Court Opinion

ID: 9601769
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:49:40.661054+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:59:25.558447
License: Public Domain

ROONEY, Justice,
specially concurring, with whom McCLINTOCK, Justice, joins.
I reach the same result as does the majority of the court by finding that the appeal is out of time and should be dismissed for that reason.
This action concerned three distinct and separate claims:
1. A claim for relief in the complaint, founded on cancellation or rescission of a contract, with a prayer for return of the $6,000 paid as part of the consideration for the dog.
2. A claim in the counterclaim for specific performance of the same contract, with a prayer for payment of the $2,000 balance of the consideration for the dog.
3. A claim in the counterclaim for services rendered in caring for an abandoned dog belonging to plaintiff, with a prayer for payment at the rate of $175.00 per month.
On March 9, 1978, summary judgment was entered for defendants-appellees on the first two of these claims and denied as to the third one. A stipulation for dismissal of this third one, without prejudice, was filed on April 26, 1978. Both parties moved for summary judgment, alleging no genuine issue as to a material fact. In the summary judgment, the court made an express determination that “there is no just reason for delaying entry of the Judgment upon the claims herein adjudicated.” (Emphasis supplied).
If the time for filing the notice of appeal began to run at the time of entry of the judgment on March 9, 1978, the notice was not timely filed on May 25, 1978, more than 30 days later. I believe such to be the case.
If the summary judgment was not a final judgment, as found by the majority of the court, the appeal was timely. The majority opinion in this respect is premised on the proposition that “the damages claimed in the second claim of sellers’ counterclaim should be considered to be incidental damages in accordance with § 34-21-289, W.S. 1977,” and it is made in reliance on the holding in Wheatland Irrigation District v. McGuire, Wyo., 537 P.2d 1128 (1975), to the effect that a summary judgment on the issue of liability, leaving the issue of damages to be determined, is not a final judgment. I believe the majority opinion is in error in this respect, in both its premise and in its reliance.
Although the majority opinion attempts to rationalize to the contrary, the damages requested in this third claim for services rendered to an abandoned dog are not the type of damages contemplated by § 34-21-289.1 The official note to that section of the Uniform Commercial Code reads in part:
“Purposes: To authorize reimbursement of the seller for expenses reasonably incurred by him as a result of the buyer’s breach * * *.” (Emphasis supplied.) 1A U.L.A.-U.C.C., § 2-710, p. 402.
The third claim is not based on the buyer’s breach. The basic contract was executed as far as the sellers were concerned. The dog was delivered and accepted and used by the buyer.2 The only unexecuted *690part of the contract was payment of the remaining $2,000 by the buyer. This is the breach for which incidental damages can be claimed pursuant to § 34-21-289. Recovery for services rendered to the dog on behalf of the owner must be based on another theory. Defendants-appellees characterize themselves as “involuntary bailees” of an “abandoned” dog. They obviously recognize the difficulty in showing an obligation or duty on the part of the dog’s owner to pay for taking the dog off the street and caring for it. In any event, such damages are beyond the scope of the contract and are not the type of damages contemplated by § 34-21-289. They are in a category other than are expenses incurred by failure to honor f. o. b., for expenses incurred in repossessing goods or reselling them, etc. Librairie Hachette, S. A. v. Paris Book Center, Inc., 62 Misc.2d 873, 309 N.Y.S.2d 701 (1970); Hudgens v. Bain Equipment & Tube Sales, Inc., Tex., 459 S.W.2d 873 (1970); Proctor & Gamble Distributing Company v. Lawrence American Field Warehousing Corp., 16 N.Y.2d 344, 266 N.Y.S.2d 785, 213 N.E.2d 873 (1965).
In Wheatland Irrigation District v. McGuire, supra, 537 P.2d at 1130, the court pointed out that “the claim involved was not a multiple claim as required by the rule [54(a), W.R.C.P.], but rather the pleadings presented a single claim * * *.” (Emphasis not supplied.) As previously indicated, this case does present multiple claims. The issues of damages and the issue of liability were both decided with reference to the claim for cancellation or rescission of the contract and with reference to the claim for specific performance of it. This is not the situation referred to in Rule 56(c), W.R.C.P.3, which would make the summary judgment an interlocutory one. It is the situation referred to in Rule 54(b), W.R.C.P.4 which makes the summary judgment a final order as defined in Rule 72(a), W.R.C.P.5 The summary judgment on the claim for rescission or cancellation of the contract and on the claim for specific performance did affect substantial rights and did determine the action relative thereto and did prevent a judgment for plaintiff both on his complaint and on the first counterclaim. The determination of damages on these two claims was not waiting a trial. The situation was not that upon which the court ruled in Wheatland Irrigation District v. McGuire, supra. The majority opinion creates precedent which will seriously blunt the purpose and use of Rule 54(b), W.R.C.P.
I would dismiss the appeal as untimely.

. Section 34-21-289, W.S.1977, reads:
“Incidental damages to an aggrieved seller include any commercially reasonable charges, expenses or commissions incurred in stopping delivery, in the transportation, care and custody of goods after the buyer’s breach, in connection with return or resale of the goods or otherwise resulting from the breach.’’ (Emphasis supplied.)

. Although not relevant if the appeal is out of time, I concur with the majority opinion in its determination relative to the substantive issue of acceptance, of lack of rejection and of lack *690of revocation by plaintiff under §§ 34-21-265, 34-21-269 and 34-21-271, W.S.1977.

. Rule 56(c), W.R.C.P. reads in part:
“ * * * A summary judgment, interlocutory in character, may be rendered on the issue of liability alone although there is a genuine issue as to the amount of damages.”

. Rule 54(b), W.R.C.P. reads in part:
“When more than one claim for relief is presented in an action, whether as a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim, or when multiple parties are involved, the court may direct the entry of a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the claims or parties only upon an express determination that there is no just reason for delay and upon an express direction for the entry of judgment. * * * ’’

.Rule 72(a), W.R.C.P. reads in part:
“A final order is: (1) an order affecting a substantial right in an action, when such order in effect determines the action and prevents a judgment; * *