Wing v. Martin, 14790
| Decision Date | 25 September 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 14790,14790 |
| Citation | 107 Idaho 267,688 P.2d 1172 |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
| Parties | Woody WING and Gary Goulet, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Mac MARTIN and Jane Doe Martin, husband and wife, Mike Martin and Jane Doe Martin, husband and wife, Jeff Martin and Jane Doe Martin, husband and wife, and John Does 1-5, all dba Mac Martin and Sons, and San Tan Ranches; and William Anderson and Jane Doe Anderson, husband and wife, and E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., a foreign corporation, Defendants-Respondents. |
Plaintiff Woody Wing owns some farm property in Elmore County. Adjacent to that property is another parcel owned by the Montierth family. The Wing property and the Montierth property was leased by defendants Martins, Andersons, and San Tan Ranches (hereinafter collectively referred to as "San Tan") from May 26 to November 15, 1978, for the purpose of growing potatoes. Defendants applied to that land an herbicide manufactured by DuPont. At the expiration of defendants' lease of the land, plaintiff Wing leased the property from the Montierths and planted crops on it and on his own land, which crops emerged stunted and withered and eventually died. Plaintiffs contended that their crop damage was due to defendants' use of the herbicide, and filed action against the defendants San Tan, prior lessees and DuPont.
The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant DuPont de Nemours & Co. as to all causes of action, including those counts set out in the complaint pertaining to the Montierth property and to plaintiff Wing's property. We affirm summary judgment for DuPont as to all claims relating to all lands in question in this lawsuit, whether they be lands leased by or lands owned by plaintiffs.
As to defendants San Tan, et al., the trial judge granted summary judgment dismissing all of plaintiffs' claims, with the exceptions of Counts Three and Five of the complaint, which two counts claimed damages sustained by Wing to his own property. The trial judge certified an interlocutory appeal to this Court, pursuant to Rule 54(b), I.R.C.P., for our review of the summary judgments so granted. Our decision today affirms the court's holding as to Goulet's and Wing's claims arising from their lease of the Montierth property. Our opinion is, however, not dispositive of any claims plaintiffs have against San Tan, et al., for alleged damages to lands other than those owned by the Montierths.
In plaintiffs original complaint against DuPont, it was alleged that DuPont had known through its authorized agent that misuse of the herbicide (Lexone) was occurring and had failed to take appropriate action to prevent such misuse. Amended complaints were later filed, in which it was alleged that DuPont had negligently failed to give reasonable warnings or to properly label the product Lexone to disclose its tendency to leave the soil unfit for certain crops. The district judge found that the amended complaint as to DuPont constituted a new cause of action rather than an amendment to the original complaint; that the new cause of action accrued when the chemical was sold to the former lessees--San Tan in the summer of 1978; and that the two-year statute of limitations, I.C. § 6-1403(3), had run on the cause of action for failure to properly label the Lexone. The trial judge further noted that, even were the Products Liability Act inapplicable, the action, as amended, would be barred by the three-year statute of limitation on actions for injury to goods or chattels, I.C. § 5-218(3). The judge, therefore, entered summary judgment for DuPont on several independent bases, i.e., that the cause of action of the amended complaint was time-barred; that the failure to label, if such failure existed, did not proximately cause plaintiffs' injuries; that DuPont owed no duty to plaintiffs, and thus no negligence was shown; that no action for strict liability would lie, since only a user or consumer of an alleged defective product might bring an action in strict liability; and that, since plaintiffs losses were purely economic, those losses could not support a negligence or strict liability claim in products liability law.
I.R.C.P. 15(c) provides, "Whenever the claim or defense asserted in the amended pleading arose out of the conduct, transaction, or occurrence set forth or attempted to be set forth in the original pleading, the amendment relates back to the date of the original pleading." Here the trial court held that the proffered amendment constituted a new cause of action, rather than merely a modification of the original claim. Where, by way of amendment, a party is setting forth a new cause of action, it does not relate back. 6 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 1497, pp. 489-492 (1971). See Mitchell v. Flandro, 95 Idaho 228, 232, 506 P.2d 455, 459 (1972); Denton v. Detweiler, 48 Idaho 369, 282 P. 82 (1929).
Plaintiffs' amended complaints alleged wrongful conduct by DuPont arising at a different time and with regard to a different set of facts than those involved in the original complaint. While the original complaint alleged that DuPont knowingly allowed misapplication of the chemical, the amended complaint asserted inadequate labeling by DuPont, an omission to act occurring at a different time and location. Since the original complaint did not give notice of the legal theory advanced in the amended complaint, the amendment was a new cause of action which did not relate back. Amendment to pleadings should be allowed within the discretion of the trial court, and such exercise of discretion will not be disturbed absent a showing of clear error, Ada County Highway District v. Acarrequi, 105 Idaho 873, 673 P.2d 1067 (1983); Wheeler v. McIntyre, 100 Idaho 286, 596 P.2d 798 (1979). We find no abuse of the trial court's discretion in his refusal to allow the amendment to relate back to the original filing date.
The cause of action alleged in the amended complaint is thus deemed to have been brought on its filing date, November 20, 1981, and, as such, it is barred. The trial judge determined, and we agree, that the statute of limitations is two years, under the applicable section of the Products Liability Act. See I.C. § 6-1403(3). That section prohibits the bringing of a products liability action more than two years from its accrual as defined in I.C. § 5-219. 1 Under I.C. § 5-219, a cause of action accrues at the time of the wrongdoing, rather than at the time of discovery of the wrongful act. Owyhee County v. Rife, 100 Idaho 91, 593 P.2d 995 (1979); Martin v. Clements, 98 Idaho 906, 575 P.2d 885 (1978). See also Twin Falls Clinic & Hospital Bldg. v. Hamill, 103 Idaho 19, 644 P.2d 341 (1982).
Here, the trial court found that DuPont's wrongful labeling occurred, if at all, at the time of the sale of the chemical to the former lessees-San Tan in the summer of 1978, and such being more than three years prior to the filing of the amended complaint, the court held the improper labeling claim to be barred under either I.C. § 6-1403(3) () or I.C. § 5-218(3) (). Hence, we affirm the summary judgment entered against plaintiffs and in favor of DuPont on the amended complaint.
The parties herein have not submitted argument regarding any continuing validity of plaintiffs' original complaint, albeit summary judgment was granted as to the amended complaint because it was time barred. Solely for the purpose of removing any doubt as to the finality of our disposition of the case, we note the following. Even assuming that plaintiffs' original complaint did not become functus officio by the filing of the amended complaint (see, e.g., W.L. Scott, Inc. v. Madras Aerotech, Inc., 103 Idaho 736, 653 P.2d 791 (1982); Shirts v. Shultz, 76 Idaho 463, 285 P.2d 479 (1955)), we hold that the summary judgment order of the trial court was effective, not only as against plaintiffs' amended complaints, but also as to the original complaint. The decision of the trial court makes clear that, even if the original complaint retained validity following the amended complaint, DuPont's alleged failure to notify the former lessees-San Tan of improper use of the chemical did not proximately cause the plaintiffs' damages. The trial court stated:
* * *
* * *
"... . (Emphasis added.)
Appellants assert that the trial court erred in its holding that appellants had no cause of action against the former lessees-San Tan. Appellants argue that they have standing to recover for prior lessees-San Tan's waste and mistreatment of the Montierth property, and they base such contentions either on a...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Black Canyon Racquetball Club, Inc. v. Idaho First National Bank
...leave to amend the complaint. We conclude that the trial court did not err or abuse its discretion in so holding. Wing v. Martin, 107 Idaho 267, 688 P.2d 1172 (1984). III Finally, we consider Black Canyon's assertion that Idaho First is estopped from denying the existence of the alleged ora......
-
Adams v. Armstrong World Industries, Inc., Civ. No. 80-4161.
...Idaho Supreme Court and district courts of Idaho reaffirm this interpretation of the 1971 amendment to § 5-219(4). See Wing v. Martin, 107 Idaho 267, 688 P.2d 1172 (1984); Masi v. Seale, 106 Idaho 561, 682 P.2d 102 (1984); Murr v. Selag Corporation, No. 11079, slip op. (5th D.C. Idaho, Febr......
-
Danielkiewicz v. Whirlpool Corp.
...cannot sue on a contract." DAFCO LLC v. Stewart Title Guar. Co. , 156 Idaho 749, 331 P.3d 491, 496 (2014) (quoting Wing v. Martin , 107 Idaho 267, 688 P.2d 1172, 1177 (1984) ). Thus, "only intended, rather than incidental, third-party beneficiaries may sue when a contractual promise in thei......
-
Adelsperger v. Elkside Dev.
... ... person not in privity cannot sue on a contract." ... (Quoting Wing v. Martin, 107 Idaho 267, 272, 688 ... P.2d 1172, 1177 (1984).)); Danielkiewicz v. Whirlpool ... ...