTHSIDE MERCURY SALES & SERVICE, INC., Northside Lincoln Mercury, Inc., Alton C. Ellingson and Steven E. Ellingson, Appellees, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a corporation doing business in Minnesota, Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 758

871 F.2d 758

NORTHSIDE MERCURY SALES & SERVICE, INC., Northside

Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., Alton C. Ellingson and Steven E. Ellingson, Appellants, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a corporation doing business in

Minnesota, Appellee.

NORTHSIDE MERCURY SALES & SERVICE, INC., Northside Lincoln

Mercury, Inc., Alton C. Ellingson and Steven E.

Ellingson, Appellees, v. FORD MOTOR COMPANY, a corporation doing business in

Minnesota, Appellant.

Nos. 88-5037, 88-5038.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Oct. 21, 1988.

Decided April 3, 1989.

James P. Larkin, Bloomington, Minn., for appellants.

Craig D. Diviney, Minneapolis, Minn., for appellee.

Before LAY, Chief Judge, McMILLIAN and WOLLMAN, Circuit Judges.

LAY, Chief Judge.

Northside Mercury (Northside), a Minneapolis auto dealership, challenges two evidentiary rulings in the six week jury trial of its numerous claims against Ford Motor Company (Ford) for constructive termination of its dealership agreement. Ford cross-appeals the submission of the tortious interference with contract claim to the jury. We affirm.

Northside commenced this action against Ford in October, 1984, alleging Ford had constructively terminated Northside's automobile dealership agreement. In November, 1985, Northside voluntarily sold its assets and leased its dealership facility to the operators of Brookdale Ford. Northside amended its complaint in April, 1987, to allege that Ford had tortiously interfered with Northside's lease arrangements with Brookdale Ford. After a six week jury trial, Northside's constructive termination claim went to the jury on three theories: violation of the Automobile Dealers' Franchise Act (ADFA), 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1221 et seq.; breach of contract; and breach of an implied contractual duty of good faith. The jury found no violation of the ADFA and no breach of contract. The jury found that Ford did violate an implied duty of good faith, which resulted in a constructive termination, but further found that Northside had not suffered damages as result of this termination. The jury awarded Northside $270,000 on the tortious interference claim, which the district court ¹ remitted to $185,000.

I. Evidentiary Rulings

The sole issue in Northside's appeal concerns two evidentiary rulings made by the district court during the course of this six week trial. Northside alleges the district court erred when it refused to admit certain evidence contained in financial statements of two other Minneapolis Lincoln-Mercury dealerships. Northside claims this evidence would show that its sales performance was comparable to these other regional dealerships. The district court did admit these financial statements; however, they were in redacted form. Its basis for excluding the complete forms was Federal Rule of Evidence 403. Specifically, the district court found that the probative value of the proposed evidence to the issue of damages was substantially outweighed by the danger of confusion of the issues to the jury and considerations of undue delay. After review of the record we cannot say that this exclusion under Rule 403 was a clear and prejudicial abuse of discretion. See Hicks v. Mickelson, 835 F.2d 721, 726 (8th Cir.1987).

The second evidentiary ruling challenged by Northside concerns the exclusion of alternative damage calculation testimony by one of its experts, Dr. Ostlund. These alternative calculations were prepared the evening before they were offered at trial and their existence was not disclosed to counsel for Ford until the morning they were offered. The district court refused to allow Dr. Ostlund to testify in this regard finding that this additional, alternative testimony would result in undue delay and unfair prejudice and surprise to Ford. Northside relies on this court's case of Nutt v. Black Hills Stage Lines, Inc., 452 F.2d 480 (8th Cir.1971), and argues that the proper course for the district court to have taken with regard to Dr. Ostlund's testimony would have been to allow it into evidence and then allow Ford, if necessary, a continuance to prepare for cross-examination. We disagree. The district court has broad discretion in this area. This court will not second guess a trial judge's decision to exclude evidence rather than incur a further continuance of an already lengthy trial. The judgment of the district court is affirmed.

II. Tortious Interference Claim

Ford cross-appeals claiming it was error for the district court to deny its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the tortious interference claim.

The standard for granting a judgment n.o.v. is well-established. Both the trial court and this court must: (a) consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the prevailing party, (b) assume that the jury resolved all conflicts of evidence in favor of that party, (c) assume as true all facts which that party's evidence tended to prove, (d) give that party the benefit of all favorable inferences which may reasonably be drawn from proved facts, and (e) deny the motion if in light of the above reasonable jurors could differ as to the conclusions that could be drawn from the evidence. McGee v. South Pemiscot School Dist. R-V, 712 F.2d 339, 343 (8th Cir.1983); Hanson v. Ford Motor Co., 278 F.2d 586, 596 (8th Cir.1960). In applying this test to the present facts, we hold that the district court was correct in finding that sufficient evidence existed in the record to preclude granting judgment n.o.v.

We, of course, apply Minnesota law. Minnesota cases have adopted the Restatement (Second) of Torts Sec. 766B (1979). See United Wild Rice, Inc. v. Nelson, 313 N.W.2d 628 (Minn.1982); North Central Co. v. Phelps Aero, Inc., 272 Minn. 413, 139 N.W.2d 258 (1965). The elements of the cause of action of tortious interference with a prospective contractual relation are set out in Sec. 766B:

Sec. 766B. Intentional Interference with Prospective Contractual relation

One who intentionally and improperly interferes with another's prospective contractual relation (except a contract to marry) is subject to liability to the other for the pecuniary harm resulting from loss of the benefits of the relation, whether the interference consists of

(a) inducing or otherwise causing a third person not to enter into or continue the prospective relation or

(b) preventing the other from acquiring or continuing the prospective relation.

Ford urges that the two crucial elements of Sec. 766B, i.e., intent and whether the interference was justified, were not proven. The factors to be considered when making such a determination are found at Sec. 767 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1979):

Sec. 767. Factors in Determining Whether Interference is Improper

In determining whether an actor's conduct in intentionally interfering with a contract or a prospective contractual relation of another is improper or not, consideration is given to the following factors:

(a) the nature of the actor's conduct,

(b) the actor's motive,

(c) the interests of the other with which the actor's conduct interferes,

(d) the interests sought to be advanced by the actor,

(e) the social interests in protecting the freedom of action of the actor and the contractual interests of the other,

(f) the proximity or remoteness of the actor's conduct to the interference and

(g) the...