Larsen v. International Business Machines Corp.

87 F.R.D. 602, 30 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1086, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 179, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13496
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJuly 9, 1980
DocketCiv. A. No. 78-260
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 87 F.R.D. 602 (Larsen v. International Business Machines Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Larsen v. International Business Machines Corp., 87 F.R.D. 602, 30 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1086, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 179, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13496 (E.D. Pa. 1980).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JOHN MORGAN DAVIS, Senior District Judge.

Before the Court for determination in this negligence action for personal injuries is plaintiff’s motion for relief from judgment. Judgment was entered by the Court on February 21, 1980 following a jury verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $300,-000. 00. Plaintiff now seeks a modification of that judgment, allegedly pursuant to Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, to include damages for delay in the amount of $9,999.60 (10% per annum, not compounded) under Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure No. 238, 42 Pa.C.S.A. (Supp. 1979-80).

Defendant denies that Pennsylvania law applies to this diversity action, maintaining that Virginia law governs. However, after careful consideration of the procedural aspects of plaintiff’s motion, I have determined that Rule 60, Fed.R.Civ.P., as cited by plaintiff, is inoperative. Therefore, further discussion of the substantive conflicts of law issue, addressed by counsel in their supporting briefs and oral argument, is unnecessary. Instead, plaintiff’s motion must be construed under Rule 59(e), Motion to Alter or Amend a Judgment, and as such, the motion has been untimely filed and therefore, shall be denied.

Plaintiff has requested this Court to grant additional relief pursuant to Fed.R. Civ.P. 60, by “modifying” the judgment. But, plaintiff has failed to show the specific subsection of the Rule 1, which he believes to be applicable to the present situation. It is well established that Rule 60(b) provides for extraordinary relief which may be granted only upon an adequate showing of exceptional circumstances. Hoffman v. Celebrezze, 405 F.2d 833, 835 (8th Cir. 1969). However, in the instant action, plaintiff has failed to bring to the Court’s attention anything which could conceivably be construed as an “exceptional circumstance”. Clearly, Rule 60 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure does not apply to the present situation.

Plaintiff’s proper remedy was to move to alter or amend the February 21, 1980 judgment pursuant to Rule 59(e), Fed.R.Civ.P. That Rule provides:

(e) Motion to Alter or Amend Judgment. A Motion to Alter or Amend a judgment shall be served not later than 10 days after entry of the judgment.

In the present action, plaintiff did not file the instant motion until April 7, 1980, clearly 36 days after the 10 day filing period, as promulgated under Rule 59(e), had expired. Defendant may not avoid the time limitation imposed by Rule 59(e) by filing his [605]*605motion pursuant to Rule 60(b). United States v. Hall, 463 F.Supp. 787, 791 (W.D. Mo.1978).

In William Goldman Theatres, Inc. v. Loew’s Inc., 83 F.Supp. 455 (E.D.Pa.1949), the court was requested to “reform” a final decree. In response to the plaintiff’s motion, the court held that Rule 59(e) precluded the trial judge from entertaining the motion because it was made 55 days after the expiration of the 10 day filing period. Id. at 455. Therefore, in the present action, plaintiff may not avoid this procedural filing limitation merely by catagorizing its motion as one for “modification”. The Court construes a request to “modify”, for all intent and purposes, as being a request to “alter” or “amend” a final judgment pursuant to Rule 59(e).

Regardless of the terminology used, whether it be alter, amend, modify or reform, the moving party must comply with the 10 day procedural time limitation. Furthermore, as has been generally held, the Court is without power to extend the time in which a party may make a Rule 59(e) motion. See generally, 11 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 2817, p. 109 (1973).

Therefore, plaintiff’s motion for modification of the judgment entered on February 21,1980 to include damages for delay is hereby DENIED.

ON MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL, DIRECTED VERDICT AND REMITTITUR

This is an action for personal injuries arising from an accident on January 27, 1976 at an I.B.M. facility in Manassas, Virginia. Following a six day jury trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff, William Larsen, and against Defendant, I.B.M. Corporation, in the amount of Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00). Judgment was accordingly entered. It is that verdict and Judgment that Defendant I.B.M., now seeks to have set aside by its instant Motion for New Trial, Directed Verdict1 and Remittitur.

Briefly stated, the facts which formed the basis for controversy between the parties are as follows: Plaintiff was employed as a truck driver for Eastern State Transportation Company. On January 27, 1976, Mr. Larsen, in compliance with a contractual agreement between his employer and Defendant I.B.M., delivered a shipment of liquid nitrogen to an I.B.M. facility located in Manassas, Virginia. Upon arriving at his destination, the tank farm area of the plant, Mr. Larsen, as part of the normal procedures, began attaching the pipes to the storage tanks’ intake valves. In order to discharge his shipment of liquid nitrogen into the storage tanks, he had to proceed up a pathway onto a concrete pad area and manually open the valves. It was during this procedure, but before Mr. Larsen had reached the valve-release area, that he slipped and fell on a thin transparent coating of ice which covered the entire concrete pad. Vapors from the liquids already stored at the plant reacted with moisture from a misty rain and formed this thin layer of ice.

As a result of this accident, Plaintiff sustained numerous injuries, the most serious of which, effected his right leg and back. These injuries necessitated a long series of treatment and caused lengthy periods of disability. Plaintiff continued to experience pain and discomfort from his injuries up to the time of trial.

Defendant I.B.M. Corporation has advanced the following arguments 2 by way of [606]*606post trial motions, memorandum of law in support thereof and oral argument, for New Trial, Directed Verdict and Remitti-tur:

1. The verdict is contrary to law.
2. The evidence in this case, when considered in a light most favorable to Plaintiff, is insufficient to sustain the verdict of the jury because it failed to show any liability on the part of the Defendant.
3. The testimony of William S. Wood as an expert witness was improperly excluded by the Trial Judge.
4. The failure of the Court to rule on Defendant’s motion for directed verdict under Rule 50(a) Fed.R.Civ.P. was prejudicial error.
5. The failure of the court to rule on Defendant’s objection to a question addressed to Plaintiff’s expert witness, Doctor Stein, resulted in prejudicial error.
6.

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87 F.R.D. 602, 30 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1086, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 179, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13496, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/larsen-v-international-business-machines-corp-paed-1980.