Wartensleben v. Willey
| Decision Date | 21 June 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 3455,3455 |
| Citation | 415 P.2d 613 |
| Parties | Thomas WARTENSLEBEN, Appellant (Plaintiff below), v. Ralph WILLEY and William D. Redle, Appellees (Defendants below). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Jack Wolfe, Sheridan, for appellant.
Brown, Healy, Drew, Apostolos & Barton, William H. Brown, Casper, Redle, Yonkee & Redle, Sheridan, for appellees.
Before PARKER, C. J., and HARNSBERGER, GRAY, and McINTYRE, JJ.
The Plaintiff, Thomas Wartensleben, brought a tort action against his neighbor, Ralph Willey, and against Willey's attorney, William D. Redle, for damages which plaintiff claims to have suffered because Willey and Redle caused Sheridan Flouring Mills, Inc., not to complete a contract with Wartensleben pertaining to the establishment of a feed lot for cattle on Wartensleben's land.
The findings of the trial court included a finding that actions of the defendants were the cause of plaintiff's failure to secure the contract with Sheridan Flouring Mills, for construction and operation of the feed lot previously staked and contemplated on Wartensleben's land.
We will not question or disturb this finding. There is no denial that defendants protested the establishment of the feed lot; nor that they threatened by telephone calls and letter to bring an action for injunction on the ground of a nuisance, if the feed lot was constructed and operated at the location selected. The result was that Sheridan Flouring Mills established its feed lot elsewhere, and Wartensleben lost the benefit of a contract he otherwise would have had.
The question for us, on appeal, is this: Under the circumstances of this case were Willey and his attorney privileged to do what they did; or did they unreasonably interfere with the business transaction between plaintiff and a third party, Sheridan Flouring Mills?
The findings of the trial court were against plaintiff-appellant on this issue. It found defendants did not use illegal means, make material misrepresentations, or resort to fraud or intimidation; and that defendants did not employ unreasonable obstructions or molestations in protecting what they believed, in good faith, to be the exercise of their legal rights. On the basis of such findings, judgment was entered for defendants. The plaintiff, Wartensleben, has appealed.
Appellant's starting premise-that the intentional interference with contractual relations, without justification, creates liability for the harm thereby caused-brings no material disagreement from us. See 4 Restatement, Torts, § 766, p. 49 (1939). But we still must concern ourselves with a determination as to whether defendants were reasonably justified in doing what they did to prevent the establishment of the feed lot on Wartensleben's land, adjacent to Willey.
On the subject of justification, it is set out in 4 Restatement, Torts, § 773, p. 87 (1939), that:
'One is privileged purposely to cause another not to perform a contract, or enter into or continue a business relation, with a third person by in good faith asserting or threatening to protect properly a legally protected interest of his own which he believes may otherwise be impaired or destroyed by the performance of the contract or transaction.'
In an annotation on the subject of liability for procuring breach of contract in 26 A.L.R.2d 1227, 1234, it is indicated authority supports the rule that a party to a contract has a right of action against a person who has procured a breach of such contract by the othe party thereto 'otherwise than in the legitimate exercise of his own rights.'
Let us consider, then, what caused Willey to object to the establishment of a feed lot for cattle on Wartensleben's land and see if there was substantial evidence to support the finding of the trial court that the actions of Willey and his attorney were in the legitimate exercise of Willey's rights and not illegal or unreasonable. There is very little, if any, conflict in the evidence. However, it is in any event proper for us, under appellate rules, to construe the evidence in the light most favorable to Willey.
The plaintiff, Wartensleben, and defendant Willey own adjoining ranches. The buildings on the Willey ranch, including the family residence, are located near the boundary fence and within 950 feet of the site which had been proposed for the feed lot. Willey had been informed by Wartensleben that 2,000 head of cattle would be fed at the lot.
Mead Creek flows through both places, first across the Wartensleben property and then on to and across Willey's property. Prevailing winds in the area are such that they blow from the proposed location toward Willey's residence. In other words, the proposed location for the feed yard was upstream and upwind from the Willey land and residence.
While plaintiff contends the waters from Mead Creek are not used directly by ranchers for domestic purposes, they are used for irrigation and the watering of livestock. Also, the water which the Willey family drinks comes from a well which is only 60 feet deep, and waters from Mead Creek are used to irrigate garden vegetables and produce. Willey claims heavy washing of mud and gravel from the Wartensleben lands in the vicinity of the feed yard location, onto the Willey...
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Board of Trustees of Weston County School Dist. No. 1, Weston County v. Holso
...provisions of subsequent sections of the Restatement of the Law of Torts, §§ 770, pp. 81-82, and 772, pp. 85-87. In Wartensleben v. Willey, Wyo.1966, 415 P.2d 613, this court recognized the element of privilege to purposely cause another not to perform a I have searched the available refere......
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Colo. Interstate Gas v. Natural Gas Pipeline Co.
...v. Wing, 667 P.2d 1159, 1162 (Wyo. 1983) (recognizing cause of action under Restatement (Second) of Torts ž 766B); Wartensleben v. Willey, 415 P.2d 613, 614 (Wyo.1966) (recognizing cause of action under Restatement of Torts ž 766). Having accepted sections 766 and 766B, the Wyoming Supreme ......
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Four Nines Gold, Inc. v. 71 Const., Inc.
...6 A.L.R.4th 195 (1981). 1. Four Nines had a valid expectancy as low bidder for award of the construction contract. Wartensleben v. Willey, 415 P.2d 613 (Wyo.1966). 2. 71 Construction, as a prospective participant, was aware of the proposed contract which, if executed, would create duties an......
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Texas West Oil and Gas Corp. v. Fitzgerald, s. 86-9
...Two Wyoming cases with some general relevancy are Allen v. Safeway Stores Incorporated, Wyo., 699 P.2d 277 (1985), and Wartensleben v. Willey, Wyo., 415 P.2d 613 (1966). In Allen, summary judgment had been granted, and then affirmed on appeal. The plaintiff employees were discharged for unc......