Bosley v. Singleton

237 F.R.D. 401, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27120, 2005 WL 4723887
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedNovember 9, 2005
DocketNo. 1:04-CV-00513
StatusPublished

This text of 237 F.R.D. 401 (Bosley v. Singleton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bosley v. Singleton, 237 F.R.D. 401, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27120, 2005 WL 4723887 (S.D. Ohio 2005).

Opinion

ORDER

SPIEGEL, Senior District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment (doc. 25), Defendant’s Memorandum in Opposition (doe. 32), and Plaintiffs’ Reply (doc. 35). Also before the Court is the parties’ Joint Motion to Continue Trial Date (doe. 36).

I. Background

The facts of this ease can be fairly summarized as follows. This diversity case arises out of an altercation between Plaintiff Gregory D. Bosley and Defendant Jerome Singleton, on August 16, 2003 (doc. 1). Plaintiff, a resident of Kentucky, had parked his van near or on Defendant’s property, and Defendant, a resident of Ohio, asked Plaintiff to move the vehicle away (Id.). After Plaintiff repeatedly refused to move, Defendant started up a front end loader/forklift and drove it to where Plaintiff was sitting (Id.). Defendant waved for Plaintiff to move, and Plaintiff again refused (Id.). Defendant then slid the forks of the loader under Plaintiffs van and began to lift it (Id.). Defendant let the van down again, backed out, and again motioned for Plaintiff to move (Id.). Plaintiff still refused, so Defendant slid the forks back under the van again, raised it two feet off the ground, shifted the loader toward the road, and moved out to middle of the road and set the van down (Id.). Although the parties’ versions of the events differ slightly1, and although the parties appear to dispute whether Plaintiff was trespassing on Defendant’s property, there is no dispute that Defendant subsequently pled guilty to negligent assault2 in the Clermont County Court of Common Pleas in relation to his actions on August 16, 2003.

On August 5, 2004, Plaintiffs filed their five-count Complaint, alleging 1) an action in negligence, 2) assault, 3) battery, 4)negli-gence per se, and 5)claims for loss of consortium (doc. 1). Plaintiffs request punitive and compensatory damages, court costs and attorney fees, pre and post judgment interest, and any other relief to which they might be entitled (Id.). On September 30, 2005, Plaintiffs filed the present motion for summary judgment, arguing there is no genuine issue of material fact as to Defendant’s negligence, and they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law (doc. 25).

II. The Legal Standard for a Motion for Summary Judgment

Although a grant of summary judgment is not a substitute for trial, it is appropriate “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show 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.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; see also, e.g., Poller v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 368 U.S. 464, 82 S.Ct. 486, 7 L.Ed.2d 458 (1962); LaPointe v. United Autoworkers Local 600, 8 F.3d 376, 378 (6th Cir.1993); Osborn v. Ashland County Bd. of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Servs., 979 F.2d 1131, 1133 (6th Cir.1992)(per curiam). In reviewing the instant [403]*403motion, “this Court must determine whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law.” Patton v. Bearden, 8 F.3d 343, 346 (6th Cir.1993), quoting in part Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986)(internal quotation marks omitted).

The process of moving for and evaluating a motion for summary judgment and the respective burdens it imposes upon the movant and the non-movant are well settled. First, “a party seeking summary judgment ... bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of [the record] which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact[.]” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); see also LaPointe, 8 F.3d at 378; Guarino v. Brookfield Township Trustees, 980 F.2d 399, 405 (6th Cir.1992); Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1479 (6th Cir.1989). The movant may do so by merely identifying that the nonmoving party lacks evidence to support an essential element of its ease. See Barnhart v. Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling Co., L.P.A., 12 F.3d 1382, 1389 (6th Cir.1993).

Faced with such a motion, the nonmovant, after completion of sufficient discovery, must submit evidence in support of any material element of a claim or defense at issue in the motion on which it would bear the burden of proof at trial, even if the moving party has not submitted evidence to negate the existence of that material fact. See Celotex, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265; Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). As the “requirement [of the Rule] is that there be no genuine issue of material fact,” an “alleged factual dispute between the parties” as to some ancillary matter “will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (emphasis added); see generally Booker v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co., Inc., 879 F.2d 1304, 1310 (6th Cir.1989). Furthermore, “[t]he mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the [non-movant’s] position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the [non-movant].” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505; see also Gregory v. Hunt, 24 F.3d 781, 784 (6th Cir.1994). Accordingly, the non-movant must present “significant probative evidence” demonstrating that “there is [more than] some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts” to survive summary judgment and proceed to trial on the merits. Moore v. Philip Morris Cos., Inc., 8 F.3d 335, 339-40 (6th Cir.1993); see also Celotex, 477 U.S. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548; Guarino, 980 F.2d at 405.

Although the non-movant need not cite specific page numbers of the record in support of its claims or defenses, “the designated portions of the record must be presented with enough specificity that the district court can readily identify the facts upon which the non-moving party relies.” Guarino,

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Bluebook (online)
237 F.R.D. 401, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27120, 2005 WL 4723887, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bosley-v-singleton-ohsd-2005.