On May 23, 2017, in Nissan North America, Inc. v. Tustin Import Auto Sales, LLC, et al., No. 16-117-BC, the Tennessee Business Court found that the only remaining defendant, Raymond Enriquez, had defrauded the plaintiff and violated the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by “false, fictitious and fabricated warranty repair claims.” The court had previously determined that it had in personam and subject matter jurisdiction over all of the foreign defendants. The liability of Enriquez was established by default. The trial court conducted a damages hearing.
Actual, compensatory damages were found to be $6,448,088, and the court allowed prejudgment interest on this amount at 8%.
The court also allowed two times the compensatory damages, per T.C.A. 47-18-109 (a)(4), or, alternatively, punitive damages in the amount of two times the compensatory damages. Applying Concrete Spaces, Inc. v. Sander, 2 S.W.3d 901 (Tenn. 1999), the court required the plaintiff to elect whether to accept the enhanced damages under the TCPA or punitive damages under T.C.A. 29-39-10:4
This is a very large recovery against Defendant Enriquez. The Court does not award this sum lightly or reactively. After careful deliberation, the court finds that, as provided below, the recovery is justified because the evidence of record is clear and convincing in establishing a brazen...
