Miller Building Supply, Inc. v. Rosen

RODOWSKY, Judge.

In this case we revisit H & R Block, Inc. v. Testerman, 275 Md. 36, 338 A.2d 48 (1975) which held that in actions of tort arising out of a contract, actual malice is a necessary predicate of punitive damages. Petitioner, an employer whose disloyal employees diverted profits to themselves, contends that its fraud action is not subject to the Tester-man rule or, if it is, that this Court should change the law to exclude fraud actions from the Testerman rule. We shall reject these arguments for reasons stated below.

The petitioner, and plaintiff in the Circuit Court for Montgomery…