Willetts v. General Telephone Directory Co.

38 F.R.D. 406, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1352, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10020
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 1, 1965
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 38 F.R.D. 406 (Willetts v. General Telephone Directory Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Willetts v. General Telephone Directory Co., 38 F.R.D. 406, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1352, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10020 (S.D.N.Y. 1965).

Opinion

LEVET, District Judge.

Two motions in the above-entitled action are before me. In one, plaintiff, a passenger in an automobile not operated by him but apparently involved in a collision with a car owned by defendant and operated by defendant’s employee, one Willoughby, moves for summary judgment. In the other, defendant moves to transfer the instant action from the Southern District of New York to the Northern District of West Virginia under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

The plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is based upon (1) an affidavit of Paul S. Edelman, plaintiff’s lawyer; (2) an affidavit of plaintiff; and (3) a portion of the deposition of Willoughby.

The affidavit of the attorney, who did not witness the accident, may not be considered since it is not made on personal knowledge. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e). Neither may consideration be given to any persons who were travelling in the automobile with the plaintiff and who witnessed the accident since their affidavits have not been submitted.

Plaintiff’s affidavit contains statements which are susceptible to some question. He states, for example, that the-car in which he was riding was hit by “a car speeding out of control,” that his-, “car had moved as far to the right as was possible,” and that the other car was-coming “at a tremendous rate of speed,”' “made no visible attempt to get back” and struck his car “at a very high rate of' speed.” (Emphasis added)

The deposition of Willoughby, the driver of defendant’s car, is more illuminating. He concedes that he was on his-employer’s business with the consent of his employer, the defendant, and describes the scene of the accident. It occurred on a two-lane road which, as seen from the direction in which he was driving, had an embankment at the left of the shoulder or “berm” on the left and a. mountain at the right. The roadway declined slightly at the point of the accident. The road was wet, slippery, and oily. Further, it was raining and a misty, dark, dreary day.

The impact took place, Willoughby concedes, on the “berm” on the left side of the road. Willoughby’s left front fender struck the front end of the car in which plaintiff was riding. Portions of each car, however, were on the pavement-after the impact. About one mile before-impact, Willoughby’s speed had been thirty to thirty-five miles per hour. About 600 to 700 feet before the impact, his car crossed over the center line of the highway and entered the left-hand “berm.” Willoughby concedes that he-did not apply his brakes at that time, but that he had let the car “continue in the pattern that it had formed for itself,” that is, he “let it continue in the direction in which it was sliding.” He saw the car in which plaintiff was riding some 700 feet away. Willoughby did not sound his hom or attempt to change the-direction of the ear but about five seconds before the impact he applied his brakes and slowed his car down to five to ten miles per hour. Willoughby approximates the speed of the ear in which plaintiff was riding at thirty to thirty-five [409]*409imiles per hour and says the impact was severe. Willoughby, further, attributes the cause of his car moving across the ••center line to a “skidding action” which Legan when he was going twenty to twenty-five miles per hour at a point '900 feet from the point of impact. During the skid, the car moved both to the deft and the right.

Defendant in opposition to the motion for summary judgment submitted (1) Willoughby’s affidavit; (2) an affidavit of defendant’s attorney; and (3) another portion of Willoughby’s deposition.

Willoughby in his affidavit contends:

(1) It was rainy, and the road was -oily;

(2) He applied brakes and attempted to .stop his car;

(3) The sole cause of the accident was the skidding of defendant’s car.

Certain statements in defense 'counsel’s affidavit must be disregarded .-as hearsay. Affidavits should follow substantially the same form as though affiant were giving testimony in court. -Accordingly, no consideration may be •given to hearsay statements. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(e); Seward v. Nissen, 2 F.R.D. 545 (D.Del.1942); Boerner v. United States, 26 F.Supp. 769 (E.D.N.Y.1939).

Issues of negligence are ordinarily not susceptible of summary adjudication. Taff v. Singer Sewing Machine Co., 331 F.2d 405, 407 (5th Cir. 1964); .Aetna Insurance Co. v. Cooper Wells & Co., 234 F.2d 342 (6th Cir. 1956); Wells v. D. C. Transit System, Inc., 182 F.Supp. 69 (D.D.C.1960); Furlong v. Stichman, 24 F.R.D. 400 (S.D.N.Y.1959) ; 6 Moore, (Federal Practice ¶ 56.17 [42], at 2232 (2d ed. 1953). The remedy of summary judgment may be invoked only when a 'Complete absence of genuine fact issues •appears on the face of the record. All doubts on this point must be resolved .•against the moving party. Warner v. First Nat’l. Bank of Minneapolis, 236 F.2d 853 (8th Cir.), cert. denied 352 U.S. 927, 77 S.Ct. 226, 1 L.Ed.2d 162 (1956); Griffeth v. Utah Power & Light Co., 226 F.2d 661 (9th Cir. 1955); Doman v. Moe, 183 F.Supp. 802 (S.D.N.Y.1960); Glick v. Empire Box Corp., 142 F.Supp. 761 (S.D.N.Y.1956) ; Van Brode Milling Co. v. Kellogg Co., 132 F.Supp. 330 (D.Del.1955).

It is, of course, elementary that on this motion the court cannot try issues of fact but only determines whether there are issues of fact to be tried. Empire Electronics Co. v. United States, 311 F.2d 175 (2nd Cir. 1962); Reynolds Pen Co. v. W. A. Sheaffer Pen Co., 22 F.R.D. 502 (S.D.N.Y.1958); Plehn v. Hollywood-Maxwell Co., 109 F.Supp. 622 (S.D.N.Y.1952). This rule applies even where there is no material dispute as to the facts and circumstances. As was stated in Empire-Electronics Co. v. United States, supra:

“ ‘The facts and circumstances, although in no material dispute as to their actuality, [may] reveal aspects from which inconsistent hypotheses might reasonably be drawn and as to which the minds of reasonable men might differ. The drawing of inferences and the acceptance of hypotheses arising out of the facts are ordinarily attributes that the judicial process has conferred upon the finder of facts.’ Winter Park Tel. Co. v. Southern Bell Tel. & Tel. Co., 181 F.2d 341 (5th Cir. 1950). ‘The impact of particular circumstances upon an inference arising from an admittedly existing factual situation calls for a factual determination which is the function of the trier of the facts and not that of the court in disposing of a motion for summary judgment * * *. “A judge may not, on a motion for summary judgment, draw fact inferences.” ’ Bragen v. Hudson County News Co., 278 F.2d 615, 618 (3rd Cir. 1960).

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38 F.R.D. 406, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1352, 1965 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10020, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/willetts-v-general-telephone-directory-co-nysd-1965.