Village Food & Liquor Mart v. H & S Petroleum, Inc.

2002 WI 92, 647 N.W.2d 177, 254 Wis. 2d 478, 2002 Wisc. LEXIS 493
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 9, 2002
Docket00-2493
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 2002 WI 92 (Village Food & Liquor Mart v. H & S Petroleum, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Village Food & Liquor Mart v. H & S Petroleum, Inc., 2002 WI 92, 647 N.W.2d 177, 254 Wis. 2d 478, 2002 Wisc. LEXIS 493 (Wis. 2002).

Opinions

WILLIAM A. BABLITCH, J.

¶ 1. In this case, we are asked to decide whether the Wisconsin Constitution protects a litigant's right to a jury trial in a civil suit for damages under the Unfair Sales Act, Wis. Stat. § 100.30 (1999-2000).1 In a civil case that involved allegations of unfair sales practices, the defendant, H & S Petroleum (H & S), made a demand to the circuit court for a jury trial, which the plaintiff, Village Food & Liquor Mart (Village Food), moved to strike.

¶ 2. The Racine County Circuit Court, Dennis J. Barry, Judge, held that H & S had no constitutionally protected right to a jury trial and granted Village Food's motion. The court of appeals granted H & S leave to appeal the non-final order and subsequently certified the question to this court. We now reverse the ruling of the circuit court and hold that the Wisconsin Constitution protects the right to a trial by jury for a civil suit brought under the Unfair Sales Act.

II

¶ 3. In 1999, Village Food brought suit against H & S, alleging a series of violations of the Unfair Sales Act, Wis. Stat. § 100.30. Specifically, Village Food claimed that on 103 different occasions, the Horizon Marathon gas station violated Wis. Stat. §§ 100.30(2)(am)1m.c and 100.30(3), the minimum mark-up laws regarding the sale of motor vehicle fuel. [481]*481Horizon Marathon was owned by H & S, and Horizon Marathon competed with Village Food in the motor vehicle fuel market.

¶ 4. In its plea for relief, Village Food sought $2000 in damages for each violation, and for each day of continued violation, pursuant to § 100.30(5m).2 Village Food also sought costs and attorney fees, but made no claim for temporary or permanent injunctive relief. H & S demanded a trial by jury in the matter.

¶ 5. Village Food moved to strike H & S's jury demand, arguing that the Wisconsin Constitution does not guarantee the right to a jury trial in a civil suit brought under the Unfair Sales Act. The circuit court agreed with Village Food and granted the motion to strike. Relying on State v. Ameritech Corp., 185 Wis. 2d 686, 517 N.W.2d 705 (Ct. App. 1994), aff'd 193 Wis. 2d 150, 532 N.W.2d 449 (1995), the circuit court held that, because there was no common law cause of action in 1848 sufficiently similar to the present one, the right to a jury trial was not protected by Article I, Section 5 of the Wisconsin Constitution.

¶ 6. The court of appeals granted H & S leave to appeal the non-final order and certified the appeal to this court. We accepted the certification, and we now reverse the circuit court's ruling.

[482]*482II

¶ 7. Article I, Section 5 of the Wisconsin Constitution governs a civil litigant's right to a jury trial in a Wisconsin court.3 That section states:

The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and shall extend' to all cases at law without regard to the amount in controversy; but a jury trial may be waived by the parties in all cases in the manner prescribed by law....

Wis. Const, art. I, § 5. Here, we are asked if Article I, Section 5, guarantees H & S the right to a jury trial. Whether there is a constitutionally guaranteed right to a jury trial for a particular cause of action requires us to interpret a provision of the state constitution, which we do independently of the lower courts. State v. City of Oak Creek, 2000 WI 9, ¶ 18, 232 Wis. 2d 612, 605 N.W.2d 526.

¶ 8. We approach this question in two parts. We first set forth the test by which we determine if there is a constitutional right to a jury trial for a given cause of action. Second, we apply the test to the cause of action in the present case to determine if the constitutional [483]*483right to a jury trial is protected. In the end, we conclude that H & S is entitled to a jury trial under the test set forth in this opinion.

A

¶ 9. In Ameritech, the court of appeals set forth a two-part test for assessing statutory causes of action under Article I, Section 5. The court of appeals stated that "[a] party has a constitutional right to have a statutory claim tried to a jury when: (1) the statute codifies an action known to the common law in 1848; and (2) the action was regarded as at law in 1848." Ameritech, 185 Wis. 2d at 690. A negative answer to either question would mean that the jury trial right is not constitutionally guaranteed.4 Wé agree that a two-part test is required; however, we conclude that, in light our prior case law interpreting Article I, Section 5, a different test is required under the first prong.

¶ 10. Article I, Section 5 of the Wisconsin Constitution guarantees that the right to a trial by jury "shall remain inviolate, and shall extend to all cases at law...." This section clearly indicates that non-statutory causes of action at law, where a jury trial was guaranteed before the passage of the state constitution, [484]*484would continue to have a guaranteed right to a jury trial attached even after the passage of the constitution.5

¶ 11. It certainly follows then that, as the Amer-itech court concluded, a cause of action created by statute after 1848 will have a constitutionally guaranteed right to a jury trial attached if that statute codifies a claim that existed in the common law before the adoption of the constitution. We conclude, however, that this requirement from Ameritech — that the statute must specifically "codify" a prior common law cause of action before the right to a jury trial is warranted— interprets our prior case law and the state constitution too narrowly. Instead, consistent with our prior case law, we conclude that a party has a constitutional right to have a statutory claim tried to a jury when: (1) the cause of action created by the statute existed, was known, or was recognized at common law at the time of the adoption of the Wisconsin Constitution in 1848 and (2) the action was regarded at law in 1848. See Upper Lakes Shipping, Ltd. v. Seafarers' Int'l Union, 23 Wis. 2d 494, 503, 128 N.W.2d 73 (1963); Gen. Drivers & Helpers Union Local 662 v. WERB, 21 Wis. 2d 242, 251-52, 124 N.W.2d 123 (1963); Town of Burke v. City of Madison, 17 Wis. 2d 623, 635, 117 N.W.2d 580 (1962); [485]*485Powers v. Allstate Ins. Co., 10 Wis. 2d 78, 89, 102 N.W.2d 393 (1960); see also State v. Hansford, 219 Wis. 2d 226, 237, 580 N.W.2d 171 (1998).

¶ 12. As we stated in Bekkedal v. City ofViroqua, 183 Wis. 176, 192, 196 N.W.

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Village Food & Liquor Mart v. H & S Petroleum, Inc.
2002 WI 92 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
2002 WI 92, 647 N.W.2d 177, 254 Wis. 2d 478, 2002 Wisc. LEXIS 493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/village-food-liquor-mart-v-h-s-petroleum-inc-wis-2002.