D.R. Horton, Inc.-Denver v. D & S Landscaping, LLC

215 P.3d 1163, 2008 WL 2522232
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 6, 2009
Docket07CA0890
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 215 P.3d 1163 (D.R. Horton, Inc.-Denver v. D & S Landscaping, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
D.R. Horton, Inc.-Denver v. D & S Landscaping, LLC, 215 P.3d 1163, 2008 WL 2522232 (Colo. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge GRAHAM.

In a construction defect suit brought by a homeowners association, the developer, third-party plaintiff, D.R. Horton, Inc., appeals the district court's summary judgments in favor of two subcontractors, third-party defendants, D & S Landscaping, LLC (D & *1165 S$) and J & K Pipeline, Inc. (J & K). We affirm.

I. Background

D.R. Horton developed the Park Avenue townhome community in Arapahoe County and subcontracted with D & S to install landscaping and irrigation systems at the project. J & K's subcontract called for it to provide exeavation, backfill, soil compaction, rough grading (including grading for garages, patios, and sidewalks), and installation of sewer lines, water lines, and storm sewers at the project.

Park Avenue Homeowners Association, Ine. (the HOA) sued D.R. Horton for alleged construction defects, including improper soil compaction, improper drainage, exterior and interior concrete problems, improper driveways, and improperly designed and installed landscaping and irrigation. In its initial list of defects, the HOA alleged that there were surface drainage problems caused by defective grading, landscaping, and storm drainage pipes.

In turn, D.R. Horton brought third-party claims against D & S and J & K, for breach of contract, breach of express warranty, contractual indemnification, common law indemnification, contribution, and negligence.

During the discovery phase of the case, D.R. Horton was served with a notice to take the deposition of its C.R.C.P. 80(b)(6) desig-nee regarding specific issues, including land-seaping errors with regard to fine grading, errors with regard to drain pipe installation, and "any other errors D.R. Horton claims were made by subcontractors."

D.R. Horton did not file a motion for protective order. Instead, it advised the subcontractors that its C.R.C.P. 80(b)(6) designee would be a vice president of sales and marketing, who was "the only employee remaining with the company who was employed" at the time the project was constructed and sold. D.R. Horton further advised that the designee's knowledge was limited to sales and marketing but, "[She] should be in a position to identify former employees who may have knowledge regarding specific questions, and we can discuss whether you want to depose those individuals as fact witnesses."

At the deposition, the designee testified that she was not aware of any problems the subcontractors had "with performing their work" at the project; that specific individuals who had since become employed elsewhere, she presumed in Colorado, were assigned to the warranty department and were knowledgeable about warranty and negligence matters; that she had no information with regard to the claims made by D.R. Horton against the subcontractors; and that she specifically had no information as to:

e Whether the subcontractors performed their work negligently;
e Whether there were any errors made with respect to the subcontractors' work;
@ Whether the subcontractors breached their contracts with D.R. Horton; and
e Whether the subcontractors failed to respond to warranty requests.

J & K and D & S each filed a motion for summary judgment. J & K argued that D.R. Horton's third-party claims failed as a matter of law because (1) it could not bring a common law indemnity claim as a joint tortfea-sor; (2) its C.R.C.P. 80(b)(6) designee had no evidence to support its claims; (8) there was no evidence that J & K was responsible for the subgrade at the project; (4) its contractual indemnity claim was illusory, created a contract of adhesion, was void as against public policy, and was lacking in consideration, as it related to its own negligence; and (5) its comparative negligence in supervising J & K precluded it from prevailing on its negligence and contribution claims.

D & S argued that D.R. Horton's third-party claims should fail because (1) its C.R.C.P. 30(b)(6) designee testified that she had no information regarding the work performed by the subcontractors at the project; and (2) it had presented "no evidence that any work specifically performed by D & S was deficient in any way" and no evidence "to support any damages being allocated to D & S."

In response, D.R. Horton withdrew its common law indemnification claim. With regard to its other claims, D.R. Horton argued *1166 that J & K and D & S failed to establish that it did not have any fact or expert witnesses with information relating to its claims against them. In support of its bare response, it referenced its own-earlier-denied motion for partial summary judgment against J & K and D & S. That motion relied upon various unsworn expert reports opining about the specific construction defects at the project, and an affidavit of its president, who identified the scope of work performed at the project by J & K and D & S based on the subcontracts. Although D.R. Horton incorporated included reports which concluded that the subcontractors' work was substandard, none of the reports was verified. Nor did D.R. Horton reference any sworn deposition testimony of any expert.

In separate orders, the district court granted the motions for summary judgment. The court ruled that the expert reports and the testimony of D.R. Horton's C.R.C.P. 30(b)(6) designee established that there was no genuine issue of material fact and that D.R. Horton had "not met its burden as set forth in the caselaw and [C.R.C.P.] 56," to counter the subcontractors' showing that there was no genuine issue for trial. The court reasoned that D.R. Horton's response only referred to expert opinions, C.R.C.P. 26 disclosures, pleadings, and arguments of counsel, none of which was sufficient to overcome the subcontractors' supporting materials.

D.R. Horton's various motions for reconsideration were denied, and it brought this appeal.

II. Standard of Review

We review de novo the district court's grant of a summary judgment motion. See A.C. Excavating v. Yacht Club II Homeowners Ass'n, 114 P.3d 862, 865 (Colo.2005).

Summary judgment is proper when "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." C.R.C.P. 56(c); see also A.C. Excavating, 114 P.3d at 865. "Unsworn expert witness reports are not admissible to support or oppose a motion for summary judgment." McDaniels v. Laub, 186 P.3d 86, 87 (Colo.App.2008).

C.R.C.P. 56(e) makes clear that

[when a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this [rlule, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the opposing party's pleadings, but the opposing party's response by affidavits or otherwise .

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
215 P.3d 1163, 2008 WL 2522232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dr-horton-inc-denver-v-d-s-landscaping-llc-coloctapp-2009.