Formosa Plastics Corp., USA v. Presidio Engineers and Contractors, Inc.

Formosa (defendant) solicited bids for a construction expansion project, representing in its bid invitation that contractors would control material scheduling and delivery and that the project would take 90 days, inducing Presidio (plaintiff) to submit the lowest bid based on an expected 120-day completion. In reality, Formosa had already privately arranged its own material ordering to cut costs and scheduled multiple contractors doing conflicting work in the same space simultaneously, causing the project to take over eight months; Formosa also refused to fully pay delay damages it owed. Presidio sued for breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, and fraudulent performance; a jury awarded $1.5 million in fraud damages, $10 million in punitive damages, and $1.267 million on the contract claim, and after remittitur and Presidio's election of tort damages, the trial court entered judgment for $700,000 actual damages plus $10 million punitive; the court of appeals affirmed, and Formosa appealed to the Texas Supreme Court.