propertytrespass to landpunitive damagesintentional trespassright to excludenominal damagesproperty rightsdeterrence
Facts
Steenberg Homes wanted to deliver a mobile home to the Jacques' neighbor and determined that the easiest route was across the Jacques' land. The Jacques repeatedly refused permission, showed Steenberg proof of ownership, and again demanded that Steenberg not cross their land. Despite those refusals, Steenberg employees plowed a path through the Jacques' snow-covered field and hauled the mobile home across it. At trial, Steenberg conceded intentional trespass, and the jury awarded $1 nominal damages and $100,000 punitive damages.
Issue
May an award of nominal damages for intentional trespass to land support a punitive damage award? If so, should that rule apply in this case, and was the jury's $100,000 punitive damage award excessive?
Rule
When nominal damages are awarded for an intentional trespass to land, punitive damages may, in the discretion of the jury, be awarded, assuming the other requirements for punitive damages are met. The rationale barring punitive damages absent compensatory damages does not apply to intentional trespass to land because such trespass invades the legally protected right to exclude and causes actual harm even when that harm is not measurable in dollars.
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10 practice questions + 4 AI-graded essays on this case
One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.
In rural Ohio, Mason Reed repeatedly told a paving contractor, Lakeview Surface Works, not to cut across his pasture to reach a nearby jobsite. The contractor's supervisor decided it would save time, drove equipment across the pasture anyway, and caused no measurable physical damage. A jury awards Mason $1 in nominal damages for intentional trespass.
Under the controlling rule, may the jury also award punitive damages?
Explanation. The majority recognized an exception to the general rule requiring compensatory damages before punitive damages may be awarded. In an action for intentional trespass to land, nominal damages may support punitive damages because every unauthorized entry invades the legally protected right to exclude and the law infers actual harm even when that harm is not measurable in dollars. Punitive damages remain discretionary with the jury and depend on the other requirements for punitive damages being satisfied.