Emme v. C.O.M.B., Inc., s. C5-87-1264

• Decision Date: 22 January 1988
• Docket Number: C6-87-1340,Nos. C5-87-1264,s. C5-87-1264
• Parties: Lyle EMME, as parent and natural guardian of Christopher Emme, and Christopher Emme, Respondents (C5-87-1264), Appellants (C6-87-1340), v. C.O.M.B., Inc., et al., Respondents, Airdart, Inc., et al., Appellants (C5-87-1264), Respondents (C6-87-1340).
• Court: Minnesota Supreme Court

Page 176

418 N.W.2d 176

Lyle EMME, as parent and natural guardian of Christopher Emme, and Christopher Emme, Respondents (C5-87-1264), Appellants (C6-87-1340), v. C.O.M.B., Inc., et al., Respondents Airdart, Inc., et al., Appellants (C5-87-1264), Respondents (C6-87-1340).

Nos. C5-87-1264, C6-87-1340.

Supreme Court of Minnesota.

Jan. 22, 1988.

Syllabus by the Court

Appeal from denial of a motion for partial summary judgment is premature and certification of the question does not render order appealable pursuant to Rule 103.03(h), Minn.R.Civ.App.P.

Appeal from order denying motion to reinstate defendants dismissed without prejudice pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 544.41, subd. 2 (1986) is nonappealable.

James T. Martin, Edina, for Airdart, Inc., et al.

Lawrence J. Skoglund, Minneapolis, for C.O.M.B., Inc., et al.

Roger A. Johnson, Minneapolis, for Emme's.

Considered and decided by the court en banc.

COYNE, Justice.

This products liability action arises out of an eye injury sustained by a 12-year-old boy while playing with a velcro dart game manufactured by Airdart, Inc., a subsidiary of Dynatec International, Inc., distributed by Atwood Richards, Inc., and sold by C.O.M.B., Inc. The manufacturer appeals from an order denying a motion for partial summary judgment. The plaintiff filed a notice of review in the manufacturer's appeal and also filed a separate appeal from an order denying reinstatement of two defendants previously dismissed from the action. The appeals were consolidated and, upon certification of the court of appeals, this court granted accelerated review. We dismiss both appeals.

The complaint sets out three counts: counts I and II allege a violation of the Safe Toys Act, Minn.Stat. §§ 325F.08-.17 (1986); count III alleges negligent design and failure to warn of the danger of a hazardous toy. Airdart, the manufacturer, and Dynatec, its parent company, moved for summary judgment with respect to counts I and II only on the ground that the Safe Toys Act does not provide a civil remedy. The district court denied the motion, ruling that the applicability of Minn.Stat. § 325F.08 (1986)--i.e., whether there had been a violation of the Safe Toys Act--presented a question of fact. The court went on to declare that the Safe Toys Act imposes absolute liability for any injury resulting from violation of the Act.

Contemporaneously, the court granted the motion of Atwood, the distributor, and C.O.M.B., the retailer, for dismissal pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 544.41 (1986), which limits the liability of non-manufacturers in products liability actions.

Later, at the request of Airdart and Dynatec, the district court amended its order by certifying as important and doubtful the following question:

If the velcro dart game, as manufactured and sold by the Defendants, presented a "mechanical hazard" in violation of M.S.A. 325F.08, does such violation result in the imposition of absolute liability?

As a part of the amended order, the court denied plaintiff's motion to reinstate Atwood and C.O.M.B. as defendants.

Airdart and Dynatec appealed from the amended order denying their motion for partial summary judgment. Plaintiff appealed from that part of the order denying his motion to reinstate Atwood and C.O.M.B. as defendants, then noticed review of that same part of the order in Airdart's appeal.

Before Minnesota became a state, the Minnesota Supreme Court concluded that the statutory provision for appeal from "penal" judgments was intended to make "final" judgments of the district court subject to appellate review. Moody v. Stephenson, 1 Minn. 401, 403 (Gil.289) (1857). Over the intervening years this court has, on the one hand, almost peremptorily asserted jurisdiction with the observation that appellate jurisdiction "has been generally understood to mean that, in all judicial proceedings, the judgment which finally determines the rights of the parties is subject to review by this court," County of Brown v. Winona & St. Peter Land Co., 38 Minn. 397, 399, 37 N.W. 949, 950 (1888), and has, on the other hand, consistently dismissed appeals from orders that did not finally determine either the action or some positive legal right of the appellant relating to the action. Financial Relations Bd., Inc. v. Pawnee Corp., 308 Minn. 109, 110, 240 N.W.2d 565, 566 (1976); Weinzierl v. Lien, 296 Minn. 539, 209 N.W.2d 424 (1973); Kempf v. Kempf, 287 Minn. 529, 177 N.W.2d 40 (1970). Today the policy regarding the finality of judgments is reflected in Rule 104.01, Minn.R.Civ.App.P.

Minnesota has, however, long recognized certain exceptions to the general rule of finality. The Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure and their statutory predecessors have provided for appeals from certain interlocutory orders, such as orders dealing with injunctions, Rule 103.03(b), and historically, by judicial decision this court has protected fundamental rights from encroachment by interlocutory orders. E.g., Hunt v. Nevada State Bank, 285 Minn. 77, 88, 172 N.W.2d 292, 300 (1969), cert. denied Y397 U.S. 1010, 90 S.Ct. 1239, 25 L.Ed.2d 423 (1970) (order denying motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction: A person should not be required to defend an action before a tribunal that does not have jurisdiction over that person). Basically, however, the thrust of the rules governing the appellate process is that appeals should not be brought or considered piecemeal. Patton v. Minneapolis Street Ry., 245 Minn. 396, 398, 71 N.W.2d 861, 862 (1955). The purpose of the policy is not only to conserve judicial resources but to expedite trial proceedings. Pierce v. Foley Bros., Inc., 283 Minn. 360, 368, 168 N.W.2d 346, 351 (1969); Village of Roseville v. Sunset Memorial Park Ass'n, Inc., 262 Minn. 108, 109, 113 N.W.2d 857, 858 (1962). Pretrial appeals may cause disruption, delay, and expense for litigants; they also burden appellate courts by requiring immediate consideration of issues which may become moot or irrelevant by the end of trial. Finally, requiring complete disposition of the case prior to appeal protects the strong interest in allowing trial judges to supervise pretrial and trial procedures without undue interference. Stringfellow v. Concerned Neighbors in Action, --- U.S. ----, ----, 107 S.Ct. 1177, 1184, 94 L.Ed.2d 389 (1987). See also Washington Wildlife Preservation, Inc. v. State, 329 N.W.2d 543, 544 n. 1 (Minn.), cert. denied, 463 U.S. 1209, 103 S.Ct. 3540, 77 L.Ed. 1390 (1983).

The policy is served, albeit indirectly, by Rule 103.03(h), Minn.R.Civ.App.P., which provides that an appeal may be taken:

[I]f the trial court certifies that the question presented is important and doubtful, from an order which denies a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted or from an order which denies a motion for summary judgment.

Where the facts are stipulated or undisputed and the case turns on a legal question which is both important and doubtful, judicial economy may be served by the availability of appellate review regardless whether the motion is granted or denied. An order granting summary judgment or a Rule 12.02(5) motion is not appealable, Shema v. Thorpe Bros., 238 Minn. 470, 471, 57 N.W.2d 157, 158 (1953), but summary judgment or a judgment of dismissal entered pursuant to that order may be appealed. Rule 103.03(a), Minn.R.Civ.App.P. Similarly, if the lower court denies the motion for dismissal or summary judgment but is of the opinion that the question is important and doubtful and that there is a fair probability of reversal on appeal, then certification of the question and appeal from the order may relieve the parties of the burden and expense of trial. The same cannot be said, however, for a motion which seeks disposition of less than the entire action. Whether granted or denied it is not a motion for dismissal or summary judgment. ¹ If granting the motion results in an adjudication of fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties, appeal must ordinarily await the entry of a judgment which adjudicates all remaining claims and the rights and liabilities of all remaining parties. Erickson v. General United Life Ins. Co., 256 N.W.2d 255, 259 (Minn.1977). Rule 104.01,...