Commercial Painting Company, Inc. v. The Weitz Company, LLC

Syllabus

The economic loss doctrine generally precludes a contracting party who suffers only economic losses from recovering damages in tort. In Tennessee, the application of this doctrine is limited to products liability cases. In this appeal, we consider whether the economic loss doctrine should be expanded to apply outside the products liability context. A jury awarded compensatory and punitive damages to a drywall subcontractor in a suit against a general contractor under theories of breach of contract and tort. The Court of Appeals applied the economic loss doctrine to preclude the recovery of damages in tort in a suit between sophisticated commercial entities. The intermediate court, in part, affirmed the award of compensatory damages for breach of contract, dismissed the tort claim, and reversed the award for punitive damages. We hold the economic loss doctrine only applies in products liability cases and should not be extended to other claims.