Farmers Insurance Exchange v. Robert Kyle Morris

Summary

The court affirmed the judgment for Morris on his fraudulent-inducement claim, holding that the at-will nature of his Farmers agreements and an integration clause did not preclude reasonable reliance as a matter of law. It also held that the evidence supported the compensatory-damages award, while concluding that Farmers was entitled to a hearing and written findings addressing the excessiveness of the punitive-damages award. Chief Justice Moore, dissenting, would have held that the at-will language defeated Morris’s fraud claim, and Justice Bryan concurred in part and in the result in part.