May v. Johnson Family Coal Co., 2002-CA-001493-MR.

• Decision Date: 11 July 2003
• Docket Number: NO. 2002-CA-001493-MR.,2002-CA-001493-MR.
• Parties: MILLICENT MAY, ROBERT CROOKS, RUTH BRUNING, TOM SELF, ROBERT G. SELF, SYDNEY (SELF) PHILLIPS, THELMA SEALS, GRETCHEN BOGAN, MARJORIE WENDT, JANICE TANKSLEY, JUSTINE TRIVETTE, WILLIAM C. ROBINSON, REBECCA Q. LOGUE, JOHN H. ROBINSON, AND H. L. ROBINSON, JR. APPELLANTS. v. JOHNSON FAMILY COAL CO., MRS. LINDA ANDERSON, AND DR. WILLIAM JOHNSON APPELLEES.
• Court: Kentucky Court of Appeals

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MILLICENT MAY, ROBERT CROOKS, RUTH BRUNING, TOM SELF, ROBERT G. SELF, SYDNEY (SELF) PHILLIPS, THELMA SEALS, GRETCHEN BOGAN, MARJORIE WENDT, JANICE TANKSLEY, JUSTINE TRIVETTE, WILLIAM C. ROBINSON, REBECCA Q. LOGUE, JOHN H. ROBINSON, AND H. L. ROBINSON, JR. APPELLANTS. v. JOHNSON FAMILY COAL CO., MRS. LINDA ANDERSON, AND DR. WILLIAM JOHNSON APPELLEES.

NO. 2002-CA-001493-MR.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Rendered July 11, 2003.

APPEAL FROM PIKE CIRCUIT COURT HONORABLE EDDY COLEMAN, JUDGE ACTION NO. 00-CI-00001.

W. Sidney Trivette Pikeville, Kentucky, Brief for Appellants.

Herman Lester Pikeville, Kentucky, Brief for Appellee.

BEFORE: BUCKINGHAM, JOHNSON, AND DYCHE, JUDGES.

OPINION

AFFIRMING

DYCHE, JUDGE.

Appellants or their predecessors in title entered into a coal lease with appellees or their predecessors in title for certain lands jointly owned by those parties (appellees were joint owners, and sole lessees). The lease was dated April 1, 1956, and provided for the payment of a royalty of $.25 per ton of coal mined, to be divided equally by the parties. The lease was subsequently amended to reduce the royalty, and then again informally amended to return the royalty rate to the original. A minimum royalty of $2,000 per year was payable under the lease. There is no allegation that any royalties due appellants, either as a result of mining operations or at the minimum rate, were not paid. Appellants accepted royalty checks under the lease for 44 years without objection.

Appellees, as lessees, eventually subleased the property to another coal operator, receiving $2.00 per ton royalty. Royalty payments as set out in the original lease continued to be paid to appellants. The 1965 amendment to the lease allowed such subleasing of the property without appellants' consent.

Appellants filed the complaint herein alleging that the lease was "grossly unfair, inequitable, and unconscionable." They sought cancellation of the lease. The trial court denied the relief, and this appeal followed.

In summary, the doctrine of unconscionability is used by the courts to police the excesses of certain parties who abuse their right to contract freely. It is directed against one-sided, oppressive and unfairly surprising contracts, and not against the consequences per se of uneven bargaining power or even a simple oldfashioned bad bargain . . . .

Louisville Bear Safety Service, Inc. v. South Central Bell Telephone Company, Ky. App., 571 S.W.2d 438, 440 (1978), ...