Baedke v. John Morrell & Co.

• Decision Date: 04 October 1990
• Docket Number: No. C88-3114.,C88-3114.
• Citation: 748 F. Supp. 700
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa
• Parties: Dixie L. BAEDKE, Individually; et al., Plaintiffs, v. JOHN MORRELL & CO., a Corporation, Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff, v. PEARSON SERVICES, INC., Third-Party Defendant.

748 F. Supp. 700

Dixie L. BAEDKE, Individually; et al., Plaintiffs, v. JOHN MORRELL & CO., a Corporation, Defendant/Third-Party Plaintiff, v. PEARSON SERVICES, INC., Third-Party Defendant.

No. C88-3114.

United States District Court, N.D. Iowa, C.D.

October 4, 1990.

Neven J. Mulholland, Thomas J. Bice, Fort Dodge, Iowa, for plaintiffs.

James P. Craig, Larry G. Gutz, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for defendant/third-party plaintiff.

Dan T. McGrevey, Fort Dodge, Iowa, John B. Grier, Marshalltown, Iowa, for Pearson Services, Inc.

ORDER

HANSEN, District Judge.

This matter is before the court on defendant John Morrell & Co.'s resisted motion for partial summary judgment, filed March 2, 1990. The motion asks that this court determine whether Iowa or South Dakota law applies to various issues presented in this matter.

Facts

The facts of this matter are as follows. The parties do not dispute the facts necessary for the resolution of defendant's motion. Defendant John Morrell is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Ohio. John Morrell does business and operates plants in both Iowa and South Dakota, including the John Morrell meat packing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Plaintiffs and their decedent, Douglas Baedke, are all residents of Iowa. Third-party defendant Pearson Services, Inc. (Pearson) is an Iowa corporation.

Plaintiffs' complaint alleges that in the spring of 1988, defendant hired Pearson to clean out the sewage lines at the Sioux Falls plant. Douglas Baedke was the Pearson employee assigned this job. On April 5, 1988, Mr. Baedke entered the sewage lines in order to clean the lines with a high pressure water hose. Defendant provided Mr. Baedke with a self-contained breathing apparatus. The apparatus failed, and Mr. Baedke was overcome by toxic gases. Mr. Baedke subsequently died as a result of his injuries. Count I of plaintiffs' complaint alleges negligence and gross negligence on the part of defendant and asks for damages for Mr. Baedke's injuries. Count II seeks damages for loss of consortium on behalf of Mr. Baedke's wife, Dixie Baedke. Count III seeks damages for loss of consortium on behalf of Mr. Baedke's minor children, Brandon Baedke, Brian Baedke, and Danielle Baedke.

Motion for Partial Summary Judgment

Defendant's motion for partial summary judgment asks that this court resolve the question of whether Iowa or South Dakota law applies to several issues presented in this matter. The specific issues involved are: (1) the law governing loss of consortium; (2) the law governing contributory negligence/comparative fault and assumption of risk; and (3) the applicable Wrongful Death Act. The parties argue that there are significant differences in each of these areas between the law of Iowa and the law of South Dakota. Defendant argues that South Dakota law applies to each of these issues. Plaintiffs argue that Iowa law applies to each. No party contends that defendant's motion is an inappropriate vehicle for resolving these issues. This decision by the court is limited to the issues defined by the parties. Additionally, the parties are advised that this ruling is an interlocutory ruling which is subject to change, particularly if the facts as assumed by the parties and this court are not borne out at trial.

A motion for summary judgment may be granted only if, after examining all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, the court finds that no genuine issues of material fact exist and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Kegel v. Runnels, 793 F.2d 924, 926 (8th Cir.1986). The court must give the nonmoving party the benefit of all reasonable inferences to be drawn from the evidence. Krause v. Perryman, 827 F.2d 346, 350 (8th Cir.1987).

This court must apply the conflicts of laws rules of the forum state, Iowa, in order to determine whether Iowa or South Dakota law governs. Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Elec. Mfg. Co., 313 U.S. 487, 496-97, 61 S.Ct. 1020, 1021-22, 85 L.Ed. 1477 (1941); Freeze v. American Home Prod. Corp., 839 F.2d 415, 417 (8th Cir.1988). In Fuerste v. Bemis, 156 N.W.2d 831 (Iowa 1968), the Supreme Court of Iowa explicitly adopted the "most significant relationship" test of the Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Laws (1971).¹ See also Berghammer v. Smith, 185 N.W.2d 226, 231 (Iowa 1971); Fabricius v. Horgen, 257 Iowa 268, 132 N.W.2d 410 (1965). The general principle of this test is that "the rights and liabilities of the parties with respect to an issue in tort are determined by the local law of the state which, with respect to that issue, has the most significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties under the principles stated in § 6." Restatement (Second) of Conflicts of Laws § 145(1) (1971) (hereinafter "Restatement"). Contacts which are considered include the place where the injury and the conduct causing the injury occurred, the residence and place of business of the parties, and the place where the relationship between the parties is centered. Restatement § 145(2).

The factors relevant to the choice of the applicable rule of law include

(a) the needs of the interstate and international systems,

(b) the relevant policies of the forum,

(c) the relevant policies of other interested states and the relative interests of those states in the determination of the particular issue,

(d) the protection of justified expectations,

(e) the basic policies underlying the particular field of law,

(f) certainty, predictability and uniformity of results, and

(g) ease in the determination and application of the law to be applied.

Restatement § 6.

The Supreme Court of Iowa has not directly spoken on the issues involved in this matter. In a diversity action, the court "must do its best to determine what state law is under the state decisions.... The court must judicially `estimate' what the Iowa Supreme Court would do if confronted with the same issue." Heeney v. Miner, 421 F.2d 434, 439 (8th Cir.1970).²

Consortium

Under South Dakota law, a consortium claim is derivative of the main cause of action, and thus the noninjured spouse or minor child's consortium claim may be reduced or barred by the negligence of the injured spouse or parent. Barger for Wares v. Cox, 372 N.W.2d 161, 165 (S.D.1985); Bitsos v. Red Owl Stores, Inc., 350 F.Supp. 850, 852 (D.S.D.1972). The underlying policy of this rule is that allowing a spouse to recover, and enrich the family treasury, when the injured spouse's claim is barred due to his or her own negligence, impermissibly allows the injured spouse to profit by his or her own negligence. See Ross v. Cuthbert, 239 Or. 429, 397 P.2d 529, 531-32 (1964) (en banc). Under Iowa law, a consortium claim is not derivative, and the negligence of the injured spouse or parent does not reduce or bar recovery by the noninjured spouse or child under a consortium claim. Schwennen v. Abell, 430 N.W.2d 98, 101-02 (Iowa 1988); Fuller v. Buhrow, 292 N.W.2d 672, 674-76 (Iowa 1980); Handeland v. Brown, 216 N.W.2d 574 (Iowa 1974). The policy underlying this rule is that denying a claim because of the injured spouse's negligence requires the noninjured spouse, who is free from negligence, to bear the burden of damages caused by the negligence of others and permits a negligent tortfeasor to completely escape liability due to the negligence of a third person. Fuller, 292 N.W.2d at 676. See also Schwennen, 430 N.W.2d at 101. The Supreme Court of Iowa has explicitly rejected the policy expressed in Ross. Fuller, 292 N.W.2d at 676; Handeland, 216 N.W.2d at 578.

In Berghammer, the Supreme Court of Iowa stated the general rule that the law of the marital domicile, as the state with the most significant relationship to the issue, should govern a claim of consortium. Berghammer, 185 N.W.2d at 231-233. See also Brookley v. Ranson, 376 F.Supp. 195, 198 (N.D.Iowa 1974) (citing Berghammer). See generally Annotation, Conflict of Laws as to Right of Action for Loss of Consortium, 46 A.L.R.3d 880 (1972).

Defendant quotes the above cited Annotation as follows:

Whether or not courts which apply the most significant contact theory will apply the law of the place where the injury occurred appears to depend upon whether the place of occurrence was a mere fortuity. It appears that a court using this approach will apply the law of the marital domicil instead of the law of the place of the wrong, unless the latter jurisdiction has some further significant connection with the facts being litigated, so that where the forum state's only connection with a cause of action for loss of consortium was the fact that the automobile accident which resulted in the injury occurred there, it was held that the law of the marital domicil would control the availability of the action. citing Berghammer.... A closer question is presented where the place of occurrence is more than a mere fortuity, and, indeed, it has been held that where the spouse was injured while a business invitee on defendant's property, the jurisdiction of the place of the injury had a more significant contact with the case than did the law of the place of marital domicil. citing Casey v. Manson Constr. & Eng'g Co., 247 Or. 274, 428 P.2d 898 (1967) (en banc).

Defendant's brief, filed April 2, 1990, at 15 (quoting Annotation, Conflict of Laws as to Right of Action for Loss of Consortium, 46 A.L.R.3d at 883).

Berghammer involved an Iowa lawsuit by a Minnesota plaintiff against an Illinois defendant arising from an automobile accident occurring in Iowa. Berghammer, 185 N.W.2d at 231. "In Berghammer, the Supreme Court of Iowa declined to apply Iowa substantive law on the issue of consortium because the court recognized that Iowa had limited interest in a case in which neither party was a resident." Cameron v. Hardisty, 407 N.W.2d 595, 597 (Iowa 1987). This court has found no case in which the Supreme Court of Iowa has faced a factual scenario similar to the facts presented...