Bornstein v. Watson's of Indianapolis, Inc.

771 N.E.2d 663, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1051, 2002 WL 1436545
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 3, 2002
DocketNo. 49A05-0110-CV-468
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 771 N.E.2d 663 (Bornstein v. Watson's of Indianapolis, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bornstein v. Watson's of Indianapolis, Inc., 771 N.E.2d 663, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1051, 2002 WL 1436545 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

VAIDIK, Judge.

Case Summary

Rebecca Bornstein and Jerry Lewis (collectively, the Plaintiffs) appeal the trial court's order granting summary judgment in their wrongful death action against Watson's of Indianapolis, Inc. (Watson's). Specifically, the Plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in concluding that their claim was barred by collateral estoppel. Because we find that the issues of liability and damages in this wrongful death lawsuit have already been fully and fairly litigated in a previous lawsuit, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

On August 18, 1997, four-year-old Derek Lewis drowned in a residential swimming pool owned by Mark Pauley and located on his property. Derek was the child of Rebecca Bornstein and Jerry Lewis. On the day of the drowning, Bornstein's mother, Claudia McHenry, was caring for Derek.

On November 25, 1997, the Plaintiffs filed a wrongful death action against Pau-ley in Shelby County (the Shelby County lawsuit) alleging that Pauley was negligent for failing to restrict access to his residential swimming pool. On January 13, 1998, Pauley filed his Defendant's Answer in which he denied the Plaintiffs' allegations and named McHenry as a culpable nonparty. The Shelby County lawsuit progressed with no other nonparties named or defendants joined in the action. On July 13, 1999, Pauley added James McCann, a safety engineer, to his witness list. During a deposition held on August 11, 1999, McCann testified that he believed that Pauley's swimming pool supplier, Watson's, and Pauley's pool deck builder, Dean Stahley, failed to appropriately enclose the pool or to warn Pauley that an enclosure was needed when the pool was installed in 1994. Shortly before trial, upon the Plaintiffs' Motions in Limine, the trial court in the Shelby County lawsuit exeluded all evidence or testimony suggesting that Watson's or Stahley "had a duty and breached that duty, and/or in some manner is responsible, in whole or in part, for Derek Lewis' death." Appellant's App. p. 118.

On August 26, 1999, the jury in the Shelby County lawsuit rendered its verdict, apportioning fault and determining damages for Derek's death. On the issue [665]*665of liability, the Shelby County jury found that:

Percentage of fault attributable to defendant, Mark Pauley 60%
Percentage of fault attributable to plaintiff, Rebecca (McHenry) Bornstein 25%
Percentage of fault attributable to plaintiff, Jerry Lewis 5%
Percentage of fault attributable to non-party, Claudia McHenry 10%
= 100%

Appellant's App. p. 59. The Shelby County jury determined the total amount of damages that the Plaintiffs were entitled to recover without regard to fault to be $265,000. After reducing the damages by 40% for comparative and nonparty fault, the jury returned a verdiet of $159,000. Appellant's App. p. 58.

Meanwhile, on August 17, 1999, the Plaintiffs filed this wrongful death action against McHenry and Andy Prefontaine, d/b/a Watson's Pools, d/b/a Watson's in Marion County (Marion County lawsuit). The Plaintiffs alleged that Derek's death was the product of Watson's carelessness and negligence in failing to enclose the pool with a fence or pool cover or to warn Pauley that an enclosure was needed. On October 4, 1999, Watson's filed its Answer and Affirmative Defenses naming Derek Lewis as a culpable nonparty. On March 3, 2000, Plaintiffs filed their Motion to Amend Complaint in order to substitute Watson's for Prefontaine as defendant in this case; the trial court granted this motion and dismissed Prefontaine from the action. On April 12, 2001, the trial court accepted Watson's Amended Answer and Affirmative Defenses, which added Pauley as a nonparty. On April 18, 2002, Watson's filed its Motion for Summary Judgment and Designation of Evidence arguing that the Plaintiffs had already "litigated the issues of lability and damages" and should be estopped from relitigating those issues. Appellant's App. p. 45. After holding oral arguments on July 27, 2001, the Marion County trial court granted Watson's summary judgment motion and dismissed the Marion County lawsuit. This appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

The Plaintiffs argue that the trial court erred in granting Watson's summary judgment motion. In particular, the Plaintiffs assert that their claim should not have been barred by collateral estoppel because Watson's liability in the death of their son has never been litigated.

Our summary judgment standard of review is well settled. Summary judgment should be granted only when the designated evidence "shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Ind. Trial Rule 56(C). Therefore, on appeal, we must determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether the trial court has correctly applied the law. Ind. Dep't of Transp. v. Shelly & Sands, Inc., 756 N.E.2d 1063, 1069 (Ind.Ct.App.2001), trans. denied. The party appealing the denial of summary judgment has the burden of persuading this court that the trial court's ruling was improper. Id. On appeal, we are bound by the same standard as the trial court, and we consider only those matters which were designated at the summary judgment stage. Mendenhall v. City of Indianapolis, 717 N.E.2d 1218, 1224 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), trans. denied. We will resolve any doubt as to fact or inference to be drawn from the evidence in favor of the party opposing the motion. Shelly & Sands, 756 N.E.2d at 1069.

The Plaintiffs argue that their claim against Watson's for the wrongful death of Derek should not be barred by collateral estoppel even though the jury in the Shelby County lawsuit already deter[666]*666mined the amount of damages for Derek's death and allocated 100% of the fault for the death. The concept of collateral estop-pel serves to "promote[ ] Judicial economy; in particular, it reduces the amount of court time devoted to retrying previously litigated issues." Tofany v. NBS Imaging Sys., Inc., 616 N.E.2d 1034, 1039 (Ind.1998). "[Clollateral estoppel operates to bar a subsequent relitigation of the same fact or issue where that fact or issue was necessarily adjudicated in a former suit and the same fact or issue is presented in the subsequent lawsuit." Sullivan v. Am. Cas. Co., 605 N.E.2d 134, 137 (Ind.1992). In that situation, the first adjudication will be held conclusive even if the second action is on a different claim. Id. In determining whether to allow the use of collateral estoppel, "the prime consideration is whether the party against whom the prior judgment is pled had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue and whether it would be otherwise unfair under the circumstances to permit the use of collateral estoppel." Id. at 138. In this case, we find that the issues of lability and damages for Derek's death have already been fully litigated and the prime considerations for allowing collateral estoppel have been met.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
771 N.E.2d 663, 2002 Ind. App. LEXIS 1051, 2002 WL 1436545, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bornstein-v-watsons-of-indianapolis-inc-indctapp-2002.