Hendricks v. Allied Waste Transportation, Inc.

2012 COA 88, 282 P.3d 520, 2012 WL 1881004, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 827
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 24, 2012
DocketNo. 11CA1361
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 2012 COA 88 (Hendricks v. Allied Waste Transportation, Inc.) 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
Hendricks v. Allied Waste Transportation, Inc., 2012 COA 88, 282 P.3d 520, 2012 WL 1881004, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 827 (Colo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge FOX.

T1 In this negligence action, defendant, Allied Waste Transportation, Inc. (Allied), appeals a jury verdict awarding plaintiffs, Paul and Linda Hendricks (the Hendrickses), $160,100 in damages. We affirm.

I. Background

T2 While driving an Allied garbage truck, an Allied employee backed into the corner of the Hendrickses' house in the City of Engle-wood (the City). After Allied admitted liability, the trial focused on the amount of damages.

3 At trial, a structural engineering expert testified to the following:

eThe garbage truck's collision caused damage to the house, including cracking and lateral displacement of the brick veneer on the entire north wall and eleven feet of the west wall, lateral displacement of the north bathroom wall area, and roof shake damage along the north and west edges of the roof;
e It was not feasible to repair the home because of structural deficiencies, including nonstandard wall framing and the absence of a permanent foundation on the damaged side of the home; and
©@These structural deficiencies were not apparent before the structural engineer performed destructive testing of the northwest corner of the home.

T4 The City's chief building official testified that a building permit is required before repairing a building and that the City would not issue a building permit to the Hendricks-es because of the structural deficiencies the structural engineer found. Because the damage could not be repaired, the damaged portion of the home would need to be torn down and rebuilt.

T5 At trial, Mrs. Hendricks described the post-collision condition of the home as follows:

® temporary plywood covered the damaged wall of the home;
e there was no insulation in the bathroom;
® the pipes to the bathroom had frozen;
® it took thirty to forty-five minutes for the shower water to warm up;
® the bathroom cabinet was about to come off the wall;
® the bathroom window frame was no longer attached to the frame of the house;
e foam insulation used to prevent a draft from the broken window frame also pre[523]*523vented natural light from illuminating the bathroom; and
® the overhead bathroom light fixture was nonfunctional.

T6 Mrs. Hendricks testified that she and her husband had endured the foregoing conditions, and the discomfort associated with each, for three years because they could not afford to rebuild the structure, and because the City would not authorize a "patch job."

17 Although the jury was instructed on the cost of repairs, diminution in value, and noneconomic damages, the parties agreed to a general verdict form that did not ask the jury to specify the types of any damages awarded. The jury returned a general verdict of $160,100 in favor of the Hendrickses. The trial court granted the Hendrickses' motion to amend the judgment to include prejudgment interest and costs, and denied Allied's motion for a hearing on the reasonableness of the Hendrickses' requested costs.

T8 Allied contends that the trial court (1) lacked subject matter jurisdiction, (2) erred by admitting evidence about, and instructing the jury on, noneconomic damages,1 (8) erred by providing an improper jury instruction about "betterment," and (4) erred by awarding the Hendrickses costs without a hearing and by awarding prejudgment interest. We perceive no error.

II. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

19 Allied contends that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the Hendrickses failed to exhaust their administrative remedies by failing to complete the building permit application process before the damages trial. We disagree.

A. Standard of Review

{10 Where the underlying facts are not in dispute and the issue is purely one of law, we review the issue of subject matter jurisdiction de novo. People v. Blue, 253 P.3d 1273, 1276 (Colo.App.2011) (citing Medina v. State, 35 P.3d 443, 454 (Colo.2001)).

B. Exhaustion

111 Allied argues that before seeking judicial relief, the Hendrickses were required to apply to the City for a building permit, and if it was denied, to file an appeal with the Board of Appeals. We disagree.

112 Generally, a plaintiff's failure to exhaust available administrative remedies will bar a plaintiff's attempt to obtain judicial review of administrative action. Horrell v. Department of Admin., 861 P.2d 1194, 1197 (Colo.1993). The Hendrickses' complaint did not seek review of an administrative action. Rather, the Hendrickses' complaint sought a declaration of liability and tort damages from Allied. The complaint did not request, and did not need to request, any relief from the City or the Board of Appeals CL id. ("[Where administrative remedies are provided by statute, the statutory procedure must be followed when the matter complained of is within the jurisdiction of the administrative authority." (emphasis added) (quoting Denver-Laramie-Walden Truck Line, Inc. v. Denver-Fort Collins Freight Serv., Inc., 156 Colo. 366, 370, 399 P.2d 242, 243 (1965))). Moreover, the building permit process does not provide a remedy for the Hendrickses' injury.

113 The doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies "applies typically in a controversy between a private party and a governmental agency, which has its own administrative review process." New Design Constr. Co. v. Hamon Contractors, Inc., 215 P.3d 1172, 1178 (Colo.App.2008). The doe-trine does not apply to a dispute between two private parties. Id. Because the Hendricks-es and Allied are private parties, the exhaustion doctrine does not apply to this action. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court was correct in rejecting Allied's argument that the Hendrickses were required to exhaust administrative remedies before seeking judicial review.

[524]*524III Noneconomic Damages

{14 Allied contends that the trial court erred by providing jury instructions that misstated the law about noneconomic damages and by admitting testimony about noneco-nomic damages. We disagree.

115 We review de novo whether a particular jury instruction correctly states the law. Day v. Johnson, 255 P.3d 1064, 1067 (Colo.2011). As long as the instruction properly informs the jury of the law, a trial court has broad discretion to determine the form and style of the instructions. Krueger v. Ary, 205 P.3d 1150, 1157 (Colo.2009).

116 We review a trial court's ruling on the admissibility of evidence for an abuse of discretion. Bly v. Story, 241 P.3d 529, 535 (Colo.2010). We will not overturn its ruling unless it is manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable, or unfair. Yusem v. People, 210 P.3d 458, 463 (Colo.2009).

B.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2012 COA 88, 282 P.3d 520, 2012 WL 1881004, 2012 Colo. App. LEXIS 827, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hendricks-v-allied-waste-transportation-inc-coloctapp-2012.