## Facts

- John Reynolds and Bret MacFarlane were co-workers.
- In a workplace break room, Reynolds stood at a microwave holding a ten-dollar bill loosely in his hand and was unaware MacFarlane was behind him.
- MacFarlane approached from behind and quickly snatched the bill from Reynolds’s hand without touching Reynolds’s body.
- Reynolds immediately turned; MacFarlane said, “That was too easy,” and returned the bill.
- As MacFarlane walked away, Reynolds struck him, splitting his lip, and later said he did so because MacFarlane “pissed [him] off.”
- The employer investigated; Reynolds minimized the incident and received a one-day unpaid suspension for striking another employee.
- Reynolds later sought medical treatment for anxiety and filed a civil action alleging assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress; the parties dismissed the emotional distress claim at trial, and Reynolds was allowed to add a battery claim.
- After a bench trial, the trial court found MacFarlane more credible, concluded Reynolds failed to prove assault or battery, and dismissed the case with prejudice.
- Reynolds appealed the adverse rulings on assault and battery.

## Issues

1. Whether MacFarlane committed civil assault by surprising Reynolds from behind and snatching the ten-dollar bill when Reynolds had no prior awareness of MacFarlane’s presence.
2. Whether snatching a bill from Reynolds’s hand, without touching his body, constituted a battery, and whether Reynolds was entitled to at least nominal damages absent proof of physical injury.

## Decision

- Affirmed the judgment rejecting the assault claim.
- Reversed the judgment rejecting the battery claim.
- Held that snatching the bill from Reynolds’s hand was an offensive contact sufficient for battery despite no bodily touching.
- Remanded with instructions to award at least nominal damages for battery.
- Disposition: affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

## Legal Principles

- Assault requires the plaintiff’s reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact; without awareness of the defendant’s act before it occurs, the apprehension element is not met.
- Battery does not require direct touching of the plaintiff’s body; contact with an object closely connected to the person can satisfy the contact element.
- A sudden, nonconsensual taking of property from a person’s hand may constitute an offensive contact for battery purposes.
- Proof of actual injury is not required to establish battery; once an unauthorized offensive contact is proven, the plaintiff is entitled to at least nominal damages.
- On appeal from a bench trial, appellate courts defer to the trial court’s credibility determinations and view the evidence in the light most favorable to the trial court’s findings.

## Conclusion

The appellate court held there was no assault because Reynolds lacked prior awareness and apprehension before the bill was taken, but concluded MacFarlane’s snatching of the bill from Reynolds’s hand was an offensive contact constituting battery, requiring an award of nominal damages on remand.


Reynolds v. MacFarlane, 2014 UT App 57, 322 P.3d 755 (Utah Ct. App. 2014)