Jones v. Winnebago Industries, Inc.
| Decision Date | 01 November 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. C 05-3042-MWB.,C 05-3042-MWB. |
| Parties | Timothy JONES and Jennifer Jones, as Parents and Next Friends of Noah Timothy Jones (Deceased), Plaintiffs, v. WINNEBAGO INDUSTRIES, INC., an Iowa corporation, and Kwikee Products Company, Inc., a Washington corporation, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa |
Charles R. Free, Stuart J. Carr, Free & Carr, LLC, David R. Struthers, The Law Firm of David Struthers, LLC, Centennial, CO, Joan M. Fletcher, Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler & Hagen, PC, Des Moines, IA, for Plaintiffs.
Gene R. La Suer, Davis Brown Koehn Shors & Roberts, Douglas A. Haag, Patterson Lorentzen Duffield Timmons Irish Becker & Ordway, Des Moines, IA, for Defendants.
Although litigants often compete for the "home court advantage" in choice-of-law and choice-of-forum contests, this case turns the usual situation on its head: The defendants are rooting for application of the law of the state in which the plaintiffs were domiciled at the time of the tragic accident giving rise to their claims, while the plaintiffs are rooting, just as passionately, for application of the law of the principal defendant's home state. Under such circumstances, it comes as no surprise that the choice of law will have a significant impact upon this litigation. For example, issues that hang upon the choice of law in this case include the nature and amount of available damages, should the plaintiffs succeed on their claims, and whether the plaintiffs should be allowed to amend their complaint to seek punitive damages.
Plaintiffs Timothy Jones and Jennifer Jones filed their Complaint (docket no. 2) in the present lawsuit on July 13, 2005, as the parents and next friends of Noah Timothy Jones, deceased. In their Complaint, the Joneses assert claims arising from Noah's death on August 14, 2003, when he suffered a fatal head injury during the retraction of a "slide out room" on a motor home or recreational vehicle (RV) rented by his grandparents. The Joneses named as defendants the manufacturer of the RV, Winnebago Industries, Inc. (Winnebago), an Iowa corporation with its principal place of business in Forest City, Hancock County, Iowa; the designer and manufacturer of various systems used in the "slide out room" on the RV, Kwikee Products Company, Inc. (Kwikee), a Washington corporation with its principal place of business in Oregon;1 and the company that rented the RV to the grandparents, Nolan's RV & Marine, Inc. (Nolan's), a Colorado corporation with its principal place of business in Colorado. More specifically, the Joneses asserted design defect and inadequate warnings claims against both Winnebago and Kwikee; a manufacturing defect claim against Kwikee; and a claim of lack of reasonable care and failure to warn against Nolan's. The Joneses prayed for unspecified damages, attorney fees, costs, interest, and such other relief as the court deems just and proper.
Winnebago filed its Answer (docket no. 10) to the Joneses' Complaint on August 5, 2005, denying the claims against it and asserting various affirmative defenses. Kwikee filed a separate Answer (docket no. 16) on September 15, 2005, likewise denying the Joneses' claims and asserting essentially the same affirmative defenses as Winnebago. Nolan's filed a separate Answer (docket no. 17) on October 28, 2005, but Nolan's was subsequently dismissed from the case by stipulation of the parties on June 13, 2006 (docket no. 59).2 On February 2, 2006, Winnebago filed a Third-Party Complaint (docket no. 29) naming Daniel Shoemaker and Julie Shoemaker, Noah's grandparents, as third-party defendants. The Shoemakers responded by filing a pre-answer motion to dismiss (docket no. 53) on May 30, 2006, challenging the court's personal jurisdiction over them. Eventually, the parties stipulated to the dismissal of the Shoemakers from this action. See Stipulations of Dismissal (docket nos. 60 & 63).
Winnebago and Kwikee were both granted leave to file amended answers on February 6, 2006, alleging that Idaho law applies to the substantive liability and damages issues in this case. See Order (docket no. 32); Kwikee's Amended Answer (docket no. 33); Winnebago's Amended Answer (docket no. 34). Thereafter, on May 23, 2006, Winnebago filed the Motion For Partial Summary Judgment (docket no. 50) now before the court seeking a ruling that Idaho law applies to this case. Kwikee filed a Joinder in [Winnebago's] Motion For Partial Summary Judgment (docket no. 51) on May 25, 2006. The Joneses filed their Resistance (docket no. 64) to the defendants' motion on June 26, 2006, asserting that the facts and circumstances of this action demand application of Iowa law, not Idaho law. Winnebago and Kwikee filed a joint Reply (docket no. 66) in further support of application of Idaho law on July 3, 2006. The Joneses filed an Objection To Defendants' Reply Brief (docket no. 67) on July 3, 2006, asserting that the defendants' reply improperly raises new arguments. On July 10, 2006, the Joneses also filed a statement of "newly received evidence" (docket no. 68), which they contend is relevant to their resistance brief. No party requested oral arguments on the defendants' motion for partial summary judgment, so as of July 10, 2006, that motion was fully submitted.
In addition to the defendants' motion for partial summary judgment, however, the court also has before it the Joneses' August 11, 2006, Motion For Leave To Amend Their Complaint To Add A Claim For Punitive Damages Against Defendants Winnebago And Kwikee (docket no. 71). Winnebago and Kwikee filed a joint Resistance To Motion To Amend The Complaint (docket no. 72) on August 25, 2006, asserting that the amendment would be contrary to Idaho law, which the defendants assert requires a hearing at which the Joneses must establish a reasonable likelihood of proving facts at trial sufficient to support an award of punitive damages' before the amendment could be allowed. The Joneses filed a Reply (docket no. 75) in further support of their motion for leave to amend their Complaint on August 30, 2006, asserting that the availability of punitive damages is yet another reason why Iowa law should apply to their claims. Thus, it appears that the issues presented in the Joneses' motion to amend are intertwined with the issues presented in the defendants' motion for partial summary judgment concerning the applicable law. The Joneses' Motion For Leave To Amend Their Complaint, like the defendants' Motion For Summary Judgment on the choice-of-law issue, is now fully submitted.
Ordinarily, in a ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court would not attempt a detailed dissertation of the undisputed and disputed facts in the case. Rather, the court would provide sufficient facts, both undisputed and disputed, to put in context the parties' arguments for and against summary judgment. Such a course seems all the more appropriate here, where, notwithstanding the Joneses' contrary contentions, the issue of the appropriate choice of law is a question of law for the court. See, e.g., Waterfowl Ltd. Liability Co. v. United States, 453 F.3d 291, 297 (5th Cir.2006) (); ...
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