Hayfield v. Ruffier

351 P.3d 231, 187 Wash. App. 914
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 27, 2015
DocketNo. 45202-2-II
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 351 P.3d 231 (Hayfield v. Ruffier) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hayfield v. Ruffier, 351 P.3d 231, 187 Wash. App. 914 (Wash. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Lee, J.

¶1 Brett Hayfield and Kathy Davis-Hayfield appeal the trial court’s denial of their request for attorney fees under RCW 19.122.040 after the trial court found their neighbors, Beatrix and Robert Ruffier, liable for damage caused to the Hayfield home by an excavation on the Ruffier property. Because RCW 19.122.040 provides for a mandatory award of attorney fees to the prevailing party, we hold that the trial court erred in failing to award attorney fees to the Hayfields. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s denial of attorney fees incurred at trial and remand for determination of the Hayfields’ attorney fees below. We also award the Hayfields attorney fees on appeal.

FACTS

¶2 The Hayfields and the Ruffiers live on adjoining high-bank waterfront property in Gig Harbor. In February 2011, the Hayfields noticed water accumulating in their basement. The basement had not leaked previously during their seven-year ownership of the house. The water appeared to be coming from under the washer and dryer, but when the Hayfields inspected the units, they found no leaking. They [916]*916vacuumed up the water and hoped that it was an isolated incident.

¶3 At the same time that the water began infiltrating the Hayfield basement, Robert Ruffier was using a backhoe to dig out a two-foot diameter tree stump on his property. Ruffier excavated a trench around the stump that was about three feet deep, and he used the bucket of the backhoe to wiggle the stump out of the ground. He then backfilled the hole with dirt and compacted it by driving over the hole with the backhoe. Ruffier made no effort to identify any utilities before performing the excavation work and did not provide notice of his work to the Hayfields or anyone else. The Hayfields saw Ruffier performing this excavation work.

¶4 Water continued to accumulate in the Hayfields’ basement, and they began pumping it out of a basement window. Over the next three weeks, the Hayfields contacted a series of plumbers, leak detection contractors, and Pierce County officials to investigate the flooding. No one could identify the source of the water, and several inches of water remained in the basement.

¶5 In early March, the Hayfields discovered that three feet of water had entered their basement overnight and had caused extensive damage. The pumps could not keep up with the water entering the basement, and the source of the water was still unknown.

¶6 The Hayfields called another plumber, Tom Bozeman, and his investigation revealed a floor drain in the basement that was not taking water. Bozeman suspected that the flooding was due to an obstruction in the drain system that was causing water to back up through the floor drain and into the basement.

¶7 Bozeman confirmed the existence of the Hayfields’ foundation drain system and that the system connected to an underground drain pipe that runs from the Hayfields’ [917]*917house and across the boundary line into the Ruffiers’ property.

¶8 When he tried to insert a plumbing snake through the drain pipe, Bozeman encountered an obstruction. He then confirmed that the obstruction was in the same location where Ruffier had removed the stump in February.

¶9 Before Bozeman returned for further investigation, Ruffier used his backhoe to dig out a large hole where he had removed the stump. When he uncovered the Hayfields’ crushed drain pipe, water immediately entered the hole. After Ruffier cleaned out the pipe, water exited the hole and drained out of the Hayfields’ basement.

¶10 The Hayfields sued the Ruffiers for the damage caused to their basement, alleging that the excavation constituted negligence as well as a violation of chapter 19.122 RCW, the Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act. Following a bench trial, the court concluded that

8. Although [the Ruffiers] technically violated the terms of RCW 19.122.040, notice to [the Hayfields] of the excavation and/or calls to “811” would not have prevented the damage that occurred.[1] Therefore, although [Ruffier] is liable for common law negligence to [the Hayfields] for their damages, [the Hay-fields] are not entitled to recover their attorney’s fees per RCW 19.122.040(4).

Clerk’s Papers at 31-32. The trial court entered judgment accordingly.

¶11 The Ruffiers appealed, and the Hayfields cross appealed the denial of attorney fees. We granted the Ruffiers’ motion to dismiss their appeal and here address only the Hayfields’ argument that they are entitled to attorney fees under RCW 19.122.040(4).

[918]*918ANALYSIS

A. Attorney Fees under RCW 19.122.040(4)

1. Standard of Review

¶12 At issue is whether the language in RCW 19.122.040(4) stating that the prevailing party “is entitled to” attorney fees requires or merely allows an award of fees to the prevailing party. We review questions of statutory interpretation de novo. Jametsky v. Olsen, 179 Wn.2d 756, 761, 317 P.3d 1003 (2014). Our objective is to ascertain and carry out the legislature’s intent. Jametsky, 179 Wn.2d at 762. If the plain language of the statute is unambiguous, we enforce it according to its plain meaning. Life Care Ctrs. of Am., Inc. v. Dep’t of Soc. & Health Servs., 162 Wn. App. 370, 375, 254 P.3d 919 (2011). The plain meaning of an undefined statutory term can be discerned from its dictionary definition. Estate of Haselwood v. Bremerton Ice Arena, Inc., 166 Wn.2d 489, 498, 210 P.3d 308 (2009). We also determine the plain meaning of a statutory provision from the general context of the statute, related provisions, and the statutory scheme as a whole. Wash. Pub. Ports Ass’n v. Dep’t of Revenue, 148 Wn.2d 637, 645, 62 P.3d 462 (2003).

2. Construing RCW 19.122.040(4)

¶13 The Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act,2 chapter 19.122 RCW, sets forth a series of obligations for excavators that are intended to protect existing underground facilities and to protect the public health and safety from interruption in utility services caused by damage to such facilities.

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Bluebook (online)
351 P.3d 231, 187 Wash. App. 914, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hayfield-v-ruffier-washctapp-2015.