Good Faith and Fair Dealing Is Not an Independent Tort Claim

7.13.10    By Bob Mendes    Tags ,

In a lawsuit by former wide receiver David Givens against the Tennessee Titans, Givens alleged that the team was aware of a defect in his left knee and did not tell him about the problem. As a result, Givens alleged, he continued to play football until he was injured in a game in November 2006. Givens never played professional football again. Among other claims against the Titans, Givens asserted a cause of action for “the legal wrong, whether styled in quasi contract or tort, of performing its contractual obligations in bad faith.” Givens further alleged that this claim was a tort claim that did not require an interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement in place between the Titans and the NFL Players Association.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, in Givens v. Tennessee Football, Inc., 2010 WL 517411, held that there is no independent tort for exercising bad faith in the performance of a contract. In Tennessee, there is an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing in all contracts. Judge Campbell held that “[t]he duty does not apply, however, to the formation of the contract, and does not extend beyond the agreed upon terms of the contract and the reasonable contractual expectations of the parties.” A claim for contractual bad faith “must be grounded in the bad faith refusal of a party to comply with an agreement which establishes its duties.”

Because there was no cause of action available to Givens without reference to the collective bargaining agreement, the court held that the purported tort claim was preempted by the federal Labor Relations Management Act. Moreover, because the collective bargaining agreement required arbitration prior to litigation, the purported claim was dismissed so that Givens could first submit the claim through the required arbitration process.


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