Atkin Wright & Miles v. Mountain States Telephone And Telegraph Co.

709 P.2d 330 (1985)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

When D distributed its current phone directory in 1980, it listed Atkin’s (P) phone number in both the white pages and the yellow pages. However, that same number was also erroneously listed in the yellow pages as the number for Michael Hughes, an attorney in the law firm of Allen, Thompson, and Hughes. Anyone who dialed the number listed in the yellow pages for Hughes got P’s firm. D then corrected the problem by changing P’s phone number and placed an intercept to the original number so that when it was dialed the dialing party got an explanation of the new numbers for both parties. P sued for damages. The jury was instructed on negligence and interference with P’s prospective business relationships. The jury found for P and gave general damages of $25,000 and punitive damages of $30,000. D was a public utility, and the premise for liability was not that it was negligent in preparing the phone book but that the intercept that was set up to fix the problem did not always work. P did prove a loss of gross income. D appealed.