Countrymark Cooperative, Inc. v. Hammes

892 N.E.2d 683, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1959, 2008 WL 3982879
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 29, 2008
Docket29A02-0712-CV-1142
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 892 N.E.2d 683 (Countrymark Cooperative, Inc. v. Hammes) 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
Countrymark Cooperative, Inc. v. Hammes, 892 N.E.2d 683, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1959, 2008 WL 3982879 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

OPINION

BROWN, Judge.

Countrymark Cooperative, Inc., (“Coun-trymark, Inc.”) and Countrymark Cooperative, LLP, (“Countrymark, LLP”) (collectively, “Countrymark”) appeal a judgment in favor of Joseph Hammes, Trustee of Stephen Turner, (“Turner”). Country-mark raises three issues, which we revise and restate as:

I. Whether the trial court erred by denying Countrymark’s motion for summary judgment;
II. Whether the trial court erred by granting Turner’s motion to amend his complaint to conform to the evidence; and
III. Whether the trial court erred by denying Countrymark’s motion for judgment on the evidence pursuant to Ind. Trial Rule 50.

We affirm.

The relevant facts follow. Turner was employed as a truck driver for B & R Oil and hauled gasoline to gas stations. He frequently visited Countrymark’s Joliet-ville terminal to pick up gasoline. On February 15, 2004, Turner went to the Jolietville terminal to pick up gasoline. As Turner was pulling into the Jolietville terminal, he noticed two people backing a fishing boat into the pipeline maintenance building, which is located approximately 100 yards from the gas racks. As Turner was placing fuel in the tanker, the meter on the gas racks malfunctioned, and Turner could not complete the loading of his fuel. Turner was unable to locate a terminal employee despite repeated attempts. In an effort to obtain help, Turner decided to walk to the pipeline maintenance building. As Turner approached the building, he noticed that there was ice on the pavement in front of both doors. Turner attempted to walk across the ice, but he fell and sustained injuries.

Turner filed a complaint against Coun-trymark, Inc., for his personal injuries. The complaint alleged that Countrymark, Inc., was doing business at 17710 Mule Barn Road, Westfield, Indiana. Country-mark, LLP, filed an answer to the complaint and admitted that Countrymark, LLP, did business at the property in question. Turner later filed a motion for leave to amend his complaint to substitute Ham-mes, trustee of Turner’s bankruptcy proceeding, as the plaintiff in the case, which the trial court granted. Countrymark, LLP, again filed an answer to the complaint and admitted that it did business at the property in question.

Countrymark, Inc., then filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that it did not owe a duty to Turner because Turner was not “trained or authorized to approach the pipeline maintenance building....” Appellant’s Appendix at 26. Further, Countrymark, Inc., argued that, even if it owed a duty to Turner as an invitee, Coun-trymark could not be liable because the danger was obvious. After striking Turner’s response to the motion for summary judgment, the trial court denied Country-mark’s motion for summary judgment. Specifically, the trial court found:

⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜ ⅜:
4. That the Court has reviewed the Terminal Loading Rules and Instructions between the Plaintiff and the Defendant. The Court finds that the Plaintiff was under an affirmative duty under Section 3.1 to “report any mechanical problems ... to terminal personnel.” The Plaintiff was attempting to fulfill this affirmative duty when the accident occurred. The Plaintiff had attempted several options to report *687 the problem and obtain help at the racks including setting off the alarms before he proceeded to the location of the accident. Therefore, since the Plaintiff was attempting to fulfill his duty and obtain help, the Plaintiff is to be considered a business invitee at the location of the incident.
5. That although Plaintiff was considered a business invitee[,] the Court of Appeals in Tate v. Cambridge Commons Apts., 712 N.E.2d 525 (Ind.Ct.App.1999), held that a business is not liable to his invitee for physical harm caused to them by an activity or condition on the land, which danger is obvious to the invitee, unless the landowner should anticipate the harm. The court went on to state that without a strong compelling reason requiring the Plaintiff to walk across the dangerous condition there would be no liability. In Tate the Court found that there was no evidence presented that there was not another route that could have been taken to avoid the dangerous conditions.
6. That the evidence that has been submitted in this case shows that it is a jury question if there was a strong compelling reason for the Plaintiff to walk across the ice to notify terminal personnel of the problem he was experiencing with the terminal. In addition, the Defendant has submitted portions of the deposition of the Plaintiff in which the jury could find that this was the only route that the Plaintiff could take to obtain entry into the building.
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Appellant’s Appendix at 80.

A jury trial was held in October 2007. After Turner rested his ease, Country-mark requested judgment on the evidence pursuant to Ind. Trial Rule 50. Country-mark argued that Countrymark, Inc., was not the owner of the property in question at the time of the accident and that the property was owned by Countrymark, LLP, at all relevant times. Turner moved to amend the pleadings to conform to the evidence. The trial court took the matter under advisement until the completion of the case. Countrymark then rested its case. After deliberations, the jury assessed 15% of the fault to Turner and 85% of the fault to Countrymark. The jury further found that Turner had sustained damages of $485,000.00.

The trial court requested briefing on Countrymark’s motion for judgment on the evidence and Turner’s motion to amend the pleadings to conform to the evidence. After the parties filed briefs on the issues, the trial court denied Countrymark’s motion for judgment on the evidence and granted Turner’s motion to amend to add Countrymark, LLP, as a named defendant. The trial court then entered judgment against Countrymark, Inc., and Country-mark, LLP, in the amount of $412,250.00.

I.

The first issue is whether the trial court erred by denying Countrymark’s motion for summary judgment. Our standard of review for a trial court’s grant of a motion for summary judgment is well settled. Summary judgment is appropriate only where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Ind. Trial Rule 56(c); Mangold ex rel. Mangold v. Ind. Dep’t of Natural Res., 756 N.E.2d 970, 973 (Ind.2001). All facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts are construed in favor of the nonmovant. *688 Mangold, 756 N.E.2d at 973. Our review of a summary judgment motion is limited to those materials designated to the trial court. Id. We must carefully review a decision on summary judgment to ensure that a party was not improperly denied its day in court. Id. at 974.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
892 N.E.2d 683, 2008 Ind. App. LEXIS 1959, 2008 WL 3982879, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/countrymark-cooperative-inc-v-hammes-indctapp-2008.