Dodson v. Dodson

• Decision Date: 05 April 2004
• Docket Number: No. 63,63
• Citation: 845 A.2d 1194,380 Md. 438
• Parties: James J. DODSON v. Amelia C. DODSON.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

845 A.2d 1194

380 Md. 438

James J. DODSON v. Amelia C. DODSON.

No. 63, Sept. Term, 2002.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

April 5, 2004.

Patrick R. Hudson, Waldorf, for Petitioner.

James W. Almand (Bruce F. Bright of Ayres, Jenkins, Gordy & Almand, P.A., on brief), Ocean City, for Respondent.

Argued Before BELL, C.J., ELDRIDGE,¹ RAKER, WILNER, CATHELL, HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, JJ.

ELDRIDGE, Judge.

The issue in this case is whether, under Maryland law, a trial court may award compensatory damages, based upon the alleged negligent failure to comply with a court order, in a civil contempt action. We shall answer that question in the negative and reverse the judgment of the Court of Special Appeals.

I.

In 1999, the respondent Amelia C. Dodson filed, in the Circuit Court for Worcester County, a divorce action against the petitioner James J. Dodson. A pendente lite order issued on July 30, 1999, inter alia, granted Amelia custody of the parties' three children, granted to Amelia and the children use and possession of the parties' condominium in Ocean City, Maryland, and provided that James "shall pay the monthly mortgage payment, monthly assessment dues, monthly taxes, insurance and water bill" pertaining to the Ocean City condominium (emphasis added). A revised pendente lite order was filed on October 31, 2000, although it did not modify the above-quoted provision concerning "insurance."

There were two separate insurance policies providing fire insurance for the Dodsons' Ocean City condominium. A master fire policy covered the building and the Dodsons' unit, except for personal property contained in the unit. The premiums on this policy were paid by the condominium association, with each member paying his or her unit's share as part of the condominium association assessments and dues. In addition, James and Amelia Dodson had an insurance policy, through the Atlantic-Smith, Cropper & Deeley insurance agency, covering personal property in their condominium unit. The premium for the personal property insurance was paid quarterly, amounting to $56.50 every three months. According to the testimony of a representative of the insurance agency, a bill for the quarterly premium would be sent to James Dodson prior to each due date, and he would then send a check to the agency.

On the evening of December 19, 2000, while Amelia Dodson was at a party and the three children were in the Ocean City condominium unit under the care of a babysitter, a fire broke out in the condominium unit. It was caused by a lighted lamp which was lying on a bed. Apparently, the lamp had fallen on the bed when two of the children were playing in one of the bedrooms. Although no one was injured, the fire caused substantial damage to the condominium unit and to the personal property contents. The insurance on the structure had been in effect, and that insurance paid for the repairs to the unit. Nevertheless, when the Dodsons on December 20, 2000, contacted the Atlantic-Smith, Cropper & Deeley insurance agency to report the fire damage to the contents of the condominium unit, they were informed by a representative of the agency that the insurance policy covering the contents had been canceled on December 4, 2000, for nonpayment of the quarterly premium which had been due on November 1, 2000.

Although there were some conflicts in the testimony concerning the Dodsons' procedures for making sure that bills were paid, it was undisputed that the quarterly premium payment due on November 1, 2000, had not been paid. It was also undisputed that James Dodson had not received the bill for the premium due on November 1st and that he had not received a December 14, 2000, letter from the insurance agency informing him that the policy had been canceled for nonpayment of the quarterly premium.

Prior to their separation, the Dodsons' principal residence had been in Clinton, Maryland. After their separation, and during the years 1999 and 2000, Amelia and the children resided at the Ocean City condominium, and James resided at various places in Clinton, Maryland, and Waldorf, Maryland. A representative of the insurance agency testified that a premium payment, for an earlier quarterly period in the year 2000, was in an envelope which showed a Waldorf return address for James Dodson which was different than the address in the agency's records, and that the agency sua sponte changed its records to reflect the new address shown on the outside of the envelope. When the bill for the November 2000 quarterly premium and the December 14, 2000, letter were sent to this new address, James was no longer living there.

In January 2001, Amelia commenced the present action by filing, in the Circuit Court for Worcester County, a petition to hold James in contempt. The petition referred to the court's pendente lite order requiring James to pay for "insurance" on the condominium. It stated that James "failed to pay" the premium due in November 2000, that the fire in December 2000 damaged personal property belonging to Amelia and the children, that there was no insurance to cover the damage, and that the uncompensated damages totaled $25,000.00. The petition requested the following:

"A. Find the Defendant in contempt;

"B. Order Defendant to reimburse Plaintiff for her loss;

"C. Impose appropriate sanctions against Defendant for his contempt, including incarceration;

"D. Order Defendant to reimburse Plaintiff for the attorney's fees related to this motion and hearing thereon;

"E. Issue the attached Show Cause Order and schedule a hearing at the earliest possible time; and

"F. Grant such other and further relief as this cause may require."

Subsequently, a show cause order was issued by the court.

The defendant James responded by asserting that he had timely paid all insurance premiums when he was given the bills, and that the fire was caused by "the bedroom mattress which caught on fire because Plaintiff left a lamp thereon, and went to a party, leaving the children home with a babysitter." At the hearing on the contempt petition and in a memorandum, James asserted that the "insurance" referred to in the pendente lite order was the insurance on the condominium unit, not the contents, and that the insurance on the unit was always maintained. James also argued, inter alia, that a contempt action was not an appropriate action to resolve the question of which party's negligence caused a loss to the contents, that the use of a contempt action to resolve this issue was "to short circuit due process of law to Defendant," that "[n]egligence is a tort action to which Defendant is entitled to a trial by jury under [the] facts," that contempt "require[s] a willful action or inaction in violating a clear mandate of [a] Court Order" and "does not include and can not be support[ed] by innocent inaction or negligence," and that the plaintiff "does not have the ability to pay" the compensatory damages demanded of the plaintiff.

The plaintiff Amelia asserted that the "insurance" referred to in the pendente lite order included insurance coverage on the personal property contents of the condominium, that James was responsible for paying the premiums and had, in fact, paid the premiums until November 2000, that James's failure to pay the premium in November 2000 was a violation of the pendente lite order, that "[n]othing in Lynch [v. Lynch, 342 Md. 509, 677 A.2d 584 (1996) ] or any other appellate decisions in Maryland requires a finding of `wilfulness' before holding a defendant in civil contempt," that James "may be held in contempt for not paying the insurance premium. . . regardless of whether the Court determines that the failure to pay was negligent or wilful," that "the petitioner in a contempt proceeding must only prove that the money was not paid," and that "a trial court may award compensatory damages in a civil contempt proceeding." The only authority relied upon for the assertion that compensatory damages may be awarded in a civil contempt action was Jones v. Wright, 35 Md.App. 313, 370 A.2d 1144 (1977).

Following the hearing at which several witnesses testified, and the submission of memoranda, the trial judge filed a written opinion and order holding that this was a civil rather than a criminal contempt action, that the defendant James was required by the pendente lite order to pay the November 2000 premium bill for insurance on the condominium contents, "that the defendant failed, albeit negligently, to timely pay that insurance bill," and that "this court finds the defendant to be in civil contempt." The court also found that the negligence was solely that of the defendant; neither the insurance agent nor the plaintiff were found to be negligent. The court rejected the defendant's argument that he should have a jury trial on the negligence issue. With regard to the defendant's inability to pay defense, the court stated:

"Negligently failing to pay the insurance bill does not constitute an inability to obey the court order. Additionally, in the instant case, there is not even a suggestion by the Defendant that he could not afford to pay the small insurance premium as it came due."

The trial court did not address the defendant's contention that he did not have the ability to pay the demanded compensatory damages.

Finally, the court agreed with the plaintiff's argument that, under Maryland law, compensatory damages could be awarded in a civil contempt action. The court awarded the plaintiff compensatory damages of $19,311.00 but rejected the request for attorney's fees, stating:

"The Plaintiff also requests attorney's fees in the amount of $2,461.50. While Maryland does permit an award of attorney's fees in contempt actions, any award is left to the discretion of the trial judge. Because in this case, the Defendant's contempt was negligent, and the issues involved somewhat complex, this Court does not believe that attorney's fees are warranted, and, therefore, none will be

...