Opinion ID: 3165150
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Polaris’s Motion for Summary Judgment

Text: Polaris moved for summary judgment on all of Appellants’ claims on October 3, 2014. Polaris’s motion argued that Appellants could not “show that an injury-causing defect existed in the 2011 RZR vehicle as sold by Polaris.” Aplt. App., Vol. 1 at 104, 108 (emphasis in original). Mr. Damron’s modification of the 2011 RZR, in Polaris’s view, had introduced into Mr. Birch’s vehicle a defect that had not previously existed, and therefore Appellants’ claims were deficient as a matter of law. 5. Appellants’ Opposition to Summary Judgment and Motion to Amend On October 31, 2014, Appellants filed both a response to Polaris’s summary judgment motion and a motion to amend the complaint. The latter motion sought to make two changes to Appellants’ complaint. First, Appellants would have redefined the products at issue as (a) the 2011 RZR that Mr. Birch bought from Polaris Victory of St. George—which was the sole product included in the original complaint—and (b) “the 2008 model cab frame (aka ‘ROPS Structure’), also manufactured by Defendant POLARIS, which was purchased and installed by Polaris-certified mechanic Skyler Damron.” Aplt. App., Vol. 2 at 340. Second, Appellants would have added a claim that “inadequate training and evaluation were provided to Polaris-certified service/repair mechanics resulting in, among other things, unsafe assembly methods and insufficient knowledge of aftermarket parts compatibility.” Id. at 346. -8- A magistrate judge orally denied Appellants’ motion on March 5, 2015, and issued a written ruling to that effect on March 20, 2015. 6. Motion for Additional Discovery On November 18, 2014—six weeks after Polaris moved for summary judgment and almost three weeks after they sought leave to amend their complaint—Appellants filed a Motion for Rule 56(d) Extension. They asked the district court to postpone ruling on Polaris’s summary judgment motion so they could gather more discovery regarding the replacement ROPS. To justify this request, Appellants argued they had not discovered that the new ROPS was a 2008 model until the parties’ disassembly of Mr. Birch’s vehicle on June 26, 2014, explaining that the “2008 [ROPS] is largely indistinguishable from the 2011 model.” Id. at 458. According to Appellants, the installation of the 2008 ROPS on the 2011 main frame suggested Polaris may have been liable for “failure to train or supervise its certified technicians”—i.e., Mr. Damron—and this possibility necessitated further discovery. Id. at 461. The magistrate judge orally denied this motion on March 5, 2015, and included a brief discussion of it in his March 20, 2015 order. Neither the magistrate judge’s oral ruling nor his written order addressed Polaris’s motion for summary judgment. 7. Status of Proceedings Following the Magistrate Judge’s Ruling Appellants promptly filed objections to the magistrate judge’s order denying their motion to amend and motion for additional discovery. The district court considered those objections and Polaris’s motion for summary judgment at a March 31, 2015 hearing. -9- A quick summary of the proceedings up to that date will facilitate understanding of the district court’s rulings. The deadline for amending the pleadings was December 16, 2013, but Appellants did not file their motion to amend until October 31, 2014. The discovery deadline was June 6, 2014, but Appellants filed their motion for additional discovery on November 18, 2014. On October 3, 2014, Polaris moved for summary judgment on all of Appellants’ claims. Appellants responded on October 31, 2014. 8. The District Court’s Rulings The district court began the March 31, 2015 hearing by announcing its view that, as pled in the complaint, Appellants’ claims could not survive summary judgment because they could not prove “there was a defect in the product at the time and point of sale.” Aplt. Br. Attach. 3 at 4:24-5:11. That is, because the 2011 RZR had been modified between the sale and Mr. Birch’s accident, liability could not attach under Utah law. When the district court asked whether “the complaint as it’s currently drafted doesn’t survive this [summary judgment] motion, but that you think . . . you have to be given leave to amend the complaint in view of what’s happened in this case,” Appellants’ counsel agreed. Aplt. Br. Attach. 3 at 10:23-11:7. In light of this concession, the district court concluded that “this case is going to rise and fall on the viability of the amendment that [Appellants] seek.” Aplt. Br. Attach. 3 at 11:8-12. It therefore turned to review the magistrate judge’s order denying the motion to amend. - 10 - The district court explained it would review the magistrate judge’s ruling under the “clearly erroneous or contrary to law” standard that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 72(a) provides for non-dispositive matters. Appellants’ counsel not only agreed in court this was the appropriate standard of review, but Appellants also had argued in their written objections to the magistrate judge’s order that the district court should apply the “clearly erroneous or contrary to law” standard when reviewing that order. The district court overruled Appellants’ objections, concluding the magistrate judge had not clearly erred in finding Appellants failed to establish excusable neglect or good cause for their untimely motion to amend. Similarly, the court adopted the magistrate judge’s finding that Appellants had failed to file a proper motion for extended discovery. Having disposed of Appellants’ motions, the district court considered Polaris’s motion for summary judgment. Consistent with its stated intention at the beginning of the hearing, the court granted that motion because Appellants had “not presented evidence necessary to establish the existence of an element essential to all of the claims in their case, specifically the existence of a defect in the product as defined at the time and point of sale.” Aplt. Br. Attach. 3 at 67:11-18. On April 9, 2015, the district court entered judgment in favor of Polaris. Appellants filed a timely notice of appeal on April 29, 2015.