Grice Engineering, Inc. v. Szyjewski.

1. This case involves an allegation of clerical error in a jury verdict. Grice Engineering claimed in a post-trial motion that the jury foreperson inadvertently wrote "$2400.00" as the answer to a verdict question when the jurors had actually agreed on $24,000.00. The trial court received evidence, concluded that Grice Engineering had met its burden of proving clerical error, corrected the verdict, and entered judgment incorporating the corrected $24,000.00 figure. Kathleen Szyjewski asserts the trial court erred in several respects. We reject her arguments and affirm the trial court.

Background

2. Szyjewski was a bookkeeper for Grice Engineering. Grice Engineering sued Szyjewski, claiming misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duties. A jury trial was held on April 17, 18, 19, and 20, 2000. The twelve-member jury found that Szyjewski had misrepresented her job qualifications and had breached her fiduciary duties to Grice Engineering.1

3. A series of verdict questions asked the jurors to determine amounts of money needed to compensate Grice Engineering. Verdict question 9 asked: "What amount of damages did Grice Engineering, Inc. incur which are attributable to payments Kathleen Szyjewski made to herself, for which she was not entitled." The jury foreperson filled in "$2400.00" with no comma. The verdict form shows that no juror dissented from this finding. When the trial court read the twelve answers to the verdict questions relating to Grice Engineering's claims, including this $2,400 figure, no juror spoke up to suggest there had been a mistake. The jury was not polled.

4. Prior to jury deliberations during closing arguments, the attorney for Grice Engineering argued that question 9 should be answered $25,858.75, an amount constituting "deleted checks that [Szyjewski] was not entitled to" and the "electronic transfers which were not authorized and recorded."

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Click the case caption above for the full text of the Court's opinion.

¶29. Therefore, the proper application of Williquette in a civil context means that five-sixths of the jurors "must be in agreement as to the error," provided each of these jurors was a part of the original group in favor of the verdict. See Williquette, 190 Wis. 2d at 697. Here, regardless of other arguments made by Szyjewski, it is undisputed that the twelve jurors unanimously answered verdict question 9 and that Grice Engineering presented uncontested affidavits from ten of the jurors that the correct answer to question 9 was $24,000.9

By the Court. Judgment affirmed.

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C.L.