Identity theft; Personal identifying information; MCL 445.65(1)(b); Federal grant funds; Compensatory damages; Fraudulent conduct; Wright v Genesee Cnty; Special master; Lost salary; Lost profits; Lease damages; Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); Medical assisted treatment (MAT)

The court held that the trial court properly granted plaintiffs partial summary disposition on their identity-theft claim and did not clearly err by awarding compensatory damages. Plaintiff-Goldsmith and her company partnered with defendants to apply for a federal SAMHSA grant because the company, a for-profit MAT services provider, needed a nonprofit partner. On appeal, the court first held that defendant-Coats violated MCL 445.65(1)(b) by using Goldsmith’s name and credentials while substituting Coats’s own e-mail address and telephone number in the application, which allowed Coats to control SAMHSA communications and obtain grant funds. The court emphasized that Coats admitted she used her own contact information because “she wanted to be the only person to receive notifications regarding the application” and “never intended” to show the award notice to plaintiffs. The court rejected defendants’ intent arguments because MCL 445.65(1)(b), unlike MCL 445.65(1)(a), does not require intent to defraud. The court also held that the damages award was supported by the record. Although the trial court called the award “expectancy damages,” the court clarified that the proper label was compensatory damages because the remedy for fraudulent conduct is to make the injured party whole. The court upheld $360,000 for Goldsmith’s lost project-director salary because she withdrew only after Coats’s conduct, and it deferred to the special master’s credibility finding that SAMHSA did not compel Coats to alter the grant budget. The court also upheld $16,000 in lease damages because testimony supported that plaintiffs obtained the Ann Arbor facility to advance the grant proposal. Affirmed.