Justmed, Inc. v. Michael Byce
Opinion
Opinion
MEMORANDUM
Michael Byce appeals the district court’s November 7, 2012 order awarding, inter alia, $41,250 in money damages to Just-Med, Inc. (the “Damages Award”). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.
The district court properly determined that JustMed could recover as damages the replacement cost of the computer source code that Byce converted. Byce does not dispute liability, and concedes that he converted all versions of the computer source he had developed for Just-Med. He likewise does not dispute that JustMed spent $41,250 developing new source code to replace the code he converted. Instead, Byce argues that Idaho conversion law, categorically, does not permit a plaintiff to recover the damages at issue — replacement cost of converted source code. We reject this narrow reading of the law. Idaho permits broad recovery of compensatory and punitive damages, see Luzar v. W. Sur. Co., 107 Idaho 693 , 692 P.2d 337, 342-43 (1984), as well as consequential damages that have been proven with reasonable certainty, see Nora v. Safeco Ins. Co., 99 Idaho 60 , 577 P.2d 347, 351 (1978). The damages at issue here are clearly permissible under Luzar and Nora .