Iowa Elec. Light and Power Co. v. Mobile Aerial Towers, Inc., E-L

• Decision Date: 20 December 1983
• Docket Number: E-L,No. 83-1598,83-1598
• Parties: IOWA ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY, Appellant, v. MOBILE AERIAL TOWERS, INC., and Tel-ect, Inc., and Badger Body and Truck Equipment Company, Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

Page 50

723 F.2d 50

IOWA ELECTRIC LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY, Appellant, v. MOBILE AERIAL TOWERS, INC., and Tel-E-Lect, Inc., and Badger

Body and Truck Equipment Company, Appellees.

No. 83-1598.

United States Court of Appeals,

Eighth Circuit.

Submitted Oct. 13, 1983.

Decided Dec. 20, 1983.

James F. Pickens, Matthew G. Novak of Pickens, Barnes & Abernathy, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for appellee Tel-E-Lect, Inc.

Bruce Washburn, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for appellant Iowa Elec. Light and Power Co.

Gerald T. Sullivan, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for appellee Mobile Aerial Towers, Inc.

Before LAY, Chief Judge, and HEANEY and ARNOLD, Circuit Judges.

LAY, Chief Judge.

Iowa Electric Light & Power Co. brought this action against Mobile Aerial Towers, Inc., Tel-E-Lect, Inc., and Badger Body & Truck Equipment Co., for damages arising from the collapse of a boom on one of Iowa Electric's bucket trucks. The district court ¹ granted defendants' motion for summary judgment based on collateral estoppel. The court reasoned that Iowa Electric's claim was precluded by a judgment entered for the defendants in an earlier action brought by two employees of Iowa Electric arising from personal injuries incurred at the time of the collapse of the boom. Iowa Electric appeals from the judgment of dismissal. We affirm.

On May 31, 1979, a boom collapsed on a bucket truck owned by Iowa Electric. The truck was manufactured by Mobile Aerial Towers, Inc., sold by Badger Body & Truck Equipment Co., and repaired and inspected by Tel-E-Lect, Inc. The two Iowa Electric employees injured by the accident, Atalig and Whipple, each brought suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa against the three parties. Iowa Electric filed a workers' compensation lien pursuant to Iowa Code Sec. 85.22 (1979) in the Atalig suit, but not the Whipple suit. The Atalig and Whipple suits were then consolidated for trial, which began June 21, 1982.

Attorneys for Iowa Electric participated in a number of depositions taken in the consolidated personal injury cases brought by the two employees. Iowa Electric advanced $26,889 for expenses incurred in preparation of the trial of the employee claims. The claims were based on strict liability and negligence, and no issue of contributory negligence was raised. On July 3, 1982, the jury returned a verdict against the employees and in favor of the three defendants.

After the Atalig and Whipple suits were filed but before the trial began, Iowa Electric commenced this action seeking recovery for damages to the bucket truck and for amounts paid to Atalig and Whipple under the workers' compensation statute. Based on the Atalig and Whipple jury verdict, the defendants filed a motion for summary judgment on the ground that Iowa Electric should be precluded from litigating issues previously determined in the Atalig and Whipple case.

Property Damage Claim

Under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, "once an issue is actually and necessarily determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, that determination is conclusive in subsequent suits based on a different cause of action involving a party to the prior litigation." Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 153, 99 S.Ct. 970, 973, 59 L.Ed.2d 210 (1979). The substantive law to be applied, however, is state common law. Kuehn v. Garcia, 608 F.2d 1143, 1147 (8th Cir.1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 943, 100 S.Ct. 1340, 63 L.Ed.2d 777 (1980). The issue in this case is whether Iowa Electric "was so connected in interest with one of the parties in the former action as to have had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the relevant claim or issue and be properly bound by its resolution." ² Hunter v. City of Des Moines, 300 N.W.2d 121, 123 (Iowa 1981) (quoting Bertran v. Glens Falls Insurance Co., 232 N.W.2d 527, 533 (Iowa 1975)).

Our review of the record is in accord with the district court's conclusion that Iowa Electric was sufficiently connected in interest with the individual plaintiffs as to have had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the negligence and strict liability issues in the earlier trial. Iowa Electric attended and participated in a number of depositions taken in the consolidated Atalig and Whipple case; Iowa Electric also paid $26,889 for expenses incurred in connection with the Atalig and Whipple claims. These facts demonstrate a sufficient connection to bind Iowa Electric to the prior outcome.

Workers' Compensation Claim

Under the doctrine of res judicata, "a final judgment on the merits bars further claims by parties or their privies based on the same cause of action." Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 153, 99 S.Ct. 970, 973, 59 L.Ed.2d 210 (1979). ³ The claim asserted by Iowa Electric for the amounts paid to Atalig and Whipple under the workers' compensation law is within the same claim initially brought by Atalig and Whipple for their personal injuries. Under the subrogation provisions of Iowa Code Sec. 85.22 (1983), Iowa Electric was in privity with Atalig and Whipple. Section 85.22 provides that if an employee recovers damages from a third p...