Ayala v. U.S.
| Decision Date | 22 February 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 94-1093,94-1093 |
| Citation | 49 F.3d 607 |
| Parties | Patsy AYALA, Donna M. Ayala, Daisy M. Ayala, Dion W. Ayala, By and Through their mother and next of friend, Patsy Ayala; Sylvia Cook, Kyle D. Cook, Jr.; Donna Cook, Angela Cook, Sheryl Lucero Steiner; Travis Lucero, By and Through his mother and next of friend, Sheryl Lucero Steiner; Pamela Mead, Jesse L. Mead, Evan K. Mead; Kraig N. Mead, Brian T. Mead, By and Through their mother and next of friend, Pamela Mead; Shay Tamar Tucker, By and Through her mother and next friend, Joy L. Jameson; Robert James Tucker, Paul Elliot Tucker, Karen Greene; Raymond L. Patch, Personal Representative of the Estates of Loretta M. Patch and Brenda Louise Patch; Rodney Allen Patch, Michael Kent Patch; Stacey Marie Patch, By and Through her conservator and next friend, Raymond L. Patch; Cheryl Sharp Clegg; Wendy I. Sharp, Glen W. Sharp, Amy E. Sharp, James E. Sharp, By and Through their mother and next friend, Cheryl Sharp Clegg; Linda Vetter Granato; Jennifer K. Vetter, Michael T. Vetter, By and Through their mother and next friend, Linda Vetter Granato; Judy Inez Guthrie, Myra Lynn Guthrie; Patricia Kathleen Guthrie, By and Through her mother and next friend, Judy Inez Guthrie, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. UNITED STATES of America, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
David W. Griffith, Worrell, Griffith, Durrett & Jaynes, P.C., Glenwood Springs, CO (Karen S. Renne, Denver, CO, with him on the briefs), for plaintiffs-appellants.
Robin D. Smith, Trial Atty., Torts Branch, Civil Div., U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC (Frank W. Hunger, Asst. Atty. Gen., Civil Div., Henry L. Solano, U.S. Atty., Phyllis J. Pyles, Asst. Director, Torts Branch, Civil Div., with him on the briefs), for defendant-appellee.
Before TACHA, Circuit Judge, McWILLIAMS, and BARRETT, Senior Circuit Judges.
This case originates from a wrongful death action brought by the families of fifteen miners who were killed in an underground mine explosion near Redstone, Colorado, on April 15, 1981. Dutch Creek No. 1 mine was owned and operated by Mid-Continent Resources, Inc. (Mid-Continent). The case has a long litigation history, including two previous appearances before this court. 1 Of the numerous claims originally filed in this action, only one remains: plaintiffs' claim, against the United States, that the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) gave negligent technical assistance to Mid-Continent.
In our most recent decision in this case, we held that the technical assistance claim was not barred by the discretionary function exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2680(a). Ayala v. United States, 980 F.2d 1342, 1351 (10th Cir.1992). Accordingly, we remanded the case for determination of the remaining liability issues, including duty, breach, proximate cause, and damages. Id. at 1351 n. 5.
On remand, the district court ruled that plaintiffs had not proved the necessary elements of their negligence claim and entered judgment for defendant. Ayala v. United States, 846 F.Supp. 1431, 1443 (D.Colo.1993). Specifically, the district court found (1) that MSHA owed no duty of care to plaintiffs; (2) that even if MSHA owed plaintiffs a duty, MSHA had not breached that duty; and (3) that even if MSHA owed a duty and had breached it, the breach was not the proximate cause of plaintiffs' injuries. Id. at 1437-43.
In this appeal, plaintiffs claim that the district court erred by (1) making factual findings inconsistent with findings made in an earlier decision, and (2) concluding that plaintiffs had not proved the elements of a negligence claim. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1291 and affirm.
Mid-Continent used a self-propelled continuous miner in Dutch Creek No. 1 to cut into a seam of coal. As the mechanical continuous miner moved forward, it occasionally encountered large pockets of highly explosive methane gas. On such occasions, the area of the tunnel surrounding the continuous miner filled with methane gas. MSHA regulations require that all electrical equipment automatically deenergize when the methane content in an underground tunnel reaches a level of two percent or greater. 30 C.F.R. Sec. 27.22. Automatic deenergization prevents the electrical equipment from sparking, which could ignite the gas and result in an explosion. According to MSHA regulations, only the main power circuit and the methane monitor circuit should remain energized when the methane monitor triggers deenergization.
In June 1978, Mid-Continent ordered add-on lighting packages for installation on their continuous miners. Mid-Continent was installing these add-on lighting packages to comply with new MSHA illumination standards. Installation of the lights was a field modification of underground mining equipment. MSHA inspectors must approve and inspect a field modification prior to a mine operator's use of the modified equipment. See 30 C.F.R. Sec. 26.19. As a result, MSHA mine inspector Jack Marshall visited Dutch Creek No. 1 on June 9, 1978 to assist Mid-Continent engineer Brad Bourquin in revising Mid-Continent's application for approval of the field modification. After assisting Bourquin with the add-on light installation, Marshall prepared to leave the mine. As Marshall was leaving, Bourquin asked him where to connect the add-on lights to the power supply. Marshall indicated that the connection should be made below the main circuit breaker. After Marshall left, Bourquin drew a wiring diagram showing the power connection directly below the main circuit breaker but above the methane monitor. Mid-Continent installed the lights according to Bourquin's diagram. Consequently, the add-on lights were not automatically deenergized by the methane monitor when the methane concentration exceeded two percent.
Mid-Continent made no additional modifications to the lights until nine days before the explosion. At that time, a new cover plate was installed with a light switch allowing the lights to be turned on and off manually. The cover plate was installed with a wire pinched in the flange of the cover plate, leaving an opening in excess of 0.015 inch. MSHA regulations limit the acceptable size of such an opening to 0.004 inch.
MSHA's post-explosion investigators concluded that one of the miners had manually switched off the light on the continuous miner after the methane monitor had deenergized the other electrical equipment in the tunnel. Use of the switch caused an intense arc inside the explosion-proof compartment, which ignited the methane that had entered the compartment. The fire in the compartment escaped through the opening in the flange of the cover plate and ignited the methane in the mine, thereby causing the explosion.
According to plaintiffs, if the lights had been automatically deenergized by the methane monitor, the manual light switch would not have been used. The lights did not deenergize because they were wired to the power source above the methane monitor, which, plaintiffs allege, was a direct result of Marshall's response to Bourquin's question.
Plaintiffs first contend that the district court abused its discretion by making factual findings in Ayala VI inconsistent with its findings in Ayala IV. Plaintiffs apparently believe that the law of the case doctrine precludes revision of the district court's findings on remand. We disagree.
The law of the case doctrine applies only to rules of law decided in the same case. Mason v. Texaco, Inc., 948 F.2d 1546, 1553 (10th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 910, 112 S.Ct. 1941, 118 L.Ed.2d 547 (1992). Plaintiffs admit that the doctrine does not prohibit reconsideration of the district court's prior factual findings. See United States v. Carson, 793 F.2d 1141, 1147 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 914, 107 S.Ct. 315, 93 L.Ed.2d 289 (1986). Nonetheless, plaintiffs argue that a district court "abuses its discretion when, while pretending to interpret its original findings, it issues new findings that are not consistent with the original findings." But plaintiffs cite no authority for this argument. Thus, we review the district court's factual findings in Ayala VI only for clear error. Sangre de Cristo Dev. Co. v. United States, 932 F.2d 891, 897 (10th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 1004, 112 S.Ct. 1760, 118 L.Ed.2d 423 (1992). After reviewing the record, we conclude that the district court's factual findings are not clearly erroneous.
Plaintiffs' claim is predicated on the United States' waiver of sovereign immunity under the FTCA. Pursuant to the FTCA, the United States is liable in tort claims "in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances," 28 U.S.C. Sec. 2674, "in accordance with the law of the place where the act or omission occurred," 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1346(b). See Franklin v. United States, 992 F.2d 1492, 1495 (10th Cir.1993). Even if specific behavior is statutorily required of a federal employee, the government is not liable under the FTCA unless state law recognizes a comparable liability for private persons. Zabala Clemente v. United States, 567 F.2d 1140, 1149 (1st Cir.1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 1006, 98 S.Ct. 1876, 56 L.Ed.2d 388 (1978). We therefore look to the law of the state in which the alleged tortious activity occurred to resolve questions of liability under the FTCA. Franklin, 992 F.2d at 1495. We review the district court's determinations of state law de novo. Id.
According to Colorado law, the elements of a negligence claim are that (1) the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff, (2) the defendant breached that duty, and (3) the breach proximately caused the plaintiff's injury. Casebolt v. Cowan, 829 P.2d 352, 356 (Colo.1992). The threshold question in any negligence action is therefore "whether the defendant owed a...
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