Denny's Inc. v. Avesta Enterprises, Ltd.

884 S.W.2d 281, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1164, 1994 WL 327758
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 12, 1994
DocketWD 48720
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 884 S.W.2d 281 (Denny's Inc. v. Avesta Enterprises, Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Denny's Inc. v. Avesta Enterprises, Ltd., 884 S.W.2d 281, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1164, 1994 WL 327758 (Mo. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

FENNER, Judge.

Appellants, Denny’s, Inc. (Denny’s), WDH Services, Inc., d/b/a Winchell’s Donuts (Winchell’s), and LaSalle Street Fund, Inc. (La-Salle), appeal the trial court’s order sustaining the motion for summary judgment filed by respondents, Avesta Enterprises, Ltd., d/b/a Sy’s Hamburgers and Chicken, and Saeed Avesta, d/b/a Sy’s Hamburgers and Chicken (hereinafter collectively referred to as Sy’s). This appeal concerns whether respondents are liable for indemnification for damages paid by appellants to Connie Benedict, an employee of Winchell’s who was injured while at work.

I. THE UNDERLYING LAWSUIT

On May 30, 1986, Connie Benedict was injured in the course of her employment at *284 Winehell’s when she slipped and fell on cooking grease in the tenants’ storeroom at Independence Mall where Winehell’s and Sy’s, among other tenants, leased storage space. Winchell’s was a tenant at Independence Mall pursuant to a lease between LaSalle, the owner of the mall, and Denny’s, the parent company of WDH Services, Inc., which does business as Winchell’s. The cooking grease apparently originated from a storage unit leased by Sy’s, another tenant of LaSalle. 1

Benedict filed a workers’ compensation claim against Winchell’s for her injuries and also filed a civil lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri against LaSalle, alleging LaSalle’s negligence in failing to properly maintain the common area in the tenants’ storeroom. LaSalle then filed a third party claim for indemnification against Denny’s and Winehell’s based on the lease agreement with Denny’s. 2 The civil lawsuit (the underlying action) was styled Benedict v. LaSalle Street Fund, Inc. v. Denny’s, Inc. and WDH Services, Inc.

In the underlying action, the court granted LaSalle’s motion for partial summary judgment and ordered that Denny’s and Winchell’s “shall and will indemnify LaSalle Street Fund, Incorporated against any judgment rendered in favor of [Benedict], shall pay the cost of retention of legal counsel, investigation costs, and all other reasonable costs, expenses and liabilities heretofore and hereafter incurred in defense of [Benedict’s] case and the reasonable expenses of attorney’s fees and disbursements incurred in prosecuting the third-party petition with interest as provided by law.”

After the court’s partial summary judgment order, entered on May 31, 1989, Denny’s took over LaSalle’s defense. The record in the case at bar reflects that Benedict settled her claim against LaSalle when Denny’s paid Benedict $10,000 and Winchell’s agreed to waive its $23,923.89 workers’ compensation lien. As part of the settlement of the underlying action, Benedict executed a general release of all claims discharging La-Salle, Denny’s, and Winehell’s “and all other persons, firms and corporations, both known and unknown, of and from any and all claims ... arising out of or concerning the occurrence on or about May 30, 1986.” An order of final judgment was entered on April 16, 1991, dismissing the underlying action with prejudice' and awarding LaSalle $10,165.16 in attorney’s fees and expenses from Denny’s and Winchell’s.

Denny’s and Winchell’s appealed the judgment entered in favor of LaSalle on LaSalle’s third party claim for indemnification. They alleged as error the portion of the trial court’s order of summary judgment which granted indemnity to LaSalle. This court, however, in Benedict v. LaSalle Street Fund, Inc., 841 S.W.2d 686, 688 (Mo.App.1992), dismissed the appeal. We noted that the partial summary judgment of which Denny’s and Winchell’s complained, ordered Denny’s and Winchell’s to indemnify LaSalle “against any judgment rendered in favor of [Benedict] in [her] action.” Id. at 687 (emphasis in original). The final order dismissed with prejudice Benedict’s claim against LaSalle. Id. at 687. We found that, pursuant to Rule 67.03, “[a] dismissal with prejudice bars the assertion of the same cause of action or claim against the same party.” Id. at 687. Under Rule 67.03, Benedict is precluded from ever again bringing a cause of action against La-Salle. Id. at 687. We concluded that by virtue of the dismissal with prejudice, “there *285 has been no judgment rendered against La-Salle nor -will there be a future judgment for which Winchell’s [and Denny’s] could be obligated to indemnify LaSalle.” Id. at 688. Furthermore, the record in Benedict con-tened no evidence of a settlement or the terms thereof. Id at 687. Because Denny’s and Winchell’s had no basis for complaint, we dismissed the appeal. Id at 688.

II. THE PRESENT APPEAL

A. Appellants’ Suit for Indemnification

On August 28,1991, appellants filed a Petition for Indemnification against Sy’s. An amended petition was filed on April 6, 1992. In their petition, appellants alleged that Benedict slipped on grease that leaked from the storage unit leased by Sy’s, that pursuant to the Lease Agreement between LaSalle and Sy’s, Sy’s is required to indemnify LaSalle against any and all liability, claims, and expenses arising out of Sy’s use of the leased premises, 3 that Sy’s retained exclusive control over its storage unit and therefore owed a duty of care to keep it maintained, that Sy’s failed to maintain its storage unit and allowed cooking grease to leak which created a dangerous condition on the floor where Benedict slipped, and that as a result of Sy’s negligence, Benedict sustained personal injuries. The petition further alleged that “Plaintiffs paid monies, incurred expenses and forgave the Workers’ Compensation lien in connection with defending and settling the civil suit filed by Connie Benedict.”

In Count I of appellants’ amended petition, Winchell’s sought indemnification for workers’ compensation benefits. Specifically, Winchell’s sought indemnification from Sy’s in the amount of $23,923.89, representing the amount Winchell’s paid to settle the workers’ compensation claim filed by Benedict. Winchell’s claim was based on the allegation that Benedict’s injuries were caused by Sy’s negligence.

In Count II of appellants’ amended petition, LaSalle sought indemnification for attorney’s fées and expenses. Specifically, La-Salle sought indemnification from Sy’s in the amount of $63,660.41, representing the amount spent in defending and settling the civil claim filed by Benedict. Such amount includes the $10,000 cash payment, the authorization of Winchell’s to waive its workers’ compensation lien valued at $23,923.89, and attorney’s fees and expenses in the amount of $29,736.52. LaSalle’s indemnification claim Was based on “the Landlord/Tenant Agreement executed by the parties which provides for the indemnification of [LaSalle] by [Sy’s].”

In Count III of appellants’ amended petition, Denny’s sought indemnification as third-party beneficiary.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
884 S.W.2d 281, 1994 Mo. App. LEXIS 1164, 1994 WL 327758, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dennys-inc-v-avesta-enterprises-ltd-moctapp-1994.