Safeco Insurance Co. of America v. County of San Bernardino

MEMORANDUM **

The County of San Bernardino (the “County”) appeals the district court’s award of damages, interest penalties, and attorney fees for the County’s breach of a construction contract with L.T. Engineering, Inc. (“LTE”). The County does not contest its breach-of-contract liability but challenges the damages award in favor of Safeco Insurance Co. (“Safeco”), assignee and subrogee of LTE. Our decision in this case is controlled by the standard of review, and we review the district court’s award of actual damages for clear error. Jarvis v. K2 Inc., 486 F.3d 526, 529 (9th Cir.2007). We affirm.

The County argues that the admitted evidence in the record did not support the award for lost productivity, which was based on the testimony of Safeco’s expert witness. Safeeo’s expert may rely in an appropriate case, however, on inadmissible data that others collected. See Fed. R.Evid. 703; Southland Sod Farms v. Stover Seed Co., 108 F.3d 1134, 1142 (9th Cir.1997). Safeco’s expert also had extensive knowledge of the underlying facts supporting his testimony, and his conclusions were based on project records and consistent with evidence admitted at trial. We conclude that there was…