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Keywords

contractlawsuitbreach of contractplaintiffdefendantdamagesappealtrialduty of care
contractverdict

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Weisman v. Connors, 312 Md. 428, 540 A.2d 783

Facts

In April 1981, Arthur Connors, a vice president at Ford Motor Company, met Frederick Weisman to discuss a potential job as executive vice president at FWC. Connors was persuaded by representations made by Weisman regarding the position and the company's future, leading him to leave Ford. After starting at FWC, Connors discovered that the company was facing significant internal issues, particularly with the general manager, Robert McCurry. The relationship between Connors and Weisman deteriorated, resulting in Connors' resignation and subsequent lawsuit for breach of contract and misrepresentation.

Connors testified that he was basically content with his lot at Ford but, enticed by Korn/Ferry's representations of the executive vice president position at FWC, decided '[i]f single happy, double happy's got to be better,' and reluctantly agreed to meet with Weisman.

Issue

The main legal issues were whether Weisman made misrepresentations that induced Connors to leave Ford and whether those misrepresentations were the proximate cause of Connors' injuries.

The court held that: (1) issue of whether alleged misrepresentation was made and whether it was proximate cause of former employee's injuries was for jury in action for misrepresentation.

Rule

The court applied the principles of negligent misrepresentation, which require that a defendant owes a duty of care to the plaintiff, negligently asserts a false statement, and the plaintiff justifiably relies on that statement to their detriment.

The court explained: 'There were a number of things that Mr. Weisman said and promised that never came to pass.'

Analysis

The court analyzed the evidence presented at trial, focusing on the representations made by Weisman regarding Connors' role and the company's stability. It determined that the jury was justified in finding that Weisman made statements that went beyond mere intentions and constituted actionable misrepresentations. The court emphasized that the nature of the relationship and the context of the statements were critical in assessing whether a duty of care existed.

The court noted that the jury was instructed 'that a statement of intention to do or not to do something in the future could not be regarded as a misrepresentation unless the speaker was actually lying—that it was not actionable merely because the speaker ‘later changes his mind and acts differently….’ '

Conclusion

The Court of Appeals reversed the lower court's judgment and remanded the case for a new trial, specifically addressing the misrepresentations that were supported by legally sufficient evidence.

The court stated: 'Reversed and remanded.'

Who won?

The prevailing party was Arthur Connors, as the court found in his favor on the negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract claims, leading to a significant damages award.

The jury, following detailed instructions from the presiding judge (Goudy, J.), subsequently brought in a verdict for Connors on the written contract and negligent misrepresentation counts.

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