Gudmundson v. Ozone

• Decision Date: 14 May 2010
• Docket Number: No. 20080537.,20080537.
• Citation: 2010 UT 33,232 P.3d 1059
• Parties: Wendy GUDMUNDSON and Kay Gudmundson, Plaintiffs and Appellants,v.DEL OZONE; OzoneSolutions, L.C.; Johnson Controls, Inc.; and John and Jane Does 1-10, Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: Utah Supreme Court

232 P.3d 1059

2010 UT 33

Wendy GUDMUNDSON and Kay Gudmundson, Plaintiffs and Appellants,v.DEL OZONE; OzoneSolutions, L.C.; Johnson Controls, Inc.; and John and Jane Does 1-10, Defendants and Appellees.

No. 20080537.

Supreme Court of Utah.

May 14, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Randall K. Edwards, Rick S. Lundell, Brian K. Lofgren, Salt Lake City, for plaintiffs.

John R. Lund, R. Scott Young, Scott Powers, Salt Lake City, for defendant Del Ozone.

Heinz J. Mahler, Salt Lake City, for defendant OzoneSolutions, L.C.

Joseph E. Minnock, Sara N. Becker, Salt Lake City, Brian C. Lewis, Richard K. Wray, Chicago, IL, for defendant Johnson Controls, Inc.

Brent Gordon, Idaho Falls, ID, for amici Utah Association for Justice.

NEHRING, Justice:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 This appeal comes from a district court's grant of summary judgment on Ms. Gudmundson's claims against third parties for injuries she sustained in the workplace. Ms. Gudmundson, a former employee of the Utah State Prison, claims that ozone exposure from a newly installed ozone-laundry system injured her, causing significant brain injuries.

¶ 2 Ms. Gudmundson initially sought workers' compensation benefits. The Utah Labor Commission denied her claim because it concluded there was no causal link between her condition and her employment. In her subsequent civil action, the district court held that because the administrative law judge who presided over Ms. Gudmundson's workers' compensation proceeding against the State determined her injuries were not medically caused by ozone exposure, she was collaterally estopped from recovering damages from the installers, distributors, and manufacturers of the ozone-generating system. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

BACKGROUND

¶ 3 In December 2004, an ozone-generating system was installed in the Wasatch Laundry Facility of the Utah State Prison. The State contracted with Johnson Controls, which hired OzoneSolutions, L.C., to furnish the ozone system. OzoneSolutions contracted with Del Ozone, a component manufacturer, to provide the ozone generator.

¶ 4 At that time Wendy Gudmundson worked as a supervisor at the laundry facility. The ozone generator was first operated in the prison on December 13, 2004; Ms. Gudmundson complained of a headache the next day. She had similar headaches the next few days but continued to go to work. She went to the hospital on December 20 and was administered an MRI, which showed normal findings. The hospital also administered a spinal tap because her headache symptoms suggested meningitis. Ms. Gudmundson did not return to work at the prison. On January 27, 2005, she returned to the hospital and was diagnosed with a Chiari I Malformation, a condition requiring surgery on her brain stem.

¶ 5 In May 2005, Ms. Gudmundson filed an Application for Hearing with the Utah Labor Commission seeking compensation for her injuries, which she believed were due to ozone overexposure. Ms. Gudmundson alleged that she had sustained an occupational disease under Chapter 3, rather than a workplace injury under Chapter 2, of Utah Code Title 34A. The Utah Labor Commission requested an independent medical examination from Dr. Edwin Holmes. Dr. Holmes concluded that the Chiari I Malformation could not be caused by exposure to ozone, that Ms. Gudmundson had not shown common symptoms of ozone overexposure, and that the presence of the Chiari I Malformation was coincidental to the installation of the ozone-generator system. A panel commission headed by Dr. Joseph Jarvis, a physician whose participation was stipulated to by the parties, agreed with this analysis. As a result, Administrative Law Judge Debbie Hann (the “ALJ”) denied Ms. Gudmundson's workers' compensation claim, citing lack of medical causation.

¶ 6 In September 2005, Ms. Gudmundson and her husband sued Johnson Controls, OzoneSolutions, and Del Ozone alleging negligent installation, strict liability based on a defective product, res ipsa loquitur, breach of implied warranty and merchantability, and negligent manufacture.¹

¶ 7 Nearly two years after the commencement of the suit, Ms. Gudmundson changed counsel. Although Ms. Gudmundson claimed that the parties agreed in a telephone conference to extend the discovery deadline, all three defendants filed for summary judgment. In response, Ms. Gudmundson sought leave under rule 56(f) of the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure to conduct additional discovery to develop various elements of her claims.²

¶ 8 The district court denied Ms. Gudmundson's rule 56(f) motion and granted summary judgment in favor of all three defendants. The court denied the rule 56(f) motion because it had twice extended the discovery deadline and reasoned that Ms. Gudmundson had not adequately explained why her claims would survive summary judgment if given the benefit of additional discovery. The district court next determined that Ms. Gudmundson was collaterally estopped from challenging causation in her suit because the ALJ had already determined that her disease was not medically caused by the ozone-generator system. The court granted summary judgment to the defendants because it concluded that all of Ms. Gudmundson's claims required some showing of causation and that she had the opportunity to fully and fairly litigate causation in her workers' compensation proceeding. The district court also granted summary judgment to Del Ozone on the alternative ground that Ms. Gudmundson had not shown that the ozone generator was defective as required to prevail on her products liability claim.

¶ 9 Ms. Gudmundson appeals the district court's denial of her rule 56(f) motion, its determination that her claims against appellees were collaterally estopped, and its determination that she could not recover from Del Ozone because she had not presented evidence that the ozone generator was defective. Also at issue in this appeal is Del Ozone's and Johnson Controls' argument that this court does not have subject-matter jurisdiction over this case due to the untimeliness of Ms. Gudmundson's notice of appeal. We review each issue below.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 10 “We review the district court's decision to grant summary judgment for correctness, granting no deference to the [district] court.” Daniels v. Gamma W. Brachytherapy, LLC, 2009 UT 66, ¶ 40, 221 P.3d 256 (alteration in original) (internal quotation marks omitted). We review the district court's rule 56(f) decision under an abuse of discretion standard, asking whether the “grant or denial exceed[s] ‘the limits of reasonability.’ ” Price Dev. Co. v. Orem City, 2000 UT 26, ¶ 9, 995 P.2d 1237 (quoting Crossland Sav. v. Hatch, 877 P.2d 1241, 1243 (Utah 1994)).

ANALYSIS

I. THIS COURT HAS SUBJECT-MATTER JURISDICTION OVER THIS APPEAL

¶ 11 Del Ozone and Johnson Controls contend this court does not have jurisdiction over this appeal as to them because Ms. Gudmundson did not file a timely notice of appeal naming them as parties. We disagree and hold that Ms. Gudmundson timely appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment as to all parties.

¶ 12 A party wishing to appeal a final judgment or order of a district court must file a notice of appeal “within [thirty] days after the date of entry of the judgment or order appealed from.” Utah R.App. P. 4(a). “An appeal may be taken from a district ... court to the appellate court with jurisdiction over the appeal from all final orders and judgments, except as otherwise provided by law....” Utah R.App. P. 3(a). “The final judgment requirement is jurisdictional”; if not met, “we lack jurisdiction over the appeal and must dismiss it.” Powell v. Cannon, 2008 UT 19, ¶ 12, 179 P.3d 799. “For an order or judgment to be final, it must dispose of the case as to all the parties, and finally dispose of the subject-matter of the litigation on the merits of the case.” Id. ¶ 11 (internal quotation marks omitted). The order from which a party appeals is not final if “action[s] against other defendants ... remain[ ] alive.” Kennedy v. New Era Indus., Inc., 600 P.2d 534, 536 (Utah 1979).

¶ 13 Here, the district court granted summary judgment to Del Ozone and Johnson Controls in an order dated March 24, 2008. It did not grant summary judgment to OzoneSolutions, however, because it found OzoneSolutions had not properly filed a separate memorandum in support of its motion for summary judgment. In response to the March 24 order, Ms. Gudmundson filed her first notice of appeal on April 2. The notice contained all three defendants as named parties and was given an appellate case number. Because the March 24 order did not include OzoneSolutions, however, it was not final as to all parties and was not appealable under our rules. Accordingly, this court issued an order dismissing Ms. Gudmundson's first notice of appeal without prejudice because it was filed prematurely.

¶ 14 Shortly after the March 24 order, OzoneSolutions filed a separate memorandum in support of summary judgment. The district court granted the motion on May 28, 2008. The court explained that it “hereby incorporates by reference its prior analysis as reflected in the Del Ozone summary judgment,” and concluded that “this Ruling and Order shall constitute the final Order of the Court on this matter. No further Order need be submitted by the parties.”

¶ 15 In response, Ms. Gudmundson filed her second notice of appeal on June 4, 2008. The caption included all three defendants. Ms. Gudmundson also stated that she wished to “consolidat[e]” the second notice of appeal with the first notice of appeal because it stemmed “from the same claim, ar[ose] from the same set of facts, and the [second] order ... was based on the same legal theories and findings as the [first] order.” The body of the appeal, however, stated that Ms. Gudmundson “appeals to the Utah Supreme Court the Ruling and Order Granting Defendant OzoneSolutions' Motion for Summary Judgment.” On June 27, this court sent a letter with a different case...