McGuinn Construction Management, Inc. v. Espino

• Decision Date: 29 August 2018
• Docket Number: 2018-MO-030
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: McGuinn Construction Management, Inc., Respondent, v. Saul Espino and Mara Espino, Petitioners. And Saul Espino and Mara Espino, Petitioners, v. Gates Commons, LLC, S. Wade McGuinn, Individually, and Town of Lexington, Defendants, Of whom Town of Lexington is the Respondent. Appellate Case No. 2016-001291

McGuinn Construction Management, Inc., Respondent, v. Saul Espino and Mara Espino, Petitioners. And Saul Espino and Mara Espino, Petitioners, v. Gates Commons, LLC, S. Wade McGuinn, Individually, and Town of Lexington, Defendants,

Of whom Town of Lexington is the Respondent. Appellate Case No. 2016-001291

No. 2018-MO-030

Supreme Court of South Carolina

August 29, 2018

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE. IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR.

Heard April 17, 2018

Appeal from Lexington County James W. Johnson Jr., Circuit Court Judge, William P. Keesley, Circuit Court Judge

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

Andrew A. Aun, of Aun & McKay, PA, of Irmo, and Blake A. Hewitt of Bluestein Thompson Sullivan, LLC, of Columbia, for Petitioner.

S Jahue Moore, and John Calvin Bradley Jr., of Moore Taylor Law Firm, P.A., of West Columbia, and Andrew F. Lindemann, of Lindemann, Davis & Hughes, PA, of Columbia, for Respondents.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PER CURIAM.

This is a consolidated action primarily concerning the scope of a sewer easement across Petitioner's property. In 2005 McGuinn Construction Management, Inc., brought an action (the McGuinn action) against Petitioners for declaratory relief concerning the scope of the easement and also for slander of title and tortious interference with contract. McGuinn and Petitioners filed cross motions for summary judgment. The circuit court granted summary judgment to Petitioners in 2008. McGuinn moved for reconsideration. Later in 2008 Petitioners commenced an action against the Town of Lexington (the Town action) for negligence, gross negligence, slander of title, regulatory taking, trespass, and conversion. That action is still pending in the circuit court. While McGuinn's motion for reconsideration was still pending, the circuit court granted the Town's motion to consolidate both actions. In its order denying McGuinn's motion for reconsideration, the circuit court specifically noted it was not making a determination as to whether the Town was bound by the grant of summary judgment to Petitioners in the McGuinn action. In an unpublished decision, the court of appeals reversed the grant of summary judgment in the McGuinn action and remanded the McGuinn action and the Town action back to the circuit court. McGuinn Const. Mgmt., Inc. v. Espino, Op. No. 2016-UP-138 (S.C. Ct. App. filed Mar. 23, 2016). This remand placed both actions in the circuit court for trial.

In the McGuinn action, we reverse the court of appeals and reinstate the circuit court's grant of summary judgment regarding the scope of the sewer easement and regarding McGuinn's claims for slander of title and tortious interference with a contract. We do so pursuant to Rule 220(b), SCACR, and the following authorities: Hancock v. Mid-South Mgmt. Co Inc., 381 S.C. 326, 329, 673 S.E.2d 801, 802 (2009) ("Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact and it is clear the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law."); id. at 329-30, 673 S.E.2d at 802 ("In determining whether any triable issues of fact exist, the evidence and all inferences which can be reasonably drawn from the evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party."); Bovain v. Canal Ins., 383 S.C. 100, 105, 678 S.E.2d 422, 424 (2009) ("An appellate court reviews the granting of summary judgment under the...