Joseph Land & Co., Inc. v. Gresham
| Decision Date | 24 July 1992 |
| Citation | 603 So.2d 923 |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
| Parties | JOSEPH LAND & COMPANY, INC. v. Paul GRESHAM and Martha Gresham, d/b/a G & G Agency. Charles BROWNING v. Paul GRESHAM and Martha Gresham, d/b/a G & G Agency. 1901541, 1901766. |
Sherry Collum-Butler, Frank B. Potts and Frank V. Potts of Potts & Young, Florence, for appellant Joseph Land & Co., Inc.
William Tipton Johnson, Jr., Tuscumbia, for appellant Charles Browning.
William K. Hewlett, D. Marcel Black and James Marks of Hewlett, Black & Marks, Tuscumbia, for appellees Paul Gresham and Martha Gresham.
The defendants, Joseph Land & Company, Inc. ("Land & Company"), and Charles Browning, appeal from a judgment entered on a $100,000 jury verdict in favor of the plaintiffs, Paul and Martha Gresham, d/b/a G & G Agency, in this action based on allegations of breach of contract and fraud. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
Land & Company, whose primary business is hauling freight, entered into a "commission agent agreement" with Daisy Enterprises, Inc. ("Daisy"). Pursuant to this agreement, Daisy was to receive a commission for soliciting business for Land & Company and negotiating leases between Land & Company and independent tractor-trailer owners. Browning was an employee of, and the majority stockholder in, Daisy. The Greshams, along with their son, David, were independent tractor-trailer owners doing business as G & G Agency. The Greshams leased their tractor-trailer to Land & Company through Daisy. During the lease negotiations, the Greshams asked Browning about collision insurance coverage for their tractor-trailer. Browning explained to them that they were required under the lease to obtain collision coverage, but that Land & Company had a group policy under which their tractor-trailer could be insured, at their option, by having premiums deducted from their freight settlements. David Gresham testified that he and Martha Gresham submitted an application to Land & Company, through Browning, seeking coverage under Land & Company's group collision insurance policy. Martha Gresham testified that subsequent to the Greshams' discussions with Browning, and after they had signed a lease with Land & Company, she telephoned Browning to inquire as to whether the tractor-trailer had been insured under Land & Company's group policy. She testified that Browning stated: "Don't worry, it's being taken care of, they're going to send it [a copy of the policy] to you; it just takes procedure." The Greshams' tractor-trailer was later damaged in an accident and the Greshams' driver immediately contacted Browning, who told him that the truck was covered. The record indicates that Browning subsequently contacted Land & Company and attempted to obtain retroactive coverage for the Greshams. Although Browning assured the Greshams following the accident that their tractor-trailer was covered, the Greshams ultimately discovered that they, in fact, had no coverage under Land & Company's group policy.
The Greshams sued Land & Company and Browning, alleging that Browning had agreed to obtain collision insurance for them and that he had failed to do so, that Browning had intentionally misrepresented to them that they had collision coverage and suppressed the fact that they did not, and that they had relied on Browning's misrepresentation and silence to their detriment by not obtaining insurance elsewhere. The breach of contract and fraud claims against Land & Company were based on allegations that Browning had dealt with the Greshams as an agent of Land & Company. The Greshams sought to recover both compensatory and punitive damages. The case was tried to a jury, which returned a verdict in favor of the Greshams for $25,000 in compensatory damages and $75,000 in punitive damages.
The dispositive issues with respect to Land & Company are 1) whether Land & Company was entitled to a new trial on the ground that the trial court erred in refusing to admit into evidence the "commission agent agreement" between Daisy and Land & Company and 2) whether Land & Company was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law on the fraud claims.
As previously noted, the Greshams' claims against Land & Company were based on allegations that an agency relationship existed between Land & Company and Browning. At trial, Land & Company adamantly disputed the existence of such a relationship and intended to rely heavily on the "commission agent agreement." That agreement characterized Daisy as an independent contractor and purported to limit the ability of Land & Company to control the manner in which Daisy was to conduct its business as well as Daisy's authority to bind Land & Company in contract. In pertinent part, it read as follows:
However, when this agreement was offered into evidence by Land & Company, the trial court sustained the Greshams' objection and refused to admit it, on the ground that the Greshams were not parties to it. The trial court's ruling was based, it seems, on a determination that the "commission agent agreement" was not relevant to the case. The Greshams argue on appeal that the agreement was not relevant because Daisy was never named as a party to this action.
It is well settled that a trial court has considerable discretion in ruling on an objection challenging the relevancy of evidence and that such a ruling will not be disturbed absent an abuse of discretion. AmSouth Bank, N.A. v. Spigener, 505 So.2d 1030 (Ala.1986). However, when an abuse of discretion is shown and "the error complained of has probably injuriously affected [the] substantial rights of the [objecting party]," this Court must reverse the judgment. Rule 45, A.R.App.P.
Evidence is relevant if there is any logical relationship between it and the ultimate inference for which it is offered. See C. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence, § 21.01 (4th ed. 1991), and the cases cited therein. In the present case, Land & Company, relying on the well-settled rule that a principal is not ordinarily liable for the torts of its independent contractor, Fuller v. Tractor & Equipment Co., 545 So.2d 757 (Ala.1989); Butler v. Aetna Finance Co., 587 So.2d 308 (Ala.1991); sought to avoid liability for Browning's conduct by attempting to prove that Browning had dealt with the...
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