DISCLAIMER: The following unofficial case summaries are prepared by the clerk's office
as a courtesy to the reader. They are not part of the opinion of the court.
192554P.pdf 08/30/2021 Jo Ann Howard & Associates v. National City Bank
U.S. Court of Appeals Case No: 19-2554
and No: 19-3662
and No: 20-1438
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis
[PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Wollman and Shepherd, Circuit Judges]
Civil case - Trusts. In action alleging defendant PNC's predecessor,
Allegiant, breached its fiduciary duties and abetted fraud in the handling
of pre-paid funeral policy funds, a jury awarded the plaintiffs $355.5
million in compensatory damages and $35.5 million in punitive damages. On
appeal, this court determined that the plaintiffs' claims arose under
trust law rather than tort law and should have been tried to the court. Jo
Ann Howard & Assoc., P.C. v. Cassity, 868 F.3d 637 (8th Cir. 2017). On
remand, the district court held a bench trial and concluded Allegiant had
breached its fiduciary duties to the beneficiaries of the plans and that
PNC's defenses failed to relieve Allegiant of liability. The court awarded
damages for losses to the trusts under Restatement (Second) of Trusts,
Sec. 205(a), but declined to award damages for profits made from the
breach under Sec. 205(b). The court awarded compensatory damages, punitive
damages, prejudgment interest, and attorneys' fees. The district court did
not err in calculating the amount of compensatory damages to be awarded to
plaintiffs; assuming that Missouri law does require damages to be readily
ascertainable to award prejudgment interest in a matter in equity, the
damages here were readily ascertainable and the court did not err in
awarding prejudgment interest or in correcting a mistake in the
calculation; the evidence supported an award of punitive damages; award of
attorneys' fees affirmed.