Opinion ID: 1125347
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: plaintiffs' common law negligence claim against the provider of alcohol

Text: In addition to ruling that plaintiffs had a valid claim for relief against Matador under the Dramshop Act, the trial court also ruled that the Act is the exclusive remedy for claims by injured third persons and their families against providers of alcohol. The court held that this exclusivity precluded plaintiffs' common law negligence claim. We granted defendants' petition for an interlocutory appeal to review the trial court's ruling that plaintiffs had a claim for relief under the Act, and we have now held that the trial court erred on that issue. Plaintiffs did not cross-petition for interlocutory appeal to review the trial court's ruling that the Act preempted common law negligence claims against providers of alcohol. For the first time, in their appellees' brief on defendants' appeal, plaintiffs attack the trial court's ruling on statutory preemption. Matador, in its reply brief, suggests that the Court should overlook plaintiffs' failure to cross-petition and address the preemption issue so as to avoid a further appeal after remand and entry of final judgment. We decline the parties' invitation to ignore our procedural rules and decide the preemption issue. That issue requires a complex analysis of legislative intent, see Retherford v. AT & T Communications, 844 P.2d 949, 964-66 (Utah 1992), and the purpose, nature, and limitations of the strict liability action authorized by the Dramshop Act and the compatibility and consistency of that action and its limitations with a common law negligence action against a provider of alcohol. See Yost v. State, 640 P.2d 1044, 1046 (Utah 1981); Rees v. Albertson's, Inc., 587 P.2d 130, 133 (Utah 1978). Although we have held that appellate courts may affirm a lower court's ruling on a ground other than the one relied on by that court, see State v. South, 924 P.2d 354, 357 (Utah 1996), there is a critical distinction between different grounds for a ruling and different claims for relief. Id. A ruling may be based on various grounds. If a lower court reaches a correct ruling on a ground that is invalid, a reviewing court may nevertheless sustain the ruling on the basis of a valid ground. Id. Plaintiffs asserted two claims for relief. We have held above that the trial court erred in sustaining plaintiffs' claim under the Dramshop Act. Plaintiffs' common law claim is not an alternative ground for sustaining plaintiffs' Dramshop Act claim. Plaintiffs' common law claim is an entirely different claim for relief, and we cannot address the validity of that claim on the pretext that it might be a valid alternative ground for sustaining the result in this case. [3] A cross-appeal or cross-petition was therefore necessary to raise that issue. [4] For these reasons, we decline to address the issue whether the trial court erred in holding that a common law negligence action against a provider of alcohol is preempted by the Dramshop Act. The trial court's ruling that plaintiffs could state a claim for relief under the Dramshop Act is reversed. ZIMMERMAN, C.J., and HOWE, DURHAM and RUSSON, JJ., concur in Associate Chief Justice STEWART's opinion.