Court Opinion

ID: 9552097
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:04:42.659723+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:25:38.845162
License: Public Domain

SIMMS, Justice,
dissenting:
¶ 1 I dissent. I would affirm the trial court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the county on its defense to the deputies’ contractual claims. This ruling was affirmed by the Court of Civil Appeals and certiorari has not been sought to challenge it. Contrary to the majority’s view, this is not a situation like Hough v. Leonard, 1993 OK 112, 867 P.2d 438, where an alleged error was left unaddressed by the Court of Appeals although it was properly preserved and briefed on appeal. Here, the alleged error was not ignored or left unanswered. As is shown by the majority’s , excerpt, ante, fn. 4, from the Court of Civil Appeals’ opinion, the trial court’s ruling on the challenge to the contractual theory urged by the deputies was considered and determined by the Court of Appeals. While the treatment was admittedly cursory, the Court of Civil Appeals nonetheless decided the issue presented. It ruled in the county’s favor and affirmed the trial court’s resolution of that issue. But the Court of Appeals then gratuitously considered another issue — the application of the Fair Labor Standards Act to the claim of plaintiffs — which had not been urged or briefed by the parties and found it was determinative and required reversal of the trial court’s judgment.
¶ 2 The Court of Appeals’ unsolicited determination of the Fair Labor Standards Act’s application to this case is, as the majority finds, plain error. It is, however, the only issue properly before us. In the absence of an effort by the deputies to obtain certiorari review from this court on the issue of the contractual claims, we should affirm the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of the county.
I am authorized to state that Justice WATT joins me in the views expressed herein.