Ephraim Freightways, Inc. v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc.
| Decision Date | 17 April 1967 |
| Docket Number | No. 9068.,9068. |
| Parties | EPHRAIM FREIGHTWAYS, INC., Appellant, v. RED BALL MOTOR FREIGHT, INC., Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit |
Stockton, Lewis & Mitchell, Denver, Colo. (Truman A. Stockton, Jr., John H. Lewis, and William F. Schenkein, Denver, Colo., on the brief), for appellant.
Edward T. Lyons, Jr., of Jones, Meiklejohn, Kehl & Lyons, Denver, Colo. (T. Peter Craven, Denver, Colo., on the brief), for appellee.
Before PICKETT, BREITENSTEIN and HICKEY, Circuit Judges.
This is an appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado denying a motion to stay all proceedings pending determination by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission of another case said to be determinative herein.
Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc. brought a diversity action against Ephraim Freightways, Inc. for an injunction and damages. Red Ball is a common carrier by motor vehicle, holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Ephraim is a private (contract) carrier of property by motor vehicle under a permit issued by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Red Ball's complaint, based upon applicable Colorado law, alleges that Ephraim has unlawfully operated as a common carrier of property in competition with Red Ball. Ephraim denies that it has engaged in any unlawful operations, either as a common carrier or as a private carrier. Ephraim interposed a motion to stay all proceedings in the matter until final determination of a case pending before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, and alleged that the resolution of the issues therein would be determinative in the present case. The motion was denied.
We are confronted with a preliminary question of appellate jurisdiction. It is apparent that the order denying the motion to stay is not a final decision under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Therefore, the order is appealable, if at all, only as an interlocutory order refusing an injunction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a) (1), which permits appeals from "(i)nterlocutory orders * * * granting, continuing, modifying, refusing or dissolving injunctions, or refusing to dissolve or modify injunctions * * *." It has been made clear in a series of United States Supreme Court decisions that an order staying or refusing to stay proceedings in the United States District Court is appealable as an interlocutory injunction only if the action in which the order was made is essentially an action at law and the stay was sought to permit the prior determination of some related equitable matter. Baltimore Contractors v. Bodinger, 348 U.S. 176, 75 S.Ct. 249, 99 L.Ed. 233; City of Morgantown, W. Va. v. Royal Ins. Co., 337 U.S. 254, 69 S.Ct. 1067, 93 L.Ed. 1347; Ettelson v. Metropolitan Ins. Co., 317 U.S. 188, 63 S.Ct. 163, 87 L.Ed. 176; Shanferoke, etc., Co. v. Westchester Co., 293 U.S. 449, 55...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Strahan v. Coxe
...injunction includes the power to provide complete relief in light of the statutory purpose." Ephraim Freightways, Inc. v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., 376 F.2d 40, 41 (10th Cir.1967). In fashioning relief, the district court found it necessary to outline the exact contours of the Commonwea......
-
Lee v. Ply*Gem Industries, Inc.
...(5th Cir. 1976); Chronicle Pub. Co. v. National Broadcasting Co., 294 F.2d 744, 746 (9th Cir. 1961); Ephraim Freightways, Inc. v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., 376 F.2d 40, 41 (10th Cir.), Cert. denied, 389 U.S. 829, 88 S.Ct. 92, 19 L.Ed.2d 87 (1967).18 E. g., Baltimore Contractors, Inc. v.......
-
Mercury Motor Express, Inc. v. Brinke
...the action for injunctive relief under 49 U.S.C.A. § 1017(b)(2) is clearly equitable in nature. See Ephraim Freightways, Inc. v. Red Ball Motor Freight, Inc., 10th Cir. 1967, 376 F.2d 40, cert. denied, 389 U.S. 829, 88 S.Ct. 92, 19 L.Ed.2d 87. Thus, the stay is not itself an appealable Beca......
-
Pepper v. Miani, 82-2357
...a stay pending the outcome of such proceedings is not appealable under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1292(a)(1). Ephraim Freightways, Inc. v. Red Ball Motor Freight Co., 376 F.2d 40 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 829, 88 S.Ct. 92, 19 L.Ed.2d 87 (1967); accord, Allied Air Freight, Inc. v. Pan American......