Dinger Ex Rel. Dinger v. Strata Corp.

2000 ND 41, 607 N.W.2d 886, 2000 N.D. LEXIS 58, 2000 WL 291157
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 21, 2000
Docket990141
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 2000 ND 41 (Dinger Ex Rel. Dinger v. Strata Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dinger Ex Rel. Dinger v. Strata Corp., 2000 ND 41, 607 N.W.2d 886, 2000 N.D. LEXIS 58, 2000 WL 291157 (N.D. 2000).

Opinions

KAPSNER, Justice.

[¶ 1] Deloris A. Dinger and Dale L. Dinger appealed from a judgment dismissing their action against Strata Corporation (“Strata”) and Traffic Safety Services, Inc. (“TSS”). We hold the trial court erred in determining there was no genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Strata and TSS breached duties owed to Dingers. We therefore reverse and remand.

I

[¶ 2] In 1991, Ramsey County decided to construct a bike path adjacent to Ramsey County Highway No. 1. Midwest Engineering, Inc. (“Midwest”), prepared the plans and specifications. Nodak Contracting, a division of Strata, received the construction contract. TSS, a subcontractor, provided and installed traffic signs. The project was completed in the fall of 1992, and the signs were removed and stored until Ramsey County employees reinstalled them the following spring.

[¶ 3] Deloris Dinger received head injuries in a bicycle accident on September 10, 1993. She was found beside a signpost on the bike path. Deloris had no memory of the accident, and there were no known witnesses. Dingers sued Ramsey County, Midwest, Strata, and TSS, alleging Deloris struck a signpost while riding a bicycle, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the pavement. Dingers alleged the defendants were negligent in the design and construction of the bike path, including the placement of traffic signposts, and alleged the signpost and the design and construction of the bike path constituted a nuisance.

[¶ 4] Strata and TSS moved for summary judgment. The trial court concluded Strata and TSS owed Dingers no duty under the construction contract, Strata and TSS had no duty to foresee the harm suffered by Dingers, and, if any wrongful condition existed, Strata and TSS were not responsible for it. On April 10, 1997, the trial court issued an order granting summary judgment to Strata and TSS. However, no judgment or order directing entry of final judgment was entered.

[¶ 5] The claims against Ramsey County and Midwest proceeded. After four days of trial in October 1998, Dingers reached a settlement agreement with both Ramsey County and Midwest. The trial court subsequently ordered dismissal of the' actions against Ramsey County and Midwest.

[¶ 6] In January 1999, Dingers filed a Motion to Reconsider, to Alter or Amend, and for Relief from Order. Dingers argued reversal of the trial court’s order granting summary judgment to Strata and TSS was proper because testimony of witnesses at the trial against Ramsey County and Midwest raised genuine factual issues regarding Dingers’ claims against Strata and TSS. Dingers asserted the trial testimony of important witnesses differed from the testimony given by those witnesses [889]*889during discovery. The trial court denied the motion without comment on the merits.

[¶ 7] On March 16, 1999, the trial court entered a final judgment dismissing all of Dingers’ claims against all defendants and awarding TSS and Strata costs and disbursements. Dingers appealed.

II

[¶8] When Dingers brought the motion to reconsider the order for summary judgment, no final judgment had been entered in favor of any of the defendants. The trial court had granted summary judgment in April 1997, but had not directed entry of final judgment dismissing TSS and Strata. Rule 54(b), N.D.R.Civ.P., recognizes that a trial court may direct entry of a final judgment against only some of the parties to a litigation, but until final judgment is entered all orders are subject to revision. Under N.D.R.Civ.P. 54(b):

... if multiple parties are involved, the court may direct the entry of a 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 and upon an express direction for the entry of judgment. In the absence of that determination and direction, any order or other form of decision, however designated, which adjudicates fewer than all of the claims or the rights and liabilities , of fewer than all the parties does 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.

[¶ 9] Here, the trial court did not direct entry of judgment in favor of Strata and TSS until it issued the final judgment in March 1999, adjudicating the claims against all the defendants in the case. The order granting summary judgment therefore did not terminate the action against Strata and TSS and was not ap-pealable. See Williams Co. v. Hamilton, 427 N.W.2d 822, 822 (N.D.1988) (dismissing an appeal from a summary judgment “[bjecause the record contain[ed] no order complying with Rule 54(b), N.D.R.Civ.P.”).

[¶ 10] Our prior cases make it clear that the trial court was correct in not directing entry of final judgment. The case against Strata and TSS arose from the same occurrence on which the case against the settling defendants was based.

In a multiple party situation hvhere the complaint is dismissed as to one defendant but not others, the court should not, as a general matter, direct the entry of a final judgment pursuant to Rule 54(b) if the same or closely related issues remain to be litigated against the undismissed defendants.’ Under these circumstances, possibilities abound that the remaining defendants, by virtue of their lack of opportunity to participate, will be prejudiced by the decision on the certified appeal, and that the facts ultimately adduced at trial of the remaining defendants could undermine the soundness of the decision on the certified appeal.

Peterson v. Zerr, 443 N.W.2d 293, 298 (N.D.1989) (citations omitted).

[¶ 11] Because the order granting summary judgment was not certified as a final judgment under Rule 54, Dingers’ motion for reconsideration of the trial court’s order granting summary judgment was proper. As we noted in Union State Bank v. Woell, 357 N.W.2d 234, 239 (N.D.1984), the summary judgment, as an interlocutory order, “remains subject to revision by the court at any time before the entry of judgment adjudicating all claims between all parties.” In Woell we also expressed the concern that trial of the undismissed claims could substantially undermine the validity of the decision on the motion for summary judgment. Id.; see also Xerox Corp. v. Genmoora Corp., 888 F.2d 345, 356 (5th Cir.1989) (indicating the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to only some of the defendants was interlocutory and thus the plaintiff “properly asked the district court to exercise its power to [890]*890modify or rescind its interlocutory order”). The evidence adduced at trial of the actions against Midwest and Ramsey County and pointed out in Dingers’ motion for relief therefore is part of the record and is appropriate to consider. See Xerox Corp. (indicating the plaintiff properly supported its motion for reconsideration by submitting new evidence compiled from the record in related litigation); Bon Air Hotel, Inc. v. Time, Inc., 426 F.2d 858, 862 (5th Cir.1970) (explaining the court may at any time before final decree modify or rescind an interlocutory order); Hunteman v. New Orleans Public Service, Inc.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2000 ND 41, 607 N.W.2d 886, 2000 N.D. LEXIS 58, 2000 WL 291157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dinger-ex-rel-dinger-v-strata-corp-nd-2000.