Hathaway v. Raytheon Engineers & Constructors, Inc.

23 Mass. L. Rptr. 127
CourtMassachusetts Superior Court
DecidedApril 13, 2007
DocketNo. 990208
StatusPublished

This text of 23 Mass. L. Rptr. 127 (Hathaway v. Raytheon Engineers & Constructors, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Superior Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hathaway v. Raytheon Engineers & Constructors, Inc., 23 Mass. L. Rptr. 127 (Mass. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

Lu, John T., J.

INTRODUCTION

The plaintiffs, David and Karen Hathaway (Hathaways), brought this action seeking damages for personal injuries to David Hathaway while he was working on the Tobin Bridge. On May 16, 2006, the jury found that Raytheon Engineers and Constructors, Inc. (Raytheon) was negligent in its failure to oversee fall protection at the Tobin Bridge and the court entered an order for judgment in favor of the Hathaways in the amount of $7,950,000, with interest from January 15, 1999, and costs. Raytheon now moves, pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 59(e), 60(a), or 60(b) that the judgment be corrected or amended to exclude interest to the extent the Bankruptcy Court ordered that interest not accrue.'2' The court determines that the motions were timely filed, and that Raytheon is entitled to the reduction in interest, but declines to make the modifications, leaving the issue to the Bankruptcy Court.

[128]*128BACKGROUND

The Hathaways commenced this action on January 15, 1999. On May 14, 2001, Raytheon, through its parent company Washington Group International, Inc. (Washington Group), filed a petition for bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada (Bankruptcy Court). As a result of the bankruptcy proceeding, this litigation was stayed. On December 21,2001, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order confirming Washington Group’s second amended joint plan of reorganization, as modified.

This court entered judgment for the Hathaways on May 16, 2006 in the amount of $7,950,000 "with interest from January 15, 1999 and costs. Raytheon argues that the court miscalculated interest applicable to the Hathaways’ claims when it awarded interest on the judgment after the date Raytheon filed for bankruptcy protection.

DISCUSSION

Timeliness of the Motions

The Hathaways claim that Raytheon “flagrantly disregarded” the rules of civil procedure and the rules of the Superior Court by filing post-trial motions several months after final judgment entered on May 16, 2006.3 Raytheon contends, however, citing Mass.R.Civ.P. 60(b), that their motion was timely filed because it was within one year of the entry of judgment.

While the Hathaways assert that Raytheon’s motion to correct or amend the judgment was not timely filed pursuant to Mass.R.Civ.P. 59(e),4 if the request for relief “is made later than ten days after judgment, it is considered to fall within Rule 60(b) . . .” Smith and Zobel, 8 Mass. Practice Series at 439. The purpose of Rule 60(b) is to define the circumstances under which a party may obtain relief from a final judgment. Bankers Mortgage Co. v. United States, 423 F.2d 73, 77 (5th Cir. 1970). This rule must be “carefully interpreted to preserve the delicate balance between the sanctity of final judgments, expressed in the doctrine of res judi-cata, and the command of the court’s conscience that justice be done in light of all the facts.” Id. “A motion brought under rule 60(b) is addressed to the discretion of the judge.” Parrell v. Keenan, 389 Mass. 809, 815 (1983).

Raytheon contends that it was the clerk’s error not to consider Bankruptcy Code §502(b)5 when calculating the interest in this case, citing O’Malley v. O’Malley, 419 Mass. 377, 379-80 (1995) (courts generally view mistakes in the computation of interest as clerical), and therefore the motion is proper under Mass.R.Civ.P. 60(a).6 In the alternative, Raytheon argues that Mass.R.Civ.P. 60(b) provides a vehicle for the Court to correct or amend a final judgment to correct a mistake in a judgment. Mass.R.Civ.P. 60(b) provides:

On motion and upon such terms as are just, the court may relieve a parly or his legal representative from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (l)mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; ... or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment. The motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) not more than a year after the judgment, order or proceeding was entered or taken.

Mass.R.Civ.P. 60(b) (emphasis added).

The Court finds, in the exercise of its discretion and in the interests of justice, that Raytheon did not exceed the time limits outlined in Mass.R.Civ.P. 60(b) when it filed its motion some three and one-half months after judgment was entered. Adopting the Hathaways’ description of the length of time between entry of judgment and-filing, the court recognizes that the delay is reasonable given the complexity of the issues.

Bankruptcy Issues

Raytheon argues that the court miscalculated interest applicable to the Hathaways’ claims when it awarded interest on their judgment for the period after May 14, 2001, the date Raytheon filed for bankruptcy protection. On August 2, 2001, Raytheon and its affiliated debtors filed the second amended joint plan of reorganization (the Plan) in the bankruptcy proceeding. After several modifications, the Bankruptcy Court entered an order confirming the Plan in December 2001. Raytheon claims that the Superior Court’s calculation of interest on the judgment conflicts with the Plan and confirmation order for the Plan, which provide that no post-petition interest shall accrue on any claim after the petition date.

Raytheon relies on Ocasek v. Manville Corp. Asbestos Disease Compensation Fund, 956 F.2d 152 (7th Cir. 1992), for the proposition that the terms of the Plan govern any award of interest due. In Ocasek, the plaintiff filed suit in May 1988 against his former employer, Johns-Manville, for mesothelioma, a disease caused by exposure to asbestos. Id. at 153. Johns-Manville had filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in 1982 because of costs associated with its liability to persons exposed to asbestos. Id. at 154. The only issue at trial was that of damages (the parties had stipulated to the issue of liability), and a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff. Id. at 153. The District Court entered judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of $3,629,191.20, and ordered that the award not accrue interest. Id. The plaintiff appealed the District Court’s ruling that interest not accrue and the court affirmed. Id.

The Ocasek court held that despite the fact that Illinois law and federal statutes authorize post-judgment interest, neither controlled the case. Id. at 153-54. The court noted that the case arose under a confirmed bankruptcy reorganization plan which provided that because “the provisions of a confirmed plan bind the debtor . . . and any creditor ...,”11 U.S.C. §1141(a), the terms of the plan govern any award of [129]*129interest due to the creditor. Id. at 154. The court also noted that the “Supremacy Clause dictates that when state law is contraiy to federal bankruptcy law, the bankruptcy provisions prevail.” Id., citing Jones v. Keene Corp., 933 F.2d 209, 214 (3d Cir. 1991);

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Bluebook (online)
23 Mass. L. Rptr. 127, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hathaway-v-raytheon-engineers-constructors-inc-masssuperct-2007.