Woodline Motor Freight, Inc. v. Troutman Oil Co,. Inc.

938 S.W.2d 565 (1997)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Belcher was driving his automobile when he collided with a tractor-trailer driven by William Moore, an employee of Woodline (D). Moore lost control of his rig and crashed into a convenience store and gas station owned by Troutman Oil (P) and leased by Crosland. Ps sued Belcher and D for negligence. Troutman claimed $202,000.00 in property damage and $175,500.00 in lost profits, while Crosland claimed $31,426.05 in property damage and $150,000.00 in lost profits. Belcher was found to be 80 percent at fault and Woodline 20 percent at fault. The jury returned a special verdict awarding Troutman $100,000.00 for property damage and $15,000.00 for lost profits, and Crosland $31,426.05 for property damage and $24,000.00 for lost profits. The trial court awarded prejudgment interest on the property damage at the rate of six percent per annum. D appealed arguing that the prejudgment interest should not have been allowed because (1) the underlying case is a tort case; (2) the amount of damages was not immediately ascertainable at the time of loss; and (3) the award constitutes a double recovery.