Memorial Sports Complex, LLC v. McCormick

499 S.W.3d 700, 2016 Ky. App. LEXIS 153, 2016 WL 4575676
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedSeptember 2, 2016
DocketNO. 2013-CA-001788-MR, NO. 2014-CA-000200-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 499 S.W.3d 700 (Memorial Sports Complex, LLC v. McCormick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Memorial Sports Complex, LLC v. McCormick, 499 S.W.3d 700, 2016 Ky. App. LEXIS 153, 2016 WL 4575676 (Ky. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinions

OPINION

THOMPSON, JUDGE:

David Merritt Mowery filed a personal injury action against Memorial Sports Complex, LLC (Memorial) for an injury he received after running into a fence while playing baseball on its field. Memorial then filed third-party complaints against Daryl McCormick, Dale Mowery (Dale) and the Herb Geddes Fence Company, Inc. (Ged-des) seeking indemnity, contribution or apportionment. Memorial appeals the Jessamine Circuit Court's dismissal of these third-party defendants.

In 2002, Memorial, acting through its sole member who was also its general contractor, undertook the development of a baseball sports complex that included several baseball diamonds. Each baseball field was designed and constructed according to Memorial’s specifications, including the fences that Geddes constructed. Memorial made the decision not to include the typical visual warning signals that help players distracted by an ongoing play to notice when they are approaching a fence; the field lacked a “warning track” (an area made of dirt next to the fence to help players differentiate it from the field) and colored corrugated piping at the top of the fence to help players identify the specific location of the fence. The fence also lacked additional reinforcement at the bottom.

On May 31, 2005, Mowery, a minor at the time; was playing with his team on one of the Memorial baseball fields. He- was attempting to field a foul ball from his position in right field when he dove for the ball. His left arm slid under the fencing and he sustained a “greenstick fracture” as his body recoiled from the force of hitting the ground.

After reaching the age of eighteen, Mowery filed suit against Memorial in 2008 for negligence in failing to warn of the hazard and in failing to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition. Memorial immediately filed third-party complaints against several, other third parties,1 alleging they contributed to the cause of Mowery’s injury and asserted claims for indemnity, contribution and apportionment. Memorial specifically alleged that McCormick, as Mowery’s coach, breached his duties to instruct and supervise Mow-ery so he could avoid injury-causing accidents while playing baseball and failed to inspect and advise Mowery about the physical conditions of the ballpark on which Mowery played. Memorial alleged Dale, as Mowery’s father, failed to reasonably supervise Mowery when he was in his presence during the game. In Memorial’s amended third-party complaint, Memorial added the allegation that both McCormick and Dale were the primary and efficient cause of Mowery’s injury.

After taking extensive discovery, in 2013 McCormick moved for a judgment on the pleadings against Memorial and Dale moved for summary judgment.

While waiting for the resolution of those motions, Memorial requested and was granted leave to file a second amended third-party complaint naming additional third-party defendants. Memorial alleged [703]*703Geddes was responsible because it negligently failed to exercise reasonable care in its construction of the fence and was the primary and efficient cause of the injuries suffered by Mowery.

The' trial court granted McCormick’s and Dale’s motions and dismissed Memorial’s third-party claims against them with prejudice in identical judgments, stating “Due to the applicability.of apportionment of fault, as required in [Kentucky Revised Statutes] KRS 411.182, there is no right to contribution” and “indemnity is not appropriate as the kind of fault alleged by Plaintiff Mowery against Memorial Sports Complex, LLC is that it created and/or maintained the hazard that was the alleged cause of Mr, Mowery’s claimed injuries.” The final judgments contained language that “This dismissal will not prevent Third-Party Plaintiff [Memorial] from seeking an apportionment instruction relevant to the claims against it to thq extent that any fault can be proved against the now dismissed Third-Party Defendant[s][.]” Memorial appealed from McCormick and Dale’s dismissal in 2013-CA-001788-MR.

Geddes moved for summary judgment which was granted by the trial court, dismissing Memorial’s claims “with prejudice, as a matter of law, subject to apportionment in Plaintiffs [Mowery’s] claim against Memorial.” Memorial appealed from Geddes’s dismissal in 2014-CA-000200-MR. The two appeals were consolidated by our Court.

Because the dismissals of the third-party claims were derided identically, we apply the summary judgment standard to all, “The standard of review on appeal of a summary judgment is whether the trial court correctly found that there were no genuine issues as to any material fact and that the moving party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Scifres v. Kraft, 916 S.W.2d 779, 781 (Ky.App.1996). Summary judgment “should only be used ‘to terminate litigation when, as a matter .of law, it appears that it would be impossible for the respondent to produce evidence at the trial, warranting a judgment in his favor and against the movant.’ ” Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Service Center, Inc., 807 S.W.2d 476, 483 (Ky.1991) (quoting Paintsville Hospital Co. v. Rose, 683 S.W.2d 255, 256 (Ky.1985)).

Memorial argues the trial court erred by determining that indemnity, contribution or apportionment was not available against the third-party defendants. We disagree.

Indemnity is “an equitable remedy resting upon the concept that one is responsible for the consequences of one’s own wrong.” Union Carbide Corp. v. Sweco, Inc., 610 S.W.2d 932, 934 (Ky.App.1980). Other parties are entitled to indemnification from a party who is “the primary and efficient cause of the injury[.]” Degener v. Hall Contracting Corp., 27 S.W.3d 775, 780 (Ky.2000) (quoting Louisville Ry. Co. v. Louisville Taxicab & Transfer Co., 256 Ky. 827, 77 S.W.2d 36, 39 (1934)). While Memorial is correct that indemnity remains a viable claim against third parties, it simply does not apply to this situation. Under the alleged facts Memorial is the primary cause of the injury and, thus, not entitled to ’indemnification from third parties.

Summary judgment can be appropriate on an indemnity' claim where there is no disagreement as to the material facts and only disagreement as to the legal significance of those facts. Crime Fighters Patrol v. Hiles, 740 S.W.2d 936, 940-41 (Ky.1987). There is no dispute that Memorial created the alleged hazards that Mow-ery is claiming caused his injury. Mowery alleges his fracture occurred because Memorial was negligent in failing to warn of [704]*704the hazard of the fence and in failing to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition, based on the lack of visual cues as he was approaching the fence. Memorial designed the fields and determined the type of fence that Geddes should construct.

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499 S.W.3d 700, 2016 Ky. App. LEXIS 153, 2016 WL 4575676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/memorial-sports-complex-llc-v-mccormick-kyctapp-2016.