Watson v. Menard, Inc.
| Decision Date | 23 November 2021 |
| Docket Number | ED 109525 |
| Citation | 636 S.W.3d 904 |
| Parties | Sharon WATSON, AS TRUSTEE OF the GEORGE T. AND MARY E. WATSON TRUST DATED NOVEMBER 18, 1997, Appellant, v. MENARD, INC. d/b/a Menards, and City of Richmond Heights, Missouri, Respondents. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Jelani Aitch, The Aitch Firm, LLC, 6 Cardinal Way, Suite 900, St. Louis, MO 63102, for appellant.
Kelley F. Farrell, Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan, P.C., 8182 Maryland Ave., 15th Floor, St. Louis, MO 63105, for respondent Menard, Inc. D/B/A Menards.
Kenneth J. Heinz, J. Patrick Chassaing, Curtis, Heinz, Garrett & O'Keefe, P.C., 130 S. Bemiston Ave., Suite 200, Clayton, MO 63105, for respondent City of Richmond Heights, Missouri.
Plaintiff, Sharon A. Watson, as Trustee of the George T. and Mary E. Watson Trust, (Appellant) appeals from the trial court's dismissal of Appellant's Amended Petition for Damages against defendants City of Richmond Heights (the City) and Menard, Inc. (Menards) (collectively, Respondents). We affirm.
In July 2006, the City passed an ordinance approving a redevelopment project in a blighted area, which included property at 1705 Berkley Avenue, Richmond Heights, Missouri (the Property), owned by Appellant. The Property consists of 0.3 acres of land and a one-story 1,220-square-foot house. In December 2007, the City filed a condemnation action against the Property, naming all interested parties as defendants, including Appellant. In March 2008, pursuant to Section 99.820 of the Real Property Tax Increment Allocation Redevelopment Act, Sections 99.800 - 99.865, RSMo.,1 (TIF Act), the trial court entered an Order of Condemnation for property in the City's redevelopment area, which included the Property. However, the developer Michelson Commercial Realty and Development L.L.C. (Michelson) was unable to obtain financing for the redevelopment project and breached the redevelopment agreement with the City. The City then entered into a redevelopment agreement with Menards. The City paid $429,962.74 for damages into the court registry, as required by the TIF Act, on December 2, 2013. The next day, the City recorded a deed to Appellant's Property in the name of Menards.
Appellant refused to vacate the Property, and the City filed a Writ of Possession in February 2014. The trial court granted the City's writ with an effective date of March 5, 2014, but Appellant applied for a Writ of Prohibition from this Court, which was granted on March 4, 2014, and made absolute on July 8, 2014. State ex rel. Watson v. Sherry , 436 S.W.3d 718 (Mo. App. E.D. 2014). This Court's decision ended the condemnation proceeding because the City failed to pay the commissioner's award until after the five-year period for acquisition had expired, under the TIF Act. Id. at 723-24. Thus, the trial court dismissed the City's Writ of Possession and the condemnation action with prejudice and ordered title to the Property restored to Appellant on August 1, 2014. The redevelopment project was subsequently redesigned to exclude the Property.
On February 20, 2014, while the City's Writ of Possession was pending, Appellant discovered significant weather damage to the roof of the house on the Property, and made an insurance claim with her insurer, American Family (Insurer), on March 5, 2014. Appellant also alleged the house suffered interior water damage, and theft damage. Insurer denied Appellant's claim, citing that the policy was in Appellant's name but the deed recorded was in the name of Menards. Appellant informed Menards that Insurer denied her claim because of the recorded deed showing Menards purchased the Property on December 2, 2013. Insurer also denied coverage because Appellant cancelled the policy on March 18, 2014, retroactive to December 2, 2013, which was prior to the date of the alleged loss. Insurer issued a refund check to Appellant on April 14, 2014.
On July 29, 2019, Appellant filed this lawsuit alleging, inter alia , that Menards was negligent in failing to insure the Property (Count III). Appellant also sought injunctive relief to remove overgrowth from Appellant's Property. Menards filed its Motion to Dismiss the Petition, with suggestions in support of its motion. On March 4, 2020, the trial court denied dismissal of Appellant's injunctive relief but granted the Motion to Dismiss Appellant's negligence claim without prejudice, giving Appellant thirty days to file an amended petition.
On March 31, 2020, Appellant filed an Amended Petition for Damages, asserting: (Count I) ordinary negligence against the City; (Count II) recklessness against the City; (Count III) ordinary negligence against Menards "for failing to respond to Plaintiff's inquiry regarding the recorded deed and by failing to take reasonable measures to ensure that Plaintiff suffered no additional property damage; including failing to resolve the recorded deed in favor of Plaintiff" during the pendency of the prior legal proceedings; and (Count IV) injunctive relief for Menards’ neglect of an easement. Menards again moved to dismiss the negligence claim and for a more definite statement of the injunction claim. The City also moved to dismiss the two counts against it.
Ultimately, Menards cooperated with Appellant to address the nuisance allegations, so Appellant did not oppose a motion to dismiss the request for injunctive relief as moot. On February 19, 2021, the trial court entered an Order and Judgment disposing of all of Appellant's claims, specifically the negligence claims in Counts I, II, and III, and the injunctive relief in Count IV. This appeal follows.
Appellant raises three points on appeal, each alleging the trial court erred in granting Respondents’ Motion to Dismiss because Appellant's petition stated a claim for which relief could be granted. Appellant's first point alleges the trial court erred in that Respondents owed Appellant a duty of care, which they breached, and substantial damage resulted to Appellant. Second, Appellant alleges the trial court erred in that Appellant's petition was filed within the five-year statute of limitations for negligence. Third, Appellant alleges the trial court erred in that Appellant pled that City waived sovereign immunity to the extent of the City's insurance policy limits and that the City should not be shielded because the City's Writ of Possession was a proprietary act done solely for the benefit of Menards. We find Point II dispositive; thus, we do not reach Appellant's other points on appeal.
The standard of review for a trial court's grant of a motion to dismiss is de novo. Lang v. Goldsworthy , 470 S.W.3d 748, 750 (Mo. banc 2015). In determining the appropriateness of the trial court's dismissal of a petition, an appellate court reviews the grounds raised in the defendant's motion to dismiss. In re Estate of Austin , 389 S.W.3d 168, 171 (Mo. banc 2013). If the motion to dismiss cannot be sustained on any ground alleged in the motion, the trial court's ruling will be reversed. Id. However, the trial court's ruling must be affirmed "if the motion [to dismiss] could have been sustained on any of the meritorious grounds raised in the motion," regardless of whether the trial court relied on that particular ground. Breeden v. Hueser , 273 S.W.3d 1, 6 (Mo. App. W.D. 2008).
Appellant's second point alleges the trial court erred in granting Respondents’ motion to dismiss because Appellant's petition stated a claim for which relief could be granted, in that Appellant's petition was filed within the five-year statute of limitations...
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