Wallis

Marcia Wallis (Marcia) sued Farmers Group, Inc., and related entities (Farmers) after Farmers terminated her as an insurance agent, and Daniel Wallis (Daniel) sued Farmers after Farmers refused to approve the sale of his agency to Marcia. Prior to trial, Farmers brought an in limine motion seeking to exclude parol evidence to interpret a written agreement between Farmers and Marcia. Following an evidentiary hearing, the trial court denied Farmers’ motion and the matter proceeded to trial. A jury found that Farmers terminated Marcia without good cause and rendered a verdict in favor of Marcia on theories of breach of contract, tortious breach of the contractual covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and fraud. It awarded her $240,000 in compensatory damages and an additional $4,500 for emotional distress and $200,000 in punitive damages under the tortious breach and fraud theories. The jury also rendered a verdict in favor of Daniel on a breach of contract theory and awarded him $175,000 in compensatory damages. The trial court rendered judgment accordingly. In posttrial proceedings, the trial court granted Farmers a conditional new trial on the issue of damages as to…