TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING, KENTUCKY, INC. V. HONORABLE ROBERT G. JOHNSON (JUDGE, SCOTT CIRCUIT COURT) AND JEFF SERGENT ()
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RE-ISSUED: JUNE 17, 2010
WITHDRAWN: JUNE 17, 2010
RENDERED : MARCH 19, 2009
TO BE PUBLISHED
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2007-SC-000647-MR
TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING,
KENTUCKY, INC.
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APPELLANT
ON APPEAL FROM COURT OF APPEALS
CASE NO. 2007-CA-000711-OA
SCOTT CIRCUIT COURT NO. 99-CI-00390
HONORABLE ROBERT G. JOHNSON
(JUDGE, SCOTT CIRCUIT COURT)
AND JEFF SERGENT
(REAL PARTY IN INTEREST)
APPELLEES
OPINION OF THE COURT BY CHIEF JUSTICE MINTON
AFFIRMING
I . FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY.
Jeff Sergent and other plaintiffs claiming to represent a putative class of
1,000 or more persons filed a wage-and-hour dispute in the Scott Circuit Court
in 1999. The following year, the Scott Circuit Court granted Toyota Motor
Manufacturing Kentucky's motion to dismiss the dispute based on Early v.
Campbell County Fiscal Court, I which held that a circuit court did not have
original jurisdiction to hear wage-and-hour disputes. Sergent alleges that he
1
690 S.W.2d 398 (Ky.App. 1985) .
argued to the trial court that it did have jurisdiction over the wage-and-hour
dispute . Sergent appealed the dismissal, the Court of Appeals affirmed, and
this Court denied discretionary review in 2003 . Sergent then turned to the
Kentucky Department of Labor to litigate the wage-and-hour dispute through
the administrative process.
In 2005, while those administrative claims with the Department of Labor
were ongoing, this Court decided that circuit courts did have original, parallel
jurisdiction over wage-and-hour disputes in Parts Depot, Inc. v. Beiswenger. 2
About fourteen months later, Sergent returned to the Scott Circuit Court with a
motion under Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure (CR) 60.02 (fl3 seeking to
reopen his wage-and-hour dispute with Toyota based upon the change in the
interpretation of the law resulting from our holding in Parts Depot. The circuit
court granted Sergent's motion, after which Toyota sought a writ of prohibition
in the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals denied the writ, and Toyota
appealed that denial to this Court.
While this writ appeal was pending in this Court, we rendered Asset
Acceptance, LLC v. Moberly,4 which held that an immediate appeal from a trial
court's reopening a judgment under CR 60 .02(fl was available where the trial
court granted reopening under CR 60.02 (fl when the motion appeared to be an
2
3
4
170 S.W.3d 354 (Ky. 2005) .
CR 60 .020 provides that: "On motion a court may, upon such terms as are just,
relieve a party or his legal representative from its final judgment, order, or
proceeding" upon "any other reason of an extraordinary nature" so long as the
motion is "made within a reasonable time . . . ."
241 S.W. 3d 329 (Ky. 2007) .
untimely attempt to'reopen under CR 60 .02(a)-(c) .5 Toyota then attempted to
file a direct appeal to the Court of Appeals under Asset Acceptance. We
granted transfer of Toyota's Asset Acceptance appeal, which we then dismissed
as untimely.
In March 2009, we rendered an opinion in the writ appeal that reversed
the Court of Appeals and granted the writ Toyota sought.6 In August 2009, we
granted rehearing in the writ appeal. In October 2009, we ordered that the
parties prepare supplemental briefs in the writ appeal concerning whether
Toyota was entitled to relief under Asset Acceptance.
II . ANALYSIS .
This Court has made clear that we are "loath to grant the extraordinary
writs unless absolutely necessary" because "a writ bypasses the regular
appellate process and requires significant interference with the lower courts'
administration of justice . . . . Thus, to say that writ petitions should be
5
6
CR 60 .02 provides :
On motion a court may, upon such terms as are just, relieve a party or his legal
representative from its final judgment, order, or proceeding upon the following
grounds : (a) mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect ; (b) newly
discovered evidence which by due diligence could not have been discovered in time
to move for a new trial under Rule 59 .02 ; (c) perjury or falsified evidence ; (d) fraud
affecting the proceedings, other than perjury or falsified evidence ; (e) the judgment
is void, or has been satisfied, released, or discharged, or a prior judgment upon
which it is based has been reversed or otherwise vacated, or it is no longer
equitable that the judgment should have prospective application ; or (fl any other
reason of an extraordinary nature justifying relief. The motion shall be made
within a reasonable time, and on grounds (a), (b), and (c) not more than one year
after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken. A motion under
this rule does not affect the finality of a judgment or suspend its operation .
Toyota Motor Mfg., Kentucky, Inc. v. Johnson, No . 2007-SC-000647-MR,
2009 WL 735835 (Ky. March 19, 2009) .
reserved for extraordinary cases and are therefore discouraged is an
understatement ."7 Toward that end, we have "articulated a strict standard to
determine whether the remedy of a writ is available."8
We recognize two broad classes of cases in which a writ may be properly
granted. The first is when a lower court "is proceeding or is about to proceed
outside of its jurisdiction and there is no remedy through an application to an
intermediate court . . .
."9
The second is when a "lower court is acting or is
about to act erroneously, although within its jurisdiction, and there exists no
adequate remedy by appeal or otherwise and great injustice and irreparable
injury will result if the petition [for a writ] is not granted." 10 Under a special
subclass of the second class of writ cases, a writ may issue even absent
irreparable injury to the writ-petitioner if the lower court is acting erroneously
and a supervisory court believes that "if it fails to act the administration of
justice generally will suffer the great and irreparable injury.""
We conclude that this case does not meet the requirements for either
class of cases for which a writ may properly issue, so we withdraw our former
opinion and affirm the Court of Appeals' denial of the writ .
Cox v. Braden, 266 S.W.3d 792, 795-96 (Ky. 2008) .
Id. at 796.
Hoskins v. Maricle, 150 S.W.3d 1, 10 (Ky. 2004) .
Id.
Bender v. Eaton, 343 S.W.2d 799, 801 (Ky. 1961) .
A. First Class of Writ Cases : Trial Court Had Jurisdiction .
To determine if this is one of the first type of cases for which a writ could
properly be granted, we must determine whether the trial court was proceeding
outside its jurisdiction. Originally, we rendered an opinion in this case
granting the writ . We did so in part because we found that the trial court
lacked jurisdiction "[beecause CR 60.02(fl does not apply to the facts of this
case . . .
."12
We posited that "a change in the law is not a sufficiently
extraordinary circumstance to grant any relief under CR 60.02, except where
the direst injustice would result otherwise ." 13 And we concluded that "Sergent
faces no such injustice ." 14
1 . Trial Court Had Jurisdiction to Rule on CR 60.02(f) Motion.
We granted rehearing, and we now state clearly that any attempt on our
part in our original opinion to suggest that a trial court lacked jurisdiction to
rule on an otherwise properly filed CR 60.02(fl) motion - a motion filed in a
court having subject-matter jurisdiction and exercising personaljurisdiction
over the parties to the action - was in error.
Generally speaking, a trial court would not lack jurisdiction to rule on an
otherwise properly filed CR 60 .02(fl motion. But we recognize that there are
two circumstances in which the trial court would lack jurisdiction to grant
relief upon a CR 60.02 motion. First, as to subsections (a) through (c) of
12
2009 WL 735835 at *1 .
13
Id . at *2 .
14
Id.
CR 60 .02, some authority would suggest that a trial court lacks jurisdiction to
reopen a judgment under these subsections if a year or more has passed since
entry of judgment . 15 Second, our opinion in Asset Acceptance suggests that
the trial court would lack jurisdiction to reopen a judgment essentially on
CR 60 .02(a)-(c) grounds if the CR 60.02 motion was not filed within one year of
the judgment even if the CR 60.02 motion were filed under the guise of a
CR 60 .02(fl . 16
15
16
See Marcelli v. Walker, No. 08-1913, 313 Fed.Appx. 839, 2009 WL 415998 at *3
(6th Cir. 2009) ("However, [a] motion under [federal] Rule 60(b) must be made
within a reasonable time-and for reasons (1), (2), and (3) no more than a year after
the entry of the judgment or order or the date of proceeding . Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(c)(1) .
The time limit, as it relates to motions under Rule 60(b)(1), (2), and (3), is
jurisdictional . In this case, Marcelli filed his motion to reopen on June 10, 2008sixteen months after the district court's final judgment on February 13, 2007 . As
Marcelli stated that his motion was based on "Mistakes; Inadvertence ; Excusable
Neglect" under Rule 60(b)(1) . . . we find Marcelli's Rule 60(b) motion untimely filed.
Thus, the district court lacked jurisdiction to consider the motion, and it must be
denied.") (case citations and internal quotation marks omitted) . But see Willis v.
Jones, 329 Fed.Appx. 7, 15 (6th Cir. 2009) (questioning Marcelli on that point) .
See generally Asset Acceptance, 241 S.W.3d at 333-34 (noting that federal courts
have recognized an exception to general rule that only final judgments are
immediately appealable which "permit[s] an immediate appeal from orders setting
aside a judgment when the trial court lackedjurisdiction to grant that relief[,]"
referring to this exception as "[t]his so-called jurisdictional exception" and choosing
to adopt this exception as: "Where a final judgment has been ordered reopened,
where the disrupted judgment is more than a year old, and where the reason
offered for setting it aside is allegedly an extraordinary circumstance under
CR 60.02(fl, permitting an immediate appeal helps to maintain the important
balance between, on the one hand, the equitable insistence on justice at all costs
and, on the other, the equally vital insistence that litigation must at some point
conclude and reasonable expectations founded upon long-established final
judgments must not lightly be overturned. This is the balance that the limitations
provisions of CR 60 .02 attempt to strike, and we agree with Asset that when that
balance is threatened by the trial court's alleged disregard of those provisions, an
immediate appeal is appropriate .") (emphasis added; internal quotation marks
.
omitted))
See also id. at 334-35 :
In sum, we agree with Asset that in the narrow circumstances presented by this
case, an order setting aside a judgment more than a year old pursuant to the
In Asset Acceptance, the untimely CR 60.02 motion, filed two years after
entry of default judgment, was purportedly based on CR 60.02 (fl . But the
party opposing reopening argued that the motion was actually grounded on
excusable neglect under CR 60.02(a) . The party seeking reopening alleged that
she was unaware of the default judgment, despite receiving notice, and was
incapable of managing her own affairs for some time because of substance
abuse rehabilitation . 17 Leaving unresolved the issue of whether the CR 60.02
motion had actually been filed on the basis of CR 60 .02(a) grounds of
excusable neglect, we vacated the Court of Appeals' dismissal of the appeal of
the reopening and remanded "for consideration of Asset's contention that
Moberly's 60 .02 motion was barred by limitations and therefore outside the
trial court's authority to grant." 18 We instructed the Court of Appeals that:
If the Court determines that Moberly's motion stated "a reason of
an extraordinary nature" rather than mistake, excusable neglect or
one of the more common grounds for relief, the availability of
which was barred by the one-year limitation period in CR 60.02,
then the appropriate course would be again to dismiss the
appeal . 19
Toyota contends that it is entitled to a writ because Asset Acceptance
shows that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to grant reopening under
17
`reason of an extraordinary nature' provision of CR 60 .02(fl is subject to immediate
appellate review to ensure that CR 60 .02 (fl has not been invoked to, in effect, evade
the one-year limitations period CR 60.02 imposes on claims appropriately regarded
as falling under CR 60 .02(a), (b), or (c) .
241 S.W.3d at 331 . See also CR 60.02, which provides, in pertinent part, that
"[t]he motion shall be made within a reasonable time, and on grounds (a), (b), and
(c) not more than one year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or
taken."
is Asset Acceptance, 241 S .W .3d at 335 .
19
CR 60.02(fl . Sergent distinguishes Asset Acceptance by asserting that his
CR 60 .02(fl motion was not a disguised CR 60.02(a)-(c) motion because his
motion was not premised on any grounds covered by subsections (a), (b), or (c)
of CR 60 .02, such as perjury, fraud, newly discovered evidence, excusable
neglect, or mistake . Toyota contends that Sergent's purported CR 60 .02(f)
motion is a disguised CR 60.02(a) motion premised on mistake, noting that the
trial court itself had found that the law had not really changed but instead had
been misinterpreted . Sergent argues that he did not seek reopening nor did
the trial court grant it on the basis of mistake -- of law or otherwise. Sergent
asserts that he sought reopening and the trial court properly granted it
because the change of law constituted extraordinary circumstances .
We agree with Sergent. Although we have frequently held that a change
in the law, by itself, was not sufficient to create extraordinary circumstances
warranting relief under CR 60.02(f),2o we are not aware of any reported cases
holding that such a motion seeking CR 60 .02(fl relief was in essence actually a
motion seeking relief for mistake under CR 60 .02(a) . In fact, we recently
rejected a criminal appellant's attempt to argue that a change in law
necessitated the grant of CR 60 .02 relief to correct a mistake of law, instead
noting that the common-law writ of coram nobis, which CR 60.02 essentially
20
See, e.g., Bishir v. Bishir, 698 S.W.2d 823, 826 (Ky. 1985) .
replaced, existed in the law for the purpose of correcting mistakes of fact, not
mistakes of law .21
The trial court's dismissal of Sergent's wage-and-hour dispute could not
reasonably be termed a mistake because at the time of entry the trial court's
ruling comported with the prevailing construction of the law that wage-and
hour claims had to be brought first in administrative proceedings . And the
Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court's dismissal; we denied discretionary
review.
Sergent neither directly nor ostensibly alleged a mistake when seeking
reopening under CR 60 .020 . In fact, by stating in the order granting this
motion that the law had not really changed but had been misinterpreted, the
trial court echoed our conclusion in Parts Depot that Early had misconstrued
the governing statutes .22 And some Kentucky cases generally state that it is
inappropriate to grant relief under CR 60.02(a) on the basis of judicial
mistake .23
21
22
23
Leonard v. Commonwealth, 279 S .W.3d 151, 161-62 (Ky. 2009) ("He first argues
that the purpose of CR 60.02, under which the motion giving rise to this appeal
was filed, is to allow a court to correct a mistake. . . . As Appellant correctly notes,
CR 60 .02 replaced the common law writ of coram nobis. That writ, however, was
aimed at correcting factual errors, not legal errors . Appellant is not seeking
remediation of a factual error ; rather, he is seeking to correct the legal decision
that his ineffective assistance claims were procedurally barred, a decision that was
correct under the case law in existence at the time .") (citation omitted) .
See Parts Depot, 170 S.W.3d at 361-62, overruling Early and Noel v. Season-Sash,
Inc., 722 S .W.2d 901 (Ky.App. 1986) ("We conclude that both Early and Noel
misconstrued the effect of the statutory scheme .") .
McMillen v. Commonwealth, 717 S.W.2d 508, 509 (Ky.App .1986) ("The court below
added the language to the conditional discharge order on the authority of
CR 60.02(a) . That rule provides for relief from a final judgment on the grounds of
mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. The trial court stated that
Because Sergent's CR 60.02 motion could not reasonably be construed
as premised on a mistake by the trial court in originally dismissing the action,
the trial court did not lose jurisdiction to rule on the motion solely by reason
that the CR 60 .02 motion was filed more than a year after the original
judgment of dismissal. In short, since Sergent's motion was properly brought
under CR 60 .020, the strict one-year time limitation set forth for actions
brought under CR 60.02 (a)-(c) was inapplicable . So the trial court had the
jurisdiction to rule upon the merits of Sergent's motion.
Having determined that, in the present case, the trial court did not lack
jurisdiction to consider the CR 60.02 motion, we note that, in the future, the
availability of an immediate appeal under Asset Acceptance will mean that a
remedy exists by application to an appellate court when a trial court
improperly reopens a case under CR 60.02(fl when the case actually involves
an untimely CR 60.02(a)-(c) motion and, thus, will preclude the availability of
writs in such cases.
he would have used the added language in the initial order had it occurred to him
that appellant would refuse treatment in order to get discharged . However, it has
been held that relief under CR 60.02 is not available for judicial errors or mistakes .
Thus, CR 60.02 did not give authority for the trial court's actions .") (citations
omitted) . See also James v. Hillerich & Bradsby, Inc., 299 S.W.2d 92, 93 (Ky. 1956)
("Although CR 60.02 provides authority for reopening or vacating a judgment after
10 days, this Rule is not available for correction of an error or mistake of law by
the court.") ; Roberts v. Osbome, 339 S.W.2d 442, 443 (Ky. 1960), citing James
("The asserted error of the judge in signing the July 1 order [dismissing action] was
a judicial error and not a clerical one. He had no jurisdiction on September 9 to
correct the error (CR 60.02 not being applicable.)") .
2 . Law of the Case Bar to Jurisdiction Reiected.
Toyota raised in the Court of Appeals an argument that the law of the
case doctrine prevented the trial court from exercising jurisdiction to rule on or
grant CR 60 .02 relieL24 Toyota asserted that the original decision of the trial
court dismissing Sergent's action for lack of jurisdiction to hear the dispute a decision that was not disturbed by the appellate courts - operated to block
jurisdiction to consider CR 60 .02(fj relief by operation of the law of the case.
We disagree . We believe that a trial court's jurisdiction to determine whether
extraordinary circumstances merit relief from a judgment includes jurisdiction
to determine whether extraordinary circumstances also merit application of one
of the exceptions to the law of the case doctrine.
Toyota cites Kentucky Board ofMedical Licensure v. Ryan, 25 as suggesting
that the trial court would lack jurisdiction to rule on a CR 60.02 motion under
the law of the case doctrine . The holding in that case is inapt. Although the
Medical Licensure Board argued that the trial court erroneously ignored the
law of the case and lacked jurisdiction to order it to conduct a CR 60.02
hearing,26 we simply held that a trial court did not have jurisdiction to order
the Board to hear a CR 60.02 motion because such motions could only
properly be filed in courts and not before an administrative agency such as the
Board. Our opinion did not suggest that application of the law of the case
24
25
26
Toyota does not refute Sergent's assertion that Toyota did not make this law of the
case argument in the trial court.
151 S.W.3d 778 (Ky. 2004) .
See id. at 779.
doctrine would preclude a court from having jurisdiction to hear a CR 60 .02
motion. 27 Furthermore, to the extent that the Court of Appeals' unpublished
opinion in Davis-Johnson ex rel. Davis v. Parmelee28 holds that law of the case
would deprive a trial court ofjurisdiction to rule on a CR 60. 02(fl motion,
including the question of whether extraordinary circumstances merit an
exception from the law of the case doctrine, it is hereby overruled.
In short, we conclude that the law of the case doctrine does not
invariably deprive a trial court of jurisdiction to reconsider under CR 60.02(fl
an issue already decided if the law upon which the original decision was
based - including a controlling appellate opinion -- has materially changed.
B . Second Class of Writ Cases : No Irreparable Injury Shown.
Having determined that the trial court was not acting outside its
jurisdiction in ruling on Sergent's CR 60 .02(fl motion, we must now determine
whether this case meets the requirements for the second class of cases in
which writs may properly be granted : those cases in which the trial court was
acting erroneously within its jurisdiction and irreparable injury to a party or to
the justice system will result for which there is no adequate remedy by appeal.
We note that a trial court's ruling on a CR 60 .020 motion is reviewed for
an abuse of discretion . We further note that Kentucky precedent holds that
usually a change in the law does not constitute an extraordinary reason
meriting relief under CR 60 .02(fl . Nonetheless, we need not reach the merits of
27
See id. at 780.
28 No. 2003-CA-000848-MR, 2004 WL 1093039 (Ky.App. May 14, 2004) .
whether the trial court erred in concluding that the change in the law here
constituted extraordinary reasons or circumstances justifying relief under
CR 60 .02(fl or in concluding that the CR 60 .02(fl motion here was filed within a
reasonable time.29 Even assuming solely for the sake of argument that the trial
court did act erroneously within its jurisdiction, relief by writ is still not
available unless Toyota can show that absent a writ, either Toyota will suffer
an irreparable injury that cannot be remedied on appeal,30 or the orderly
administration of justice itself would suffer an irreparable injury .31
As we have made clear, "[i]nconvenience, expense, annoyance, and other
undesirable aspects of litigation" are insufficient to constitute irreparable
injury .32 Rather, the injury "should be of a ruinous or grievous nature . . . ."33
We conclude that Toyota would not suffer such a ruinous injury if the writ is
not granted . Toyota is already defending this action or one very similar to it in
the administrative proceeding . The fact that Sergent may seek a greater
recovery in a judicial proceeding - attorney fees and liquidated damages than he would in an administrative proceeding is not such an egregious,
irreparable harm to justify a writ. After all, Sergent should have been entitled
29
Though we have explained that the law of the case doctrine did not deprive the trial
court ofjurisdiction to rule on Sergent's CR 60.02 motion, we conclude that no
irreparable injury occurred even assuming for the sake of argument that the trial
court erred in reopening in light of this doctrine or election of remedies.
30
Hoskins, 150 S .W.3d at 10.
31
32
33
Bender, 343 S.W.2d at 801 .
Fritsch v. Caudill, 146 S.W.3d 926, 930 (Ky. 2004) .
Radford v. Lovelace, 212 S.W .3d 72, 78 (Ky. 2006), overruled on other grounds by
Cardine v. Commonwealth, 283 S.W.3d 641, 646-47 (Ky. 2009) .
to proceed in circuit court all along and was forced to pursue administrative
relief because of the now-discarded holding of Early.
The orderly administration ofjustice will not be irreparably harmed if the
writ is not granted. That type of "rare exception[]" to the general rule that a
petitioner must suffer an irreparable injury in order to be entitled to a writ
"tend[s] to be limited to situations where the action for which the writ is sought
would violate the law . . . ."34 But the reopening here would not violate the law
or result in great injustice even in the face of the argument that the trial court's
reopening several years after the original dismissal of the court action impinges
on the principle of recognizing the finality of judgments. Despite the benefits of
finality to parties and to the judicial system in general, CR 60 .02(f) recognizes
that occasionally "extraordinary circumstances" merit the reopening of final
judgments to allow a party to have a fair opportunity to present a claim on the
merits in court especially where doing so would not be inequitable to the other
party.35 Here, it is possible that the system of justice will actually benefit from
permitting Sergent's claims to be heard on the merits in the trial court when
these claims were originally dismissed based upon an erroneous and
abandoned misreading of the law. Since the administrative proceeding had not
yet come to a conclusion, we do not believe it would be inequitable for Toyota to
34
35
Grange Mut. Ins. Co. v. Trude, 151 S.W.3d 803, 808 (Ky. 2004) .
See Bethlehem Minerals Co. v. Church and Mullins Corp ., 887 S.W.2d 327, 329 (Ky.
1994), citing Fortney v. Mahan, 302 S.W.2d 842 (Ky. 1957) (stating that in ruling on
CR 60 .02 motion, trial court should consider two factors: "(1) whether the moving
party had a fair opportunity to present his claim at the trial on the merits and
(2) whether the granting of CR 60.020 relief would be inequitable to other
parties .") .
face a trial in the circuit court especially since discovery obtained in the
administrative forum could presumably be useful in the circuit court
proceedings.
Neither Toyota nor our system of justice will be irreparably harmed if we
decline to issue a writ. Therefore, it is not "absolutely necessary" for us to
grant a writ to Toyota. 36 In other words, the facts of this case are not so
"extraordinary"3? as to make it "absolutely necessary"38 for us to issue a writ in
order to protect Toyota against a lawsuit Sergent should have been permitted
to maintain in the first place . Nor does the trial court's granting CR 60 .02(f)
relief fourteen months after a significant change in the law call our system of
justice into disrepute. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Court of
Appeals and deny the writ .
III . CONCLUSION .
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Court of Appeals to deny
the writ is affirmed.
All sitting . Cunningham, Schroder, and Venters, JJ ., concur.
Abramson, J ., concurs by separate opinion in which Minton, C.J., joins.
Noble, J ., dissents by separate opinion in which Scott, J., joins.
36
Cox, 266 S.W.3d at 795 .
37
Id.
38 Id.
ABRAMSON, J., CONCURRING : I concur with the majority but
acknowledge the dissent's salient point regarding the finality of judgments . I
write separately to emphasize that I view today's opinion as quite narrow in
scope . Simply put, I do not believe that we are opening the floodgates to the
unsettling of longstanding final judgments because this case presents an
instance of truly extraordinary circumstances, indeed one unlikely to recur
often if ever again. The final judgment at issue is not an adjudication on the
merits but rather a threshold final judgment, dismissing a case for lack of
jurisdiction based on an appellate decision which, unfortunately,
misinterpreted a statute that provided for original jurisdiction in the circuit
court. While the plaintiffs' wage-and-hour claims were still pending
administratively (a factor of considerable significance in my analysis), the
erroneous interpretation of the statute was corrected by this Court in Parts
Depot v. Beiswenger, supra, giving full recognition to the right that had existed
all along statutorily. This unique scenario provided grounds for a CR 60-02(q
motion in the circuit court and, because the circumstances are so clearly
extraordinary, our denial of a writ presents no real threat to the finality of
judgments generally.
Minton, C .J., joins this concurring opinion .
i NOBLE, J., DISSENTING : This case is over ten years old. The action
was filed in Scott Circuit Court in August 1999 . On November 22, 2000, the
trial court entered summary judgment in favor of Toyota, applying Early v.
Campbell County Fiscal Court, 690 S.W.2d 398 (Ky.App. 1985), to the effect that
the Appellees herein were required to proceed administratively on their wage
and hour claim before the circuit court could review it. Appellees appealed to
the Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial court, and this Court denied
discretionary review on February 12, 2003 . The circuit court's dismissal of the
case became final on that date. CR 76 .30.
Then, in 2005, this Court reversed the longstanding precedent of Early in
Parts Depot, Inc. v. Beiswenger, 170 S.W .3d 254 (Ky. 2005), holding that circuit
courts have parallel jurisdiction with the administrative agencies, and that the
claimant could elect how to proceed.
The extraordinary circumstances Appellees complain of are that they
were deprived of their choice of forum and compelled to proceed
administratively . Unless this Court is prepared to say that the preference for
proceeding in circuit court rather than through an administrative proceeding is
so fundamental as to come under the aegis of due process of law, then I have
difficulty finding extraordinary grounds for relief under CR 60.02(q . The
Appellees were not denied due process . The administrative proceeding provides
a sufficient forum and ample opportunity for the Appellees to vindicate any
interests or rights they might have . They should at the very least be required
to show how they are harmed if they are to be given relief from a final
judgment . They have not done so .
In August 2009, this Court considered a motion for rehearing based on
an Opinion entered by a vote of 5-2 in March of 2009. In that Opinion, we held
that the Scott Circuit Court did not have jurisdiction to hear the CR 60 .02
motion filed in this action . On review, I agreed with the rest of the Court that
the Opinion was overbroad in stating that the trial court did not have
jurisdiction to hear a CR 60 .02 motion . Generally speaking, a trial court does
have subject matter jurisdiction to hear CR 60 .02 motions. However, a trial
court does not have jurisdiction to proceed on a CR 60 .02 motion based on
grounds subsections (a) to (c) in the rule after one year has expired or on (f) for
"extraordinary reasons" when the claim is a mere subterfuge for an untimely
motion in reality based on grounds in (a) to (c) . See Asset Acceptance, LLC v.
Moberly, 241 S .W.3d 329 (Ky. 2007) .
Also, even with jurisdiction, a trial court can be prevented from
proceeding by issuance of a writ based on the "certain special cases" category
adopted in Bender v. Eaton, 343 S.W.2d 799 (Ky. 1961), later approved by this
Court in Hoskins v. Maricle, 150 S .W.2d 1, 10 (Ky. 2004) . This comes through
a "Class 2" writ, where a trial court has jurisdiction, but is proceeding
erroneously. Ordinarily, a petitioner must show that he has no adequate
remedy by appeal and will suffer great and irreparable harm to obtain such a
writ, but the "certain special cases" category allows an exception to the second
requirement where the error will cause a substantial miscarriage ofjustice, and
correction of the error is "necessary and appropriate in the interest of orderly
judicial administration ." Bender, 343 S .W.2d at 801 ; see also Hoskins,
150 S.W.3d at 20.
Thus, to determine if a court, within its jurisdiction, should be subject to
a "special cases" writ, an appellate court must determine three things : the
lower court is acting erroneously, there is no adequate remedy by appeal, and
the orderly administration ofjustice will be adversely affected by the
substantial miscarriage of justice. In reviewing such a writ, the court
necessarily must review whether the trial court is indeed acting erroneously as
part of the analysis for the special cases writ.
I believe the trial court was acting within his jurisdiction but was doing
so very erroneously . The judge found that there were extraordinary reasons to
set aside a six year old final judgment because interpretation of the law had
changed. In doing so, he at least implicitly found that proceeding in circuit
court was superior to proceeding in an administrative tribunal . That
administrative proceeding was then ongoing. He elevated the right to choose a
forum, which is granted by the legislature and not an inherent right, to at least
the level of, if not a greater height than, due process.
But the mere fact that it was "unfair" that Appellees did not get to choose
a forum cannot be more important than the ability to rely on the finality of
judgments. "The principle of res judicata or finality ofjudgments is central to
our legal system." Bolin v. T 8a T Mining, 231 S .W.3d 130, 133 (Ky. 2007) ; see
also Baze v. Commonwealth, 276 S.W.3d 761, 768 (Ky. 2008) ("Our interest in
the finality of judgments . . . is axiomatic .") . That principle can only be
overcome in extraordinary circumstances . See, e.g., Bishir v. Bishir,
698 S.W.2d 823, 826 (Ky.1985) ("The strong and sensible policy of the law in
favor of the finality of judgments has historically been overcome only in the
presence of the most compelling equities ."). Allowing the resurrection of long
final cases "would create endless possibilities for frivolous claims that would
wreak havoc upon the finality ofjudgments," Bowling v.
Commonwealth, 168 S.W .3d 2, 11 (Ky. 2004), rendering the principle all but
meaningless. Unless the denial of Appellees' choice of forum was so "unfair" as
to rise to the level of a due process violation - which it certainly did not - the
interest in finality of the judgment, especially after six years, must carry the
day.
Having concluded that the trial court was acting erroneously, can it be
said that Toyota does not have an adequate remedy by appeal? In this
instance, I do not think it does. Having relied on the final judgment, and
proceeded in another forum in good faith, reopening the final judgment in this
case does more harm than . cause mere general inconvenience . If nothing else,
the doctrine of equitable laches should apply to a judgment that was six years
old when the trial court attempted to reopen it. And, like every other person
and business in the Commonwealth, Toyota is entitled to the orderly
administration of justice, which we cannot have if final judgments can be set
aside simply because one of the litigants received an undesirable outcome.
There is no adequate remedy for lost time and the nullification of six years of
reliance on the finality of a judgment . Where is the concern for fairness to
Toyota?
If all that is necessary to set aside a six-year-old final judgment is a
change in the law, then there can be no doubt .that the orderly administration
ofjustice will be irreparably harmed. As the majority candidly admits, this
Court does not usually alter final judgments because the law changes . Yet the
circuit court's whimsical approach in this case (and this Court's acquiescence
to it) does harm to repose, and to the law of the case doctrine.
The majority says that a trial court's jurisdiction to hear a CR 60 .02
motion allows the court to apply one of the exceptions to the law of the case
doctrine, but does not say which one, unless it is the same "extraordinary
circumstances" that serve as the basis of the motion. There is nothing so
extraordinary about this case that would set it apart from countless other
cases where a subsequent change in the law affects the final judgment . Such a
circumstance could be envisioned if a change in the law affected a litigant's
freedom, or his life, or appropriate medical treatment, or removal from an
injurious environment, for example, but I fail to see how being unable to
choose a forum rises to that level. Appellees were not denied any fundamental
right by operation of law of the case.
I particularly cannot agree with the following language in the majority
opinion:
In short, we conclude that the law of the case doctrine does not
invariably deprive a trial court of jurisdiction to consider under
CR 60.02(fl an issue already decided if the law upon which the
original decision was based - including a controlling appellate
opinion -- has materially changed .
This statement clearly invites a CR 60.02 motion for every change in the law in
the future against judgments, no matter how old. I cannot imagine anything
that would wreak more havoc on the orderly administration of justice .
Obviously, I believe that Toyota is entitled to a special cases writ.
And, to clarify, I do not think that the holding in Asset Acceptance
prevents issuance of a special cases writ. If there was no mistake, and that is
not the actual basis for the CR 60.02(f) motion, then Toyota would not be
entitled to an Asset Acceptance appeal. However, that would not preclude the
need for consideration of a special cases writ. Consequently, by no means does
the holding in Asset Acceptance relieve this Court of the necessity to hear a writ
case on a CR 60.02 motion.
I believe that the majority view will endanger the orderly administration
ofjustice, in particular, the application of finality to cases. I cannot agree with
the majority's assumption that going forward in this case in circuit court at
this late date would actually benefit the progression of law in this state. To the
contrary, there is nothing unique or unusual in these wage and hour claims
beyond routine operation of law. Similarly, the claim that allowing the
Appellees' cases to proceed furthers justice by giving them access to court
mistakenly assumes that they would otherwise have no access to a remedy.
Yet it is clear that the Appellees had, and have, a forum other than the circuit
court to address these claims .
I would therefore reverse the Court of Appeals, and order the issuance of
the writ prohibiting reopening of this case at this late date.
Scott, J ., joins this dissenting opinion .
COUNSEL FOR APPELLANT:
Brent Robert Baughman
Mark Scott Riddle
Greenebaum, Doll & McDonald, PLLC
.
3500 National City Tower
101 South Fifth Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202-3197
Jeffrey Alan Savarise
Fisher 8v Phillips
220 West Main Street
Suite 2000
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
John Choate Roach
Ransdell & Roach, PLLC
176 Pasadena Drive
Building One
Lexington, Kentucky 40503
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE
HONORABLE ROBERT G. JOHNSON
(JUDGE, SCOTT CIRCUIT COURT) :
Robert G. Johnson
307 North Hamilton Street
Georgetown, Kentucky 40324
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE
JEFF SERGENT
(REAL PARTY IN INTEREST)
Dennis Franklin Janes
Herbert Lee Segal
Segal, Lindsay 8s Janes, PLLC
515 Park Avenue
Louisville, Kentucky 40208-2318
Elizabeth Snow Hughes
Nora Ann Koffman
Gess, Mattingly 8v Atchison, PSC
201 West Short Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507-1269
Jeffrey Scott Walther
Robert Louis Roark
Walther, Roark 8v Gay, PLC
163 East Main Street
Suite 200
P. O . Box 1598
Lexington, Kentucky 40588-1598
Kimberly Lynn Dawahare
The Grandler Building
253 South Limestone Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40508
,*ixyr:exttr ~ourf of `rufixrkV
2007-SC-000647-MR
TOYOTA MOTOR MANUFACTURING,
KENTUCKY, INC.
V.
APPELLANT
ON APPEAL FROM COURT OF APPEALS
CASE NO . 2007-CA-000711-OA
SCOTT CIRCUIT COURT NO . 99-CI-00390
HONORABLE ROBERT G. JOHNSON
(JUDGE, SCOTT CIRCUIT COURT)
AND JEFF SERGENT
(REAL PARTY IN INTEREST)
APPELLEES
ORDER WITHDRAWING AND RE-ISSUING OPINION
The Petition for Rehearing, filed by Appellee Jeff Sergent (Real Party in
Interest), having been granted by the Court August 27, 2009 ; the additional
briefing, ordered on the Court's own motion October 1, 2009, having been
completed; the case having been submitted to the Court for further review; and
being otherwise fully and sufficiently advised;
The Court ORDERS that the Opinion of the Court by Justice Noble,
rendered March 19, 2009, is WITHDRAWN; and the attached Opinion of the
Court by Chief Justice Minton is RE-ISSUED in lieu thereof. The re-issued
opinion affirms the judgment of the Court of Appeals denying the requested
writ.
All sitting. All concur.
ENTERED: June 17, 2010.
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