Jacque v. Steenberg Homes, Inc.

The representatives of Steenberg Homes, Inc. would not take "no" for an answer. Even after Harvey F. Jacque told them that they could not cross his land to deliver a mobile home to his neighbor, Steenberg Homes' employees bulldozed a path anyway. In the later trespass action, however, the trial court found that Harvey and his wife, Lois C., had only suffered nominal damages. Accordingly, it applied the rule of Barnard v. Cohen, 165 Wis. 417, 162 N.W. 480 (1917), which required it to set aside the jury's award of $100,000 in punitive damages because no actual damages existed. Although the…