Opinion ID: 1447783
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Grant of Partial Summary Judgment on Comparative Negligence

Text: The Estate's principal argument on appeal is that the district court erred in ruling that Biegas was more than fifty percent at fault as a matter of law. [3] We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. CenTra, Inc. v. Estrin, 538 F.3d 402, 412 (6th Cir.2008). Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. FED.R.CIV.P. 56(c). We have explained that: The burden is generally on the moving party to show that no genuine issue of material fact exists, but that burden may be discharged by showingthat is, pointing out to the district courtthat there is an absence of evidence to support the nonmoving party's case. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 325, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (internal quotation marks omitted). In reviewing a summary judgment motion, credibility judgments and weighing of the evidence are prohibited. Rather, the evidence should be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Thus, the facts and any inferences that can be drawn from those facts[] must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). Bennett v. City of Eastpointe, 410 F.3d 810, 817 (6th Cir.2005). Our review is limited to the evidence before the district court at the time of its partial-summary-judgment ruling, and we do not consider the evidence introduced subsequently at trial. Meridian Leasing, Inc. v. Associated Aviation Underwriters, Inc., 409 F.3d 342, 346 (6th Cir.2005); see also U.S. East Telecomms., Inc. v. U.S. West Commc'ns Servs., Inc., 38 F.3d 1289, 1301 (2d Cir. 1994) (Our review is confined to an examination of the materials before the trial court at the time the [partial-summary-judgment] ruling was made, and neither the evidence offered subsequently at trial nor the verdict is relevant.). Under the Erie doctrine, federal courts sitting in diversity apply the substantive law of the forum state and federal procedural law. Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938); Gasperini v. Ctr. for Humanities, Inc., 518 U.S. 415, 427, 116 S.Ct. 2211, 135 L.Ed.2d 659 (1996). Michigan's No Fault Act provides that a person may be subject to tort liability for noneconomic loss caused by his or her ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle only if the injured person has suffered death, serious impairment of body function, or permanent serious disfigurement. MICH. COMP. LAWS § 500.3135(1). The statute further provides that [d]amages shall be assessed on the basis of comparative fault, except that damages shall not be assessed in favor of a party who is more than 50% at fault. Id. § 500.3135(2)(b). To prevail on a claim of negligence under Michigan law a plaintiff must show that (1) the defendant owed a legal duty to the plaintiff, (2) the defendant breached or violated the legal duty, (3) the plaintiff suffered damages, and (4) the breach was a proximate cause of the damages suffered. Schultz v. Consumers Power Co., 443 Mich. 445, 506 N.W.2d 175, 177 (1993). The availability of summary judgment in diversity actions is governed by the federal standard, embodied in FED.R.CIV.P. 56, rather than by state law. Gafford v. Gen. Elec. Co., 997 F.2d 150, 165-66 (6th Cir.1993); see also 10A CHARLES ALAN WRIGHT ET AL., FEDERAL PRACTICE & PROCEDURE § 2712, at 219 (3d ed. 1998) ([I]n diversity-of-citizenship actions questions relating to the availability of summary judgment, such as whether there is a disputed issue of fact that is sufficient to defeat the motion, are procedural and therefore governed by Rule 56, rather than by state law.). Taking the facts in the light most favorable to the Estate and drawing all justifiable inferences in its favor, we believe that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Biegas's negligence exceeded Dailey's. First, as to Quickway's imputed negligence, the summary-judgment evidence showed that at the time of the accident (1) Dailey was driving the Quickway tractor-trailer up to three miles per hour over the fifty-five-mile-per-hour speed limit, (2) Dailey was following only 150 feet behind another truck, and (3) Dailey allowed the tractor-trailer to drift across the right fog line by at least three inches to strike Biegas's truck and trailer. Dailey testified at his deposition that he was traveling between fifty-five and fifty-eight miles per hour at the time of the accident. For purposes of its summary-judgment ruling, the district court assumed that Dailey would be presumed negligent for driving over the posted speed limit in violation of MICH. COMP. LAWS § 257.627. Dailey also testified at his deposition that he was following another tractor-trailer by only approximately 150 feet, or two tractor-trailer lengths. [4] According to the Michigan Commercial Driver License Manual introduced by the Estate in its opposition to summary judgment, commercial trucks should maintain at least one second for each ten feet of vehicle length at speeds below 40 mph, adding an additional second when traveling above forty miles per hour. ROA at 1768 (Manual § 2.7). Applying this rule, Timothy Abbo, an expert for the Estate, calculated that Dailey (who was driving a sixty-five-foot vehicle and going at least fifty-five miles per hour) should have maintained a space of at least seven-and-one-half seconds, or 600 feet, between his truck and the one in front of him. According to Abbo's affidavit, [h]ad Dailey maintained this distance, he would have had ample time to observe the dump truck on the shoulder, notice Biegas near it, and take appropriate action to avoid a collision. ROA at 1721 (Abbo Aff. at 6). Most important, the evidence showed that Dailey's tractor-trailer crossed over the fog line and struck portions of Biegas's truck and trailer that were within the shoulder several inches to the right of the fog line. The investigation by Sergeant Lucidi, the MSP accident reconstructionist, found that Dailey's right side-view mirror struck the rear of Biegas's dump truck and that the side of Dailey's trailer struck a backhoe attachment on Biegas's trailer, leaving a thirty-foot-long scrape on the side of Dailey's trailer. These contacts, Lucidi concluded, demonstrated that Dailey's tractor-trailer had drifted over the fog line and onto the shoulder at the time of the accident. The Estate's accident-reconstruction and trucking experts Abbo, Donald Asa, and Ronald Robbins also concluded that Dailey's vehicle must have crossed over the fog line when it struck Biegas. As for Biegas's negligence, the district court rejected all of Quickway's theories of comparative negligence except for two. The district court found that Biegas was negligent in (1) failing to park his truck farther to the right on the highway's shoulder even though there were two more feet of paved shoulder on the right, and (2) walking from the shoulder into the right traffic lane without first checking for oncoming traffic. The district court concluded that these errors by Biegas outweighed Dailey's negligence and demonstrated that Biegas was more than fifty percent at fault for the accident. The Estate does not contest Lucidi's measurements at the accident scene, which found that Biegas's truck and trailer were parked just a few inches from the fog line. The Estate also concedes that Biegas was likely partially inside, on, and partially over the fogline, near the rear of his trailer when he was struck and killed. Estate Br. at 21. The Estate nonetheless argues that the district court erred in ruling as a matter of law that Biegas's negligence was greater than that of Dailey. Taking the facts in the light most favorable to the Estate, we cannot say that Biegas's negligence exceeded Dailey's as a matter of law. It is clear that Biegas parked quite close to the fog line and that he should not have stepped onto the roadway without first checking for oncoming traffic. However, if Dailey had been following the preceding truck at a safe distance, he should have had sufficient time to see Biegas and move safely to the left of his own lane to avoid any contact with Biegas and his vehicle. Instead, Dailey allowed his tractor-trailer to drift at least three inches over the right fog line, sideswiping Biegas's parked vehicle and crushing Biegas's body between the two vehicles. Given that both parties bear responsibility for some substantial portion of the fault, we do not believe that this is the kind of exceptional negligence case in which summary judgment is appropriate. Rogers v. Peabody Coal Co., 342 F.2d 749, 751 (6th Cir.1965). Rather, this case turns on applying a reasonable-person standard to the conduct of both Biegas and Daileya determination that is generally left to the jury. See 10A WRIGHT ET AL., supra, § 2729, at 556. We therefore believe that there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the negligence of Biegas in parking close to the fog line and stepping into the traffic lane exceeded the negligence of Dailey in following the preceding truck too closely and allowing his tractor-trailer to cross the fog line. Accordingly, we hold that the district court erred in granting Quickway's motion for partial summary judgment.