Cleveland Bd. of Education v. Lesko

2 Ohio App. Unrep. 426
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 12, 1990
DocketCase No. 56592
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Ohio App. Unrep. 426 (Cleveland Bd. of Education v. Lesko) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cleveland Bd. of Education v. Lesko, 2 Ohio App. Unrep. 426 (Ohio Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

DYKE, J.

In 1986 appellant, the Board of Education of the Cleveland City School District, brought suit against, among others, appellees, Panzica Construction Co. ( a general trades contractor) and Panzica's bonding company, Ohio Casualty Insurance Company. The complaint alleged, in part, that Panzica was liable for a breach of an express warranty (count two) and was negligent in its construction (count four) of Case Elementary School. Appellees filed a joint motion for summary judgment which contended, in part, that counts two and four were barred by the statutes of limitations.1 The motion was granted without explanation.2 Appellant raises two assignments of error which challenge the judgments on the negligence and express warranty claims.

A.

The parties raise the question of whether or not there is a final order in this case.

In Board of Education v. Regner, et al. (October 26, 1989), Cuyahoga App. No. 56053, 56054 and 56060 this court held that even with the Civ. R. 54(B) language ("no just reason for delay") this court did not have the jurisdiction to address an appeal from a summary judgment on five of six counts when the remaining count arose from the same facts; all the counts were part of one claim and thus there was no final order since no claim was resolved. As here, plaintiff had alleged that a building the defendant constructedfor plaintiff was defective. Id. at 7. In both cases the complaints asserted negligence, strict liability, breach of contract, and breach of implied and express warranties and the trial court denied summary judgment on the contract count but granted it on the tort counts. Id. at 6.

Regner concluded that the journal entry granting summary judgment was not a final order. Id. at 4. Only final orders may be reviewed. R.C. 2505.02. When, as here, a judgment is rendered in other than a special proceeding or post-judgment situation a "final order" is "[a]n order that effects a substantial right in an action which in effect determines the action and prevents a judgment...." Id.

However, Civ. R. 54(B) states as follows:

"(B) When more than one claim for relief is presented in an action, whether as a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim or third-party claim, or when multiple parties are involved, the court may enter final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the claims or parties only upon an express determination that there is no just reason for delay. In the absence of such determination, any order or other form of decision, however designated, which adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties shall not terminate the action as to any of the claims or parties, and the order or other form of decision is subject to revision at any time before the entry of judgment adjudicating all the claims and the rights and liabilities of all the parties."

[428]*428Regner correctly determined that unless "one full cause of action" was resolved the judgment could not be a final order even if it stated "no just reason for delay." Regner, at 7. However, Regner concluded that a claim which asserts a legal right, growing out of a single transaction or a series of transactions, nevertheless states but a single claim for relief even if couched in the form of several theories of recovery. Id. at 6 citing Aldrete v. The Foxboro Co. (1988), 49 Ohio App. 3d 81-82. A claim, as used in Civ. R. 54(B), means a set of facts which give rise to legal rights not legal theories of recovery based on the facts, according to Regner. Id. It reasoned that separate and distinct recovery must be possible for each claim. Id.

Regner insisted that all of the Board's claims arise from the same set of facts and thus assert a single bundle of rights which are intertwined and cannot be divided for purposes of appellate review. Id. citing Aldrete, 49 Ohio App. 3d at 81. Certification pursuant to Civ. R. 54(B) does not produce multiple claims or a final order. Id.

Aldrete cites a number of reported casesbut they are not dispositive because they are cases in which one claim was made but several kinds of relief (i.e. remedies) were requested and a judgment on one type of damages or relief was not a final order.3 A judgment on liability alone is not a final appealable order even if the 54(B) language is present. See Noble v. Codlwell (1989), 44 Ohio St. 3d 92, 96. In contrast, in Aldrete and Regner the complaint raised multiple counts (i.e. causes of action or claims) based on similar facts and this court incorrectly concluded that a final order was not made.

"A final order, therefore, is one disposing of the whole case or some separate and distinct branch thereof." Noble, 44 Ohio St. 3d at 44. (Emphasis added.) "Civ. R. 54(B) was adopted to permit appeal when judgment is rendered on fewer than all of the claims or parties present before the court." Stewart v. Midwestern Indem. Co. (1989), 45 Ohio St. 3d 124, 127. Although a claim is a set of facts which give rise to legal rights "[t]he words 'claims for relief as used in Civ. R. 54(B), are synonymous with "cause of action'." Noble, 44 Ohio St. 3d at 95. One set of facts can give rise to several causes of action. See e.g. Board of Education of the City of Cleveland v. Della Motte-Larson (December 21, 1989), Cuyahoga App. No. 56275, unreported. In Della Motte-Larson the plaintiff also sued after a building roof began to leak. Plaintiff raised the same claims pleaded in Regner and in Lesko.

Summary judgment was granted on all but the contract claim and this court proceeded to address the merits without finding any difficulty with jurisdiction.

Regner, and Della Motte-Larson and Lesko all arise out of the same set of facts: a leaky roof in a building. Each cause of action requires unique facts in addition to the basic scenario in which the defendant built a building with a roof that leaks. Breach of contract requires a contract. Negligent construction requires a legal duty, a breach, damage and causation. Breach of a warranty requires a warranty which could be created wihtout a contract or a legal duty. The relief requested could be specific performance or rescission damages and the right to refuse to pay, respectively.

Thus a final order is a judgment on any claim or cause of action even if the claim has some facts in common with another cause of action arising out of the same common set of facts. Even if the same recovery were requested for two claims (e.g. damages for negligent construction and breach of warranty) the causes of action are still separate. One claim might survive a Civ. R. 12(B) (6) claim and the other fail because each relies on its own facts and is a separate and distinct branch of the case.

Aldrete contended that its tort and contract claims all arose from the termination of employment and thus were inextricably "intertwined." Aldrete, 49 Ohio App. 3d at 81. Claims that arise out of the same operative fact are nonetheless separate claims although the fact that they are intertwined may mean that a final order exists but it would be an abuse of discretion to grant Civ. R. 54(B) certification. Noble, 44 Ohio St. 3d at 97, f. 7.

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Bluebook (online)
2 Ohio App. Unrep. 426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cleveland-bd-of-education-v-lesko-ohioctapp-1990.