Shockley v. Crosby, No. M2003-00794-COA-R3-CV (TN 9/21/2004)
| Decision Date | 21 September 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. M2003-00794-COA-R3-CV.,M2003-00794-COA-R3-CV. |
| Parties | CARL SHOCKLEY, ET AL. v. JOSEPH F. CROSBY, ET AL. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Tennessee |
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Van Buren County; No. 1218-C; Larry B. Stanley, Jr., Judge.
Judgment of the Circuit Affirmed and Remanded.
Michael P. Mills and Aaron J. Conklin, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Carl Shockley, d/b/a Shockley-Conner Logging and Shockley Logging.
Thomas A. Greer, Jr., Dunlap, Tennessee and J. Hilton Conger, Smithville, Tennessee, for the appellees, Joseph F. Crosby and Opal M. Crosby.
William B. Cain, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which Patricia J. Cottrell, and Frank G. Clement, Jr., JJ., joined.
This appeal arises from a claim filed in Van Buren County Circuit Court alleging breach of contract, outrageous conduct, and assault. At the close of the plaintiff's proof, the trial court granted the defendants' motion for a directed verdict on the outrageous conduct claim. At the close of all the proof, the trial court granted the plaintiff's motion for a directed verdict on the breach of contract claim, and the parties then stipulated that the assault had occurred. The case went to the jury for consideration of the damages resulting from the breach and the assault. The jury returned a verdict of $57,500 for the breach of contract and specifically found that the assault did not cause injury to Carl Shockley for which compensatory damages should be awarded. Nonetheless the jury did find that Joseph Crosby acted in such a way that punitive damages should be awarded. The trial court refused to submit the punitive damages issue to the jury and granted a remittitur of $7,500 on the contract claim. Both parties appeal. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The parties to this appeal entered into a logging contract whereby Shockley-Conner [Shockley] Logging would cut and haul timber from Crosby's multi-acre tract in Van Buren County. Carl Shockley and Joe Crosby were introduced by an intermediary and mutual friend R. J. Bowling, who noticed Shockley's industrious nature and the potential in his friend Joseph Crosby's prime timber and sought to facilitate a working relationship between the two. Unfortunately the business relationship did not go as Mr. Bowling had hoped.
Mr. Crosby and Carl Shockley, with his partner at the time J. C. Conner, entered into the logging contract on May 19, 2000. Pursuant to the terms of this contract Shockley agreed to "thin merchantable hardwood and pine timber, to cut all Virginia pine and 60% yellow pine leaving 25 to 26 hardwood trees per acre." Crosby and Shockley were to divide the proceeds on all timber except for hardwood and pulpwood on a two to one ratio. For the hardwood and pulpwood Crosby was to receive $ 3 per ton of timber processed. The contract specifically provided:
9. LIABILITY
LANDOWNER/TIMBER OWNER shall in no way be liable or responsible for any injury or damage done or occasioned by the action and operations of CONTRACTOR under this agreement, and CONTRACTOR binds and obligates itself to pay and satisfy any and all claims arising on account of its employees or other persons, or damage to any type of property, and CONTRACTOR further agrees to indemnify and hold harmless from against any and all liability, claims, loss injury or damage that is caused in whole or part by the negligence of its agents and employees.
. . .
13. NON-TERMINATION OF LANDOWNER/TIMBER OWNER
LANDOWNER/TIMBER OWNER shall not terminate or attempt to terminate this Contract, or otherwise attempt to stop CONTRACTOR from cutting or converting timber which is subject to this contract after CONTRACTOR has begun work until all timber designated above has been cut and converted, unless CONTRACTOR is not following the cutting agreement of leaving proper number of trees per acre as stipulated by LANDOWNER/TIMBER OWNER and leaving tops trimmed flat on ground.
The term of the contract was to be four years. The tract of land was in excess of 800 acres. Shockley's undisputed testimony at trial showed that during the course of performance Crosby frequently directed the cutting of underbrush and resizing of stumps. The net effect of Crosby's actions arguably increased the burden upon Shockley to perform under the contract. Nonetheless Shockley continued to log the property with the help of subcontractors including his brother Donny Shockley. This increasingly difficult relationship culminated in an incident on November 5, 2001, which served as the basis for Shockley's complaint in Van Buren County Circuit Court.
Immediately prior to November 5, Crosby had voiced concern about the lack of liability insurance covering trucks in Shockley's service. In fact, Crosby had confronted Shockley on at least two occasions, the last being the November 5 incident. Donny Shockley describes the incident thus:
Q. Had Mr. Crosby come back to the back of the property before you got loaded?
A. Yeah.
Q. All right. And what happened then when he came back to the back of the property?
A. Well, he had told Carl that there wasn't going to be no loads go out of there and he basically was just going to shut him down, you know.
Q. Did he say why?
A. Well, when he spoke to me, I told him he would have to talk with Carl, you know. But it was because like I didn't have no insurance on my truck.
Q. Okay. Were you aware of any rule or law that required you to have insurance on your logging truck at that time?
A. There weren't none.
Q. Were you aware of any contractual provisions between you and Carl Shockley that you have insurance?
A. No.
Q. Did you work for Carl as far as your hauling, or did you work for Mr. Crosby?
A. I worked for Carl.
Q. You never had any direct dealing as far as Mr. Crosby?
A. No.
Q. He didn't pay you?
A. No.
Q. After Mr. Crosby came to the back of the property while ya'll were loading and said there wasn't going to be any more hauling off there that day, what did ya'll do?
A. Well, Carl, he told me to haul it out of there, you know, take the load out, and that's what I did. I was working for him.
Q. And did you head towards the front of the property?
A. Yes.
Q. Which road were you heading towards? Which highway?
A. I was heading to 111.
Q. All right. And did you get there?
A. No.
Q. What happened before you got there?
A. Mr. Crosby stopped me and blocked the road.
Q. How did he block the road?
A. He pulled the truck crossways with a trailer behind it and then just got out of the truck with the gun. He just had — you know, he was pointing at me. So I called Carl on the radio, CB, told him what was happening. And Carl told me just get out of the truck and he would be right there.
Q. Did you say anything to Mr. Crosby while you were waiting?
A. No.
Q. Did he say anything else to you?
A. He just told me I wasn't going to take that truck out of there.
Q. Did you threaten him in any way?
A. No.
Q. Did you move like you were going to hit him?
A. No.
Q. Did you grab a gun?
A. No.
Q. A knife?
A. No.
Q. Pick up a stick, anything?
A. I froze.
Q. Okay. How long was it before Carl came up?
A. Probably just minutes.
. . . .
Q. And did ya'll leave?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. Did you leave your truck there?
A. Yes.
Q. Loaded?
A. Yes, it was loaded.
Q. Did ya'll get it back later?
A. Later we did, yes.
Q. Mr. Crosby let you go get it?
A. Yes.
Q. All right. You hauled it on out of there then?
A. Yeah.
Q. Did you ever talk to Mr. Crosby after that?
A. Huh-uh (negative).
Q. How did Mr. Crosby look when he was standing there holding that gun?
A. He looked scared, you know, or shook up. I was pretty scared myself.
His version tracks fairly closely to that given by the plaintiff in his testimony:
Q. Are we on November 5, 2001 now?
A. Yes.
Q. Last day?
A. Last day.
Q. What happened?
A. He come up with a little guy. I can't remember his name. I can't remember. I always called him little bald-headed guy. You know, not meaning no disrespect.
Q. I didn't take any. I've got a little left.
A. Anyhow, he was leaned over on the hood, and Joe got out of his truck and come over there, and I was loading the truck. And I shut the knuckleboom off. Joe said: I told you, you ain't taking another truck out of here without insurance — or that truck. It may have been that truck, I'm not sure about that.
I said, Joe, I've got a contract to fill, and I got bills. And I said, now — I don't know if this is exactly the way I worded it, but anyhow, I told him to either get a court order or the law to put me out of there.
And he said, I've got your court order at the gate. But there ain't no gate anywhere on that property.
Q. What was he talking about with the gate, did you know?
A. I figured he was going to have the law there, is what I figured.
Q. Out at the front of the property?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What was your understanding about the conversations that had gone on before that between the lawyers?
A. To my knowledge, I had the right to keep right on working. That's what you told me.
Q. Go ahead from there then.
A. Donny went out with the truck. We finished loading it. I don't know, it was fifteen minutes, I guess. It was maybe a little longer, maybe a few minutes less. Donny went out, and the next thing I know, I heard the radio, CB radio saying: You better come over here.
Q. It was Donny?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay.
A. So me and Toby just got in the truck and drove over there.
. . . .
Q. Okay.
A. And when we pulled up and Donny was setting in the road, we kindly pulled over to the side of the back of Donny's truck where we could see. And Joe was standing there with a gun on Donny. And Donny was standing in front of the truck.
Q. How was Mr. Crosby holding the gun?
A. This (indicating). Not like this (indicating). But like that (indicating), with the barrel towards Donny.
Q. And you and Toby got out...
To continue reading
Request your trial