Payne v. M. Greenberg Construction

636 P.2d 116, 130 Ariz. 338, 1981 Ariz. App. LEXIS 548
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedAugust 25, 1981
Docket1 CA-CIV 4668
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 636 P.2d 116 (Payne v. M. Greenberg Construction) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Payne v. M. Greenberg Construction, 636 P.2d 116, 130 Ariz. 338, 1981 Ariz. App. LEXIS 548 (Ark. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

OPINION

CONTRERAS, Judge.

Appellants brought suit against appellees Bistro-Starr Equipment Co. (Starr), M. Greenberg Construction (Greenberg) and others for damages in connection with injuries suffered by appellant Samuel C. Payne (Payne) as a result of the collapse of a scaffold upon which he was working. This appeal is from summary judgment in favor of Starr and a directed verdict in favor of Greenberg. We find no error and affirm.

Payne was injured on January 15, 1973, when a scaffold upon which he was working collapsed causing him to fall approximately 20 feet to a concrete floor. This injury occurred during the construction of a National Guard helicopter hangar in Phoenix, Arizona. Greenberg was the general contractor for the construction of this facility and had subcontracted the electrical work to Code Electric Company (Code), Payne’s employer.

As a part of the construction of the hangar, it was necessary to install an overhead crane. Greenberg contracted with Starr for the purchase and installation of the crane which was to be placed between two long I beams attached to the roof trusses which ran the length of the hangar. To facilitate the installation of the crane, Starr rented the component parts of a scaffold from Action Equipment and Scaffold Company, Inc. (Action). 1 Employees of Starr erected the scaffold and installed the crane.

After the crane was installed, a question arose as to whether Starr’s employees or Code’s employees would do the electrical wiring of the crane. This work was not part of the original agreement between Greenberg and Code. Greenberg ultimately entered into an agreement with Code which authorized Code to do the wiring.

Several days before Code began the electrical wiring of the crane, Code’s foreman, Jimmy Hair, and Greenberg’s construction superintendent, George Lewitz, had a conversation regarding how Code employees would reach the crane to wire it. There was a dispute at trial over this conversation. Both Hair and Lewitz testified that Hair asked Lewitz about using Starr’s scaffold, and that Lewitz indicated the scaffold was not Greenberg’s property. Nonetheless, Hair testified that Lewitz told him to use the scaffold; Lewitz testified that he told Hair to get Starr’s permission to use the scaffold. It was undisputed that neither Hair nor Lewitz sought permission from Starr to use the scaffold.

Using the scaffold, Hair and Payne began the electrical work on the crane. The scaffold was on casters, enabling Hair and Payne to move it as they worked along the length of the crane. Prior to the accident, both men had worked on the scaffold approximately one and one-half to two and one-half days without experiencing any significant problems. On the day of the accident, while attempting to install a bracket, Hair exerted pressure along the scaffold’s handrail. As he did so, he felt the scaffold move. Hair testified that he looked down and saw that a caster had dropped out of the scaffold’s tubular frame. Hair descended the scaffold and attempted to reinsert the caster while Payne remained atop and *341 attempted to brace the scaffold by clinging to the hangar’s iron work. Hair was unable to reinsert the caster or to brace the scaffold in any other manner. The scaffold started to fall and Payne released his grip from the iron work. Payne then attempted to exit from the end of the scaffold and push himself away from it, but his tool pouch caught in the scaffold’s handrail. As a result, Payne fell to the floor of the hangar and was injured.

JURISDICTIONAL ISSUE

We first consider a jurisdictional issue raised by appellee Starr.

Summary judgment was entered before trial in favor of Starr on November 5, 1976. The judgment did not contain language making it a final appealable order pursuant *to civil rule 54(b). 2 It was not until May 25, 1978, when the court entered judgment granting Greenberg’s motion for directed verdict and certifying it as a final appeala-ble order that the judgment for Starr became final. In order to be timely, a notice of appeal had to be filed no more than 30 days after the May 25, 1978, judgment unless time-extending motions were filed as provided in appellate rule 9.

Payne filed a timely motion for new trial on June 8, 1978, pursuant to civil rule 59. This motion extended the time for appeal for purposes of appellate rule 9(b). 3 This motion was served upon Greenberg and Action, the defendants who had participated in the trial, but it was not served upon Starr. It is Starr’s contention that this lack of service rendered the motion for new trial ineffective to extend the time for appeal as to Starr.

Civil rule 59(d) requires that a motion for new trial be filed not later than 15 days after entry of judgment. It does not refer to service. However, civil rule 5(g) requires that:

Except for offers of judgment under Rule 68, all papers after the complaint required to be served upon a party or to be filed with the court within a specified time shall be both filed with the court and served within that specified time,

(emphasis added). Thus, a timely filing under appellate rule 9(b) of a time-extending motion requires timely service. In addition, civil rule 5(a) provides in part:

Except as otherwise provided in these rules, . . . every written motion other than one which may be heard ex parte, and every written notice, appearance, demand, offer of judgment, designation of record on appeal, and similar papers shall be served upon each of the parties.

(emphasis added).

Payne’s failure to serve Starr with the motion for new trial violated civil rule 5. We must determine whether this failure rendered the motion ineffective to extend the time to appeal the judgment previously entered for Starr. If the motion for new trial was ineffective, Payne’s November 13, 1978, appeal was untimely and this court is without jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. Edwards v. Young, 107 Ariz. 283, 486 P.2d 181 (1971).

In making this determination we must read civil rules 5 and 59 in conjunction with civil rule 54(b) which provides in part:

[A]ny order or other form of decision, however designated, which adjudicates *342 fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties shall not terminate the action as to any of the claims or parties, and the order or other form of decision is subject to revision at any time before the entry of judgment adjudicating all the claims and the rights and liabilities of all the parties.

In 6 Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 54.01[1], at 33, 35 (2d ed. 1976), it is pointed out that:

Under amended Rule 54(b), the action involving multiple claims is in its entirety a judicial unit....
[U]ntil the [court] adjudicates all of the multiple claims, or the rights and liabilities of all

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Doe v. Roman Catholic Church
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
McMickle v. Griffin
254 S.W.3d 729 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2008)
Acuna v. Kroack
128 P.3d 221 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2006)
Acuna v. Hampton And Kroack
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2006
Lee v. Chicago Transit Authority
605 N.E.2d 493 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1992)
Crown Life Insurance v. Howard
822 P.2d 483 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1991)
GM Development Corp. v. Community American Mortgage Corp.
795 P.2d 827 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1990)
Nelson v. Nelson
791 P.2d 661 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1990)
Campbell v. State
766 S.W.2d 940 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 1989)
Andrews v. Fry's Food Stores of Arizona
770 P.2d 397 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1989)
Webster v. Culbertson
761 P.2d 1063 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1988)
Webster v. Culbertson
761 P.2d 1060 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1986)
Volz v. Coleman Co., Inc.
748 P.2d 1187 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1986)
Northern Arizona Gas Service, Inc. v. Petrolane Transport, Inc.
702 P.2d 696 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1984)
Carter v. Missouri Pacific Railroad
681 S.W.2d 314 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1984)
Carr v. Suzuki Motor Co.
655 S.W.2d 364 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
636 P.2d 116, 130 Ariz. 338, 1981 Ariz. App. LEXIS 548, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/payne-v-m-greenberg-construction-arizctapp-1981.