Hall's Park Motel v. Rover Construction
Annotate this Case
January 1995 Term
___________
No. 22534
___________
HALL'S PARK MOTEL, INC., A WEST VIRGINIA CORPORATION,
Plaintiff Below, Appellant,
v.
ROVER CONSTRUCTION, INC., ETC., ET AL.,
Defendants Below, Appellees
_______________________________________________________
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Kanawha County
Honorable Herman G. Canady, Judge
Civil Action No. 91-C-947
AFFIRMED
_______________________________________________________
Submitted: May 10, 1995
Filed: July 11, 1995
Gail I. Michelson
Kopleman & Associates
Charleston, West Virginia
Attorney for the Appellant
Johnnie E. Brown
Molly Underwood-Korwan
McQueen & Brown, L.C.
Charleston, West Virginia
Attorneys for the Appellee,
Rover Construction, Inc.
W. T. Webber, Jr.
W. T. Webber, III
Webber & Webber
Weston, West Virginia
Attorneys for the Appellee,
Kelly, Gidley, Blair & Wolfe, Inc.
Michael M. Fisher
Offutt, Eifert, Fisher & Duffield
Huntington, West Virginia
Attorney for the Appellees,
City of South Charleston,
Sanitary Board of South Charleston,
and Richard A. Robb, Mayor
Robert R. Rodecker
Jerri F. Heiskell
Charleston, West Virginia
Attorneys for the Appellees,
Green Valley Community Public Service District
and John L. Ford
JUDGE FOX delivered the Opinion of the Court.
JUSTICE BROTHERTON and JUDGE RECHT did not participate.
RETIRED JUSTICE MILLER and JUDGE FOX, sitting by temporary assignment.
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT
1. "Summary judgment is appropriate where the record taken as a whole could
not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, such as where the nonmoving
party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of the case that it has
the burden to prove." Syllabus point 4, Painter v. Peavy, 192 W.Va. 189, 451 S.E.2d 755
(1994).
2. Where a plaintiff sustains a noticeable injury to property from a traumatic
event, the statute of limitations begins to run and is not tolled because there may also be
latent damages arising from the same traumatic event.
3. "In the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction, this Court will not decide
nonjurisdictional questions which have not been decided by the court from which the case
has been appealed." Syllabus point 11, Work v. Rogerson, 149 W.Va. 493, 142 S.E.2d 188
(1965).
Fox, Judge:See footnote 1
This is an appeal by Hall's Park Motel, Inc., from an order of the Circuit Court
of Kanawha County granting summary judgment to the defendants in this property damage
action on the ground that the action was barred by the statute of limitations. On appeal,
Hall's Park Motel, Inc., contends that the action was not barred by the statute of limitations
and that the circuit court erred in its holding. After reviewing the questions presented and
the record, we disagree. The judgment of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County is, therefore,
affirmed.
On 29 May 1981, Rover Construction, Inc., which was constructing a sewage
system for the City of South Charleston, the Sanitary Board of the City of South Charleston,
and Green Valley Community Public Service District, began to excavate a pit for the
construction of a sewage lift station on land immediately adjoining a motel owned by the
appellant, Hall's Park Motel, Inc.
While the work on the lift station was being performed, Rover Construction
removed and replaced earth immediately adjacent to the Hall's Park Motel, Inc., property.
The work of Rover Construction Co., Inc., on the lift station was completed in the late fall
of 1981.
During the construction, or shortly after the work on the lift station was
completed, the land around and underneath the Hall's Park Motel property began to slip and
subside. As a consequence, the motel property and the building upon it were damaged.
On 22 December 1981, after obtaining an estimate from a construction
appraiser, attorneys representing Hall's Park Motel, Inc., notified the appellees that the claim
for loss and damages would be for $40,000.00. The matter was turned over to the appellees'
insurance carrier, United States Fidelity & Guaranty Company, which unsuccessfully
attempted to negotiate a settlement of the claim. Despite the fact that no settlement was ever
reached, and for reasons not apparent in the record, neither Hall's Park Motel, Inc., nor its
attorney, made any further efforts to resolve the matter or took any action to collect until
1991.
On 15 March 1991, almost ten years after the first damage to the Hall's Park
Motel property and almost eight years after the last contact between Hall's Park Motel, Inc.,
and the appellees, the complaint giving rise to the present appeal was filed.
The complaint alleged:
10. On or about May 29, 1981, the defendant Rover
Construction, Inc. engaged in excavating a pit for the
construction of a sewage lift station on the land immediately
adjoining and in close proximity to the above mentioned
property and motel of the plaintiff.
11. The excavation work performed by the defendant
Rover Construction, Inc. was prosecuted on behalf of the
defendants City of South Charleston, The Sanitary Board of the
City of South Charleston, and/or Green Valley Community
Public Service District and pursuant to the plans and
specifications prepared by the defendant Kelley, Gidley, Blair
& Wolfe, Inc.
12. As a direct and approximate result of the negligent,
careless and reckless construction by the defendants, the
plaintiff's motel and real property was severely damaged,
including damage to the foundation, walls, windows, and
sewage disposal system of said motel, rendering the same unsafe
and uninhabitable and depriving the plaintiff of the use and
benefit thereof.
After being served with the complaint, the appellees moved for summary
judgment on the ground that the action was barred by the statute of limitations. The court
initially denied that motion, but later, after extensive discovery in the case, granted the
motion on 27 April 1994. In its order, the court ruled as follows:
And the Court having reflected upon reconsideration of
the pervious ruling which denied summary judgment by
memorandum and order dated August 22, 1991; and the Court
having taken into consideration the subsequent discovery, and
especially the deposition given by Erma Creasy dated July 21,
1992; the Court finds that plaintiff had notice by 1981 through
1985 that damages to the motel property in question was so severe that remedial repairs were not possible. The lawsuit
herein filed March 15, 1991, is barred by the statute of
limitations without any possibility of tolling due to a continuing
tort.
In asserting that the entry of summary judgment was improper, Hall's Park
Motel, Inc., argues that the damage to its property has been ongoing and is still continuing
and where a tort involves a continuing or repeated injury, the cause of action accrues at, and
the limitations period begins to run from, the date of the last injury or when the tortious overt
act ceases. Hall's Park Motel, Inc., argues that under this principle, its action is not barred
by West Virginia's statute of limitations.
In Aetna Casualty and Surety Company v. Federal Insurance Company of New
York, 148 W.Va. 160, 133 S.E.2d 770 (1963), this Court discussed at some length the
circumstances under which summary judgment could appropriately be granted in a civil
action in West Virginia. In syllabus point 3 of that case, the Court stated its conclusion as
follows:
A motion for summary judgment should be granted only
when it is clear that there is no genuine issue of fact to be tried
and inquiry concerning the facts is not desirable to clarify the
application of the law.
See Lowery v. Raptis, 174 W.Va. 736, 329 S.E.2d 102 (1985); Karnell v. Nutting, 166
W.Va. 269, 273 S.E.2d 93 (1980); Consolidated Gas Supply Corp. v. Riley, 161 W.Va. 782,
247 S.E.2d 712 (1978); and Anderson v. Turner, 155 W.Va. 283, 184 S.E.2d 304 (1971).
Furthermore, the Court recently explained in syllabus point 4 of Painter v.
Peavy, 192 W.Va. 189, 451 S.E.2d 755 (1994), that:
Summary judgment is appropriate where the record taken
as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the
nonmoving party, such as where the nonmoving party has failed
to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of the case
that it has the burden to prove.
It is implicit from reading the briefs in the present case that the parties do not
challenge the fact that the appropriate limitations period for the action instituted by Hall's
Park Motel, Inc., is the two-year limitations period contained in W.Va. Code § 55-2-12 for
tort resulting in damage to property.See footnote 2 The question which the parties raise is when the
limitations period for any tort involved in the present action began or begins to run.
As a general proposition, the limitations period begins to run from the date of
the injury. State ex rel. Ashworth v. State Road Commission, 147 W.Va. 430, 128 S.E.2d 471 (1962); and Boyd v. Beebe, 64 W.Va. 216, 61 S.E. 304 (1908).
There are, however, a good many exceptions to this rule. For instance, where
injury is not immediately known or discoverable, the statute of limitations begins to run
when the injury is discovered or should have been discovered by the exercise of due
diligence. Stemple v. Dobson, 184 W.Va. 317, 400 S.E.2d 561 (1990).
Other problems arise where elements of a tort do not occur or manifest
themselves within a brief, discrete period. Two situations involving these circumstances
have recently been addressed by this Court.
In the first, discussed in Jones v. Trustees of Bethany College, 177 W.Va. 168,
351 S.E.2d 183 (1986), the Court dealt with the situation where, within a brief, discrete
period of time, all the elements of a tort occurred or manifested themselves and a plaintiff
suffered a noticeable injury, but for a substantial period thereafter the plaintiff suffered a
worsening of his condition or injury. In the second situation, discussed in Handley v. Town
of Shinnston, 169 W.Va. 617, 289 S.E.2d 201 (1982), both the noticeable negligence, or
negligent act, and the noticeable injury itself persisted and worsened over a period of time.
In the Bethany College case, this Court cited with approval Albertson v. T. J.
Stevenson & Co., 749 F.2d 223 (5th Cir. 1984). The Court said:
Where there is an initial traumatic injury, but the full
extent of the injury is not immediately known, Albertson terms
this as a "traumatic event/latent manifestation case." In this type
of case, the statute of limitations begins to run from the time of
the traumatic event. It is described in the following terms in
Albertson, 749 F.2d at 231:
The traumatic event/latent manifestation case is
one in which the plaintiff has sustained both
immediate and latent injuries caused by a
noticeable, traumatic occurrence. At the time of
the traumatic event, the plaintiff realizes both that
he is injured and what is responsible for causing
the injury. The full extent of the harm, however,
has not become manifest.
Behind this labeling process lies the fundamental struggle
that courts engage in, which is to balance the rationale for
statutes of limitations with the countervailing claim of the
injured plaintiff that he should not be barred access to the courts
because of ignorance over the true extent of his damages.
* * *
There are sound reasons for applying the ordinary period
of limitations for personal injuries where the plaintiff has
received through a traumatic event some immediate injury even
though he is not aware of the full extent of this injury.
177 W.Va. at 171, 351 S.E.2d at 186.
In syllabus point 3 of the Bethany College case, the Court summarized the rule
which governs the "traumatic event/latent manifestation" case:
Where a plaintiff sustains a noticeable personal injury
from a traumatic event, the statute of limitations begins to run
and is not tolled because there may also be a latent injury arising
from the same traumatic event.
The facts in the Town of Shinnston case, were different. In that case, the Town
of Shinnston installed a water transmission line on the property of the plaintiffs, Mr. Handley
and his wife. The water transmission line began leaking, and the Handleys noticed the leak
and notified the Town of Shinnston that the pipe was leaking. The Town was negligent in
not appropriately repairing the leak, and the leaking continued, as did the damages. In that
case, the Court concluded that where the tort was continuing or there was repeated injury,
the cause of action accrues at, and the limitations period begins to run from, the date of the
last injury or when the tortious, overt act ceases.
In the present case, the appellant argues that the principles set forth in the
Town of Shinnston case should control as to when the limitations period begins to run.
Clearly, there is a fundamental factual difference between the Bethany College
case and the Town of Shinnston case. In the Bethany College case, the breach of duty
(negligent operation of a motor vehicle resulting in a collision) was completed and had
ceased, but the damage was ongoing; in the Town of Shinnston case, the breach of duty
(failure to repair a water transmission line) was itself ongoing, as was the resulting damage.
This was explained somewhat differently in Ricottilli v. Summersville
Memorial Hospital, 188 W.Va. 674, 425 S.E.2d 629 (1992), when the Court said:
[T]he concept of a continuing tort requires a showing of
repetitious, wrongful conduct. See Handley v. Town of
Shinnston, 169 W.Va. 617, 289 S.E.2d 201 (1982) (finding
continuing tort based on permitting water to regularly flood
another's property). Moreover, as this Court explained in Spahr
v. Preston County Board of Education, 182 W.Va. 726, 391 S.E.2d 739 (1990), a wrongful act with consequential continuing
damages is not a continuing tort.
188 W.Va. at 677, 425 S.E.2d at 632.
In the present case, it is clear that Hall's Park Motel, Inc., is complaining about
the discrete and completed act of Rover Construction, Inc., in constructing the lift station in
question. The complaint says: "As a direct and approximate [sic] result of the negligent,
careless and reckless construction by the defendants, the plaintiff's motel and real property
was severely damaged . . . ." A fair reading of the complaint and the other documents in the
case shows that the action, in essence, is founded on a discrete and completed act of
negligent commission, not on a continuing negligent act of omission, as was the case in the
Town of Shinnston case.
Because of this, the Court believes that the present case falls within the rule
set forth in the Bethany College case. The Court also believes that the principles governing
a "traumatic injury/latent manifestation" case set forth in Jones v. Trustees of Bethany
College, supra, should apply in cases involving injury to property, and that where a plaintiff
sustains a noticeable injury to property from a traumatic event, the statute of limitations begins to run and is not tolled because there may also be latent damages arising from the
same traumatic event. In applying this, the Court believes that in the present case the circuit
court properly concluded that the statute of limitations began to run when there was a
noticeable traumatic event and the Hall's Park Motel, Inc., realized it had been injured.See footnote 3
The Court notes that Hall's Park Motel, Inc., makes a number of other
assignments of error in this case. For instance, it argues that Rover Construction, Inc.'s acts
may have constituted an unlawful damage to its right to subjacent support in violation of the
West Virginia Coal Mining and Reclamation Act, W.Va. Code § 22A-3-1 et seq., and that
the actions by Rover Construction, Inc., and the other defendants constituted an
uncompensated taking of its property for public purposes under the principles of eminent
domain. It also claims that the sewer lift station constructed by Rover Construction, Inc.,
may have constituted a temporary nuisance on which the limitations period has not yet run.
It argues, in essence, that under any of these scenarios it would not be appropriate to hold
that the limitations period had run against it.
It rather clearly appears from the documents filed with this Court that the
allegations relating to the violation of the West Virginia Coal Mining and Reclamation Act,
to a taking of private property for public purposes, and to the temporary nuisance situation
were not raised or argued by Hall's Park Motel, Inc., before the circuit court.
This Court stated, in syllabus point 11 of Work v. Rogerson, 149 W.Va. 493,
142 S.E.2d 188 (1965), that:
In the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction, this Court will
not decide nonjurisdictional questions which have not been
decided by the court from which the case has been appealed.
See also, State ex rel. State Line Sparkler of WV, Ltd. v. Teach, 187 W.Va. 271, 418 S.E.2d 585 (1992); Charlton v. Charlton, 186 W.Va. 670, 413 S.E.2d 911 (1991); Northwestern
Disposal Company, Inc. v. West Virginia Public Service Commission, 182 W.Va. 423, 388 S.E.2d 297 (1989); and Randolph v. Koury Corporation, 173 W.Va. 96, 312 S.E.2d 759
(1984).
Since Hall's Park Motel, Inc., did not raise before the circuit court the issues
involving the West Virginia Coal Mining and Reclamation Act, the taking of private property
for public purposes, or the potential temporary nuisance problem, and since those issues are
nonjurisdictional, this Court believes that under the rule set forth in syllabus point 11 of
Work v. Rogerson, supra, it is not necessary to discuss them.
For the reasons stated, the judgment of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County
is, therefore, affirmed.
Affirmed.
Footnote: 1
Pursuant to an administrative order entered by this Court on 18 November
1994, the Honorable Fred L. Fox, II, Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, was assigned
to sit as a member of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals commencing 1 January
1995 and continuing through 31 March 1995, because of the physical incapacity of Justice
W. T. Brotherton, Jr. On 14 February 1995 a subsequent administrative order extended this
assignment until further order of said Court. Footnote: 2
The relevant language from W.Va. Code § 55-2-12 provides:
Every personal action for which no limitation is otherwise prescribed shall be brought: (a) Within two years next after the right to bring the same shall have accrued, if it be for damage to property . . . .Footnote: 3 The Court notes that the appellant seeks to bring itself within the rule in the Town of Shinnston case by suggesting that the defendant had a duty to correct defective construction. However, in the Town of Shinnston case, the Court clearly indicates that to fall within the rule enunciated therein, all elements of the tort must be continuing, including damages. In the instant case, it is apparent from the record that by 1985 Hall's Park Motel, Inc., had been totally and irreparably damaged. Therefore, absent continuing damages, the rule in the Town of Shinnston case has no application here.
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