General Steel Domestic Sales, LLC v. Bacheller

The issue before the Supreme Court in this case came from the court of appeals' unpublished decision in "Bacheller v. General Steel Domestic Sales, LLC," and centered on the determination of the applicability of "Protect Our Mountain Environment, Inc. v. District Court," (677 P.2d 1361 (Colo. 1984) ("POME")) to this case and the propriety of the trial court's decision to a treble and exemplary damages award. Bacheller sued General Steel, Discount Steel, and those companies' presidents for abuse of process, malicious prosecution, and civil conspiracy, based on their filing an arbitration complaint against him. The court of appeals held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to include additional elements reflecting POME's heightened standard in the jury instruction for Bacheller's malicious prosecution claims. The court of appeals also held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by trebling an exemplary damages award against General Steel and Discount Steel. Upon review, the Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court: "POME does not apply where, as here, the underlying alleged petitioning activity was the filing of an arbitration complaint that led to a purely private dispute." View "General Steel Domestic Sales, LLC v. Bacheller" on Justia Law