Ingram v. Acands, Inc.

977 F.2d 1332, 1992 WL 296106
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedOctober 21, 1992
DocketNos. 91-35117, 91-35216, 91-35330, 91-35331 and 91-35497
StatusPublished
Cited by58 cases

This text of 977 F.2d 1332 (Ingram v. Acands, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ingram v. Acands, Inc., 977 F.2d 1332, 1992 WL 296106 (9th Cir. 1992).

Opinion

DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judge:

Bert E. Ingram, a former insulator who suffered from asbestosis, and Beulah M. Becker, surviving wife of Alfred E. Becker who allegedly died from the effects of asbestosis, sued a number of asbestos manufacturers. Both Ingram and Becker included Owens-Illinois (“O-I”) as a defendant in their respective lawsuits. Ingram also sued Fibreboard Corporation. Juries in the two cases1 returned verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs.

On appeal, O-I challenges evidentiary rulings made by the district court in both cases and contends that substantial evidence does not support the juries’ verdicts. It also contends it suffered prejudice in defending against liability in Becker’s case when the district court let Becker’s claim for punitive damages go to the jury, even though it had granted a directed verdict in favor of O-I on that claim.

Fibreboard challenges the district court’s order in Ingram, holding it jointly and severally liable for all compensatory damages.

Ingram and Becker cross-appeal. Ingram argues that the district court erred in submitting to the jury the issue of his comparative fault. Becker makes the same argument as it pertains to her deceased husband. She also contends the district court erred in granting O-I’s motion for a directed verdict on the punitive damage claim.

We have jurisdiction over all of the appeals and cross-appeals, because we hold that minute orders entered by the district court when it ruled on post-trial motions in the two cases, as well as subsequent orders entered after the court filed its formal opinions, are all dispositive orders which triggered 30-day appeal periods. Thus, no notice of appeal or notice of cross-appeal was untimely.

We affirm the judgments in both Ingram and Becker, except that in Ingram we vacate the portion of the judgment which imposed joint and several liability against Fibreboard.

I

FACTS

A. Ingram

Working as an insulator since 1955, Ingram was exposed to a number of products containing asbestos. Among the products to which he was exposed was “Kaylo,” an asbestos-containing pipe covering and block manufactured for a time by O-I. Ingram also was a smoker.

In his suit against the asbestos manufacturers and their successors, Ingram alleged personal injuries based on strict liability and negligence. A jury found that Ingram suffered $527,000 in compensatory damages, and that his comparative fault was 45%. It apportioned the defendants’ 55% relative fault among them as follows: Celo-tex Corporation, 7%; Fibreboard Corporation, 53%; O-I, 25%; and Manville Corporation Asbestos Disease Compensation Fund (“Manville”), 15%.2 The jury also awarded [1336]*1336Ingram $200,000 in punitive damages against O-I. The court determined that Fibreboard was jointly and severally liable for the full amount of the judgment, excluding the punitive damage award.

B. Becker

Mrs. Becker’s deceased husband worked as a marine machinist at Oregon Shipbuilding in Portland during World War II until 1946. He was exposed to numerous asbestos products, and eventually developed lung cancer and asbestosis.

The jury in Mrs. Becker’s case awarded $104,431.92 in economic damages and $32,-700 in noneconomic damages. It apportioned 34% of fault to the decedent Becker, 34% to Manville, 24% to Fibreboard Corporation, and 8% to O-I. The jury awarded punitive damages against Fibreboard and O-I in the amounts of $150,000 each, but these awards were set aside because the district court had previously granted Fibre-board’s and O-I’s motions for a directed verdict on the punitive damage claims.

II

DISCUSSION

A. Appellate Jurisdiction

A timely notice of appeal is a jurisdictional requirement which cannot be waived by the parties. Allah v. Superior Court, 871 F.2d 887, 890 n. 1 (9th Cir.1989); Beaudry Motor Co. v. Abko Properties, Inc., 780 F.2d 751, 753-54 (9th Cir.), cert, denied, 479 U.S. 825, 107 S.Ct. 100, 93 L.Ed.2d 51 (1986). To be timely, a notice of appeal in a civil case must be filed in the district court “within 30 days after the date of entry of the judgment or order appealed from.” Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(1). However, when a party files a post-trial motion,

the time for appeal for all parties shall run from the entry of the order denying a new trial or granting or denying any other such motion. A notice of appeal filed before the disposition of [such motion] shall have no effect. A new notice of appeal must be filed within the prescribed time measured from the entry of the order disposing of the motion as provided above.

Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(4).

A judgment or order is “entered” within the meaning of Rule 4(a) “when it is entered in compliance with Rules 58 and 79(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.” Fed.R.App.P. 4(a)(7). “Rule 58 requires that every judgment be set forth on a separate document, and Rule 79(a) details the civil docketing procedure to be followed by the district court clerk when entering the judgment.” Beaudry, 780 F.2d at 754 (footnotes omitted).

In Ingram, the court entered judgment on the jury’s verdict on October 30, 1990.3 O-I filed post-trial motions on November 14, 1990. In Becker, the court entered judgment on November 1, 1990. O-I filed post-trial motions on November 16, 1990.

In both cases, the district court denied the post-trial motions and issued virtually identical minute orders. In Ingram, the minute order was entered January 14, 1991. It read:

Record of hearing Owens-Illinois motion for new trial, etc (350): Order DENYING; written opinion to follow.

A handwritten notation on the minutes states: “ntfd cnsl.” O-I filed its notice of [1337]*1337appeal on February 6, 1991. In Becker, the minute order was also entered January 14, 1991. It read:

Record of hearing deft. Owens-Illinois motion for new trial, etc (177): Order DENYING; written opinion to follow.

A handwritten notation on the minutes states: “ntfd.” O-I filed its notice of appeal on February 6, 1991.

The district court thereafter filed a written opinion and separate order in Ingram.. The order stated:

Defendant’s motions for a new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict are denied.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
Dated this 12 day of February, 1991.
(signed) Owen M. Panner

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Bluebook (online)
977 F.2d 1332, 1992 WL 296106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ingram-v-acands-inc-ca9-1992.