Mechanics Laundry & Supply, Inc. v. Wilder Oil Co.

596 N.E.2d 248, 1992 Ind. App. LEXIS 1111, 1992 WL 166246
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 21, 1992
Docket49A05-9110-CV-320
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 596 N.E.2d 248 (Mechanics Laundry & Supply, Inc. v. Wilder Oil Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mechanics Laundry & Supply, Inc. v. Wilder Oil Co., 596 N.E.2d 248, 1992 Ind. App. LEXIS 1111, 1992 WL 166246 (Ind. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

SHARPNACK, Judge.

Plaintiff Mechanics Laundry & Supply, Inc., ("Mechanics") filed this breach of contract action against defendants Wilder Oil Co., Inc., ("Wilder") and Fred Perry ("Perry") in the Marion County Municipal Court pursuant to a purported contract provision that provided that Marion County would be the venue for any dispute arising out of the contract. Both defendants filed motions for change of venue to Warrick County pursuant to Ind.Trial Rule 75. The trial court granted the change of venue, and Mechanics filed this interlocutory appeal contesting the trial court's order transferring the case from Marion County to War-rick County. We reverse.

On appeal, Mechanics raises the following restated issues:

(1) Whether agreements which purport to exclude venue other than the venue specifically named and which relate to the adjudication of controversies that may arise in the future are enforceable.
(2) Whether the trial court erred by not considering the alleged contract between the parties to be a valid contract on the date of the hearing concerning the motions to transfer for improper venue when the defendants did not deny the execution of the alleged contract either under oath in a responsive pleading or by affidavit.1

Mechanics allegedly entered into a contract with Union 76 in Evansville, Indiana, whereby Mechanics was to lease, launder and otherwise maintain certain textile goods for Union 76 in return for payment. In his capacity as manager of Union 76, Perry signed the alleged contract with Me-chanies.

The following paragraph was included in the terms and conditions of the contract:

17. This Agreement is entered into under the laws of the State of Indiana and shall be construed thereunder and any cause of action arising between the parties whether under this Agreement or otherwise shall be brought only in a court located in Marion County, Indiana and having venue and jurisdiction over the home office of Company in Marion County, Indiana. The Customer, by this paragraph, waives any entitlement he might otherwise have to a transfer of venue under the preferred venue requirement of Trial Rule 75 of the Indiana [250]*250Rules of Trial Procedure or under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

(Record, p. 9.)

Mechanics filed a complaint against Wilder and Perry, contending that, while Me-chaniecs had performed all of its obligations under the alleged contract, Wilder and Perry, doing business as Union 76, had failed and refused to abide by the alleged contract's provisions and had in effect unilat erally cancelled the alleged contract. Me-chaniecs requested from Wilder and Perry damages, prejudgment interest and attorney's fees.

In response to Mechanics' request for admissions, Wilder, by counsel, denied the truth of all matters set forth in Mechanics' request, denied that it had entered into a contract with Mechanics, and denied the truth of the provisions in the alleged contract between the two parties. In his response to Mechanics' request for admissions, Perry, by counsel, also denied the truth of all matters set forth in Mechanics' request, denied that he had ever entered into a contract with Mechanics, and stated that he had never discussed with Mechanics the terms and conditions of the alleged contract. Perry admitted that he did business in Indiana as Fred Perry, d/b/a Union 76, and stated that his relationship with Wilder was conducted on an independent contractual basis.

Perry further stated that neither he nor Wilder had entered into any contract with Mechanics and that Mechanics' assertion to the contrary was fraudulent and without basis. According to Perry, he had simply signed a document which he believed was an order for the rental of certain goods from Mechanics. Perry further stated that, because the goods provided by Mechanics were unsatisfactory, defective and not of the quality he needed in his business, he discontinued rental of the goods from Mechanics. Perry admitted that he had an outstanding bill due to Mechanics for $27.41 and agreed that Mechanics is entitled to prejudgment interest on this unpaid amount at the rate of 18% per year.

Mechanics first argues that contract provisions which specify a particular venue for actions based on the contract are enforceable. Wilder responds that such provisions violate public policy and are unenforceable.

The current trend appears to be that contractual provisions, even those occurring in form contracts, that seek to limit the litigation of future actions to particular courts or places are enforceable if they are reasonable and just under the circumstances and there is no evidence of fraud or overreaching such that the agreeing party, for all practical purposes, would be deprived of a day in court.

The most recent case dealing with this issue is Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute (1991), 499 U.S. -, 111 S.Ct. 1522, 113 L.Ed.2d 622. In Cornival, the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeals had erred in refusing to enforce the following forum selection clause:

"8. It is agreed by and between the passenger and the Carrier that all disputes and matters whatsoever arising under, in connection with or incident to this Contract shall be litigated, if at all, in and before a Court located in the State of Florida, U.S.A., to the exclusion of the Courts of any other state or country."

Id., 499 U.S. at -, 111 S.Ct. at 1524, 113 L.Ed.2d at 628.

The relevant facts of Cornival are as follows. A Washington couple, the Shutes, bought tickets through a Washington travel agent for a round-trip cruise from Los Angeles, California to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on board the Tropicale, a ship owned by Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. Carnival prepared the tickets and sent them to the Shutes in the state of Washington. Each ticket contained "terms and conditions," which included the above-mentioned forum selection clause.

While in international waters off the coast of Mexico, Ms. Shute fell during a guided tour of the galley. The Shutes subsequently filed a claim in federal district court in Washington claiming that the infu-ries Ms. Shute had sustained were caused by Carnival's negligence. Carnival moved for summary judgment, arguing that, pursuant to the forum clause contained within their tickets, the Shutes were required to [251]*251bring suit in a Florida court. While Carnival prevailed at the District Court level, the Court of Appeals reversed holding that, among other things, the forum clause at issue should be considered unenforceable because the clause had not been freely bargained for. The appellate court independently justified its holding by noting that, according to the record, the Shutes were physically and financially incapable of pursuing the litigation in Florida and the Shutes would be deprived of their day in court if the forum clause were enforced. The appellate court based its justification on The Bremen v. Zapata Off-Shore Co., (1972), 407 U.S. 1, 92 S.Ct. 1907, 32 L.Ed.2d 513.

The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals, holding that the appellate court erred when it refused to enforce the forum selection clause.

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Bluebook (online)
596 N.E.2d 248, 1992 Ind. App. LEXIS 1111, 1992 WL 166246, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mechanics-laundry-supply-inc-v-wilder-oil-co-indctapp-1992.