Chung v. Kaonohi Center Co.

Chung and his partners (plaintiffs) signed a 10-year commercial lease with Kaonohi (defendant) to open a Chinese food restaurant, secured financing, hired staff, and prepared to open, all with Kaonohi's knowledge; over the next year and a half Kaonohi repeatedly assured them the opening was forthcoming, without disclosing it had already granted a competing right of first refusal to a third party, and ultimately leased the space to someone else instead, returning only the plaintiffs' deposit. A jury awarded the plaintiffs both emotional distress damages and lost profits based on an expert's income-stream analysis comparing their planned restaurant to an existing similar kitchen already operating nearby, and Kaonohi appealed, challenging both damages awards.