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Where (1) a law firm’s office manager exploited her position by charging tens of thousands of dollars in personal purchases to the firm’s credit cards and (2) in a statutory-conversion action under MCL 600.2919a, the trial court awarded the firm both its documented pecuniary losses and its claimed investigatory expenses as damages and then trebled that amount under the statute, the portion of the judgment awarding a trebled recovery for investigatory expenses must be reversed because those expenses are not recoverable as “actual damages” under the statute and cannot be trebled.
“A law firm’s office manager exploited her position by charging tens of thousands of dollars in personal purchases to the firm’s credit cards. Before leaving, she deleted many digital records of those transactions. In this statutory-conversion action under MCL 600.2919a, the trial court awarded the firm both its documented pecuniary losses and its claimed investigatory expenses as damages and then trebled that amount under the statute.
“We hold that MCL 600.2919a does not alter the common-law measure of damages for conversion aside from authorizing a multiplied recovery. Because investigatory expenses incurred in uncovering or responding to a conversion fall outside that measure, they are not recoverable under the statute and may not be trebled. We further conclude that the firm failed to substantiate both its claimed investigatory expenses and its request for attorney fees. Accordingly, while we affirm the award of treble damages as to the documented pecuniary losses, we reverse the award of trebled investigatory expenses as not authorized by statute, vacate the awards for investigatory expenses and attorney fees as inadequately substantiated, and remand for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
“Under MCL 600.2919a, a person harmed by another’s theft, embezzlement, or conversion may recover three times the amount of ‘actual damages sustained, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees.’ We hold that the statute leaves the common-law measure of damages for conversion unchanged, except to authorize a multiplied recovery. Because investigatory expenses incurred in uncovering or responding to a conversion fall outside that measure, they are not recoverable as ‘actual damages’ under the statute and cannot be trebled. We also hold that plaintiff failed to substantiate its claimed investigatory expenses and attorney fees with adequate proof. Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the judgment awarding a trebled recovery for investigatory expenses, vacate the underlying $100,000 awards for investigatory expenses and attorney fees, and remand for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. Defendant, as the prevailing party, may tax costs under MCR 7.219(A).”
