Stacey Sever successfully defended a private university in a disability discrimination case in Dakota County in February 2011.  Ms. Sever represented the university against a former student’s claims of discrimination, brought under the Minnesota Human Rights Act.  After a three day Bench Trial, the trial court entered findings of no liability for Ms. Sever’s client.

John Angell successfully defended a window manufacturer in a case involving a 162 unit townhome complex located in Eagan, Minnesota.  The case involved claims brought by the homeowners’ association against the general contractor/developer alleging a variety of defects in the construction of the townhomes.  The general contractor impleaded a number of the subcontractors and material suppliers who were involved in the original construction of the townhomes.  The jury returned a verdict of no liability against Mr. Angell’s client.

Michael Kreidler successfully defended a wrongful death case that was tried in Rochester, Minnesota during April 2010.  The decedent, a 19 year old college student, was involved in a motor vehicle accident with a fuel truck.   Although the jury concluded that the decedent’s next-of-kin sustained damages in excess of 1.3 million dollars, the jury found the decedent’s negligence to be greater than the negligence of the fuel truck driver, thus resulting in a defense verdict for Mr. Kreidler’s client.

Michael Kreidler successfully defended a contractor in a case that was tried in Ramsey County in March 2010.  The case arose out of the construction of a sewer interceptor line in White Bear Lake, Minnesota.  The plaintiff in the case had contracted to install underground concrete vaults that were to house valves and other equipment that were part of the pipeline.  During construction, large pits were dug to an approximate depth of thirty feet and the underground concrete vault structure is then constructed within the pit.  The plaintiff was responsible for digging the pits.  Mr. Kreidler’s client was responsible to drive metal sheets serving as temporary walls for the pit during sewer construction.  The plaintiff was responsible to supply Bolduc with the locations of the existing pipeline.  Damage was done to the underground pipe when Mr. Kreidler’s client drove the metal sheets for the temporary pit and the dispute revolved around whether the plaintiff had correctly located the underground pipe.  Plaintiff sought damages of approximately $235,000.  The jury found that Mr. Kreidler’s client was not negligent.

Attorney James D. Knudsen, completed a Jury Trial in early August, involving an eight unit townhome complex, achieving an excellent result for the defendant general contractor/developer. The case involved alleged construction defects and water intrusion, and after a seven day Jury Trial at the Carver County District Courthouse in Chaska, Minnesota Mr. Knudsen achieved a defense verdict for our client.

Attorney Rich Scattergood recently won a defense verdict in an 8 day Dram Shop jury trial in Rice County. Plaintiff’s undisputed injuries included a shattered femur, and a traumatic brain injury that left plaintiff with a cranial nerve injury causing permanent, intermittent, double vision. Mr. Scattergood achieved this excellent result for the defendant bar owner after overcoming both a spoliation of evidence instruction to the jury, and the plaintiff’s misrepresentations by an agent of the defendant in the days following the accident.

Congratulations to Attorney Leo I. Brisbois, a member of the firm since 1991, on his appointment to become a United States Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court, District of Minnesota. Mr. Brisbois took the oath of office for this judicial appointment in the United States Courthouse in Minneapolis, MN, on August 30, 2010; the oath was administered by Chief United States District Court Judge Michael J. Davis. Magistrate Judge Brisbois is chambered in the United States Courthouse in Duluth, MN.

Kenneth W. Dodge and Louise A. Behrendt obtained a favorable ruling from the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirming the dismissal of fraudulent misrepresentation claims against the firm’s clients, Deonorine and Kathleen Kissoon, arising out of the sale of a residential home. See Bryan v. Kissoon,__N.W. 2d__(Minn. Ct. App. 2009). Plaintiff sought over $400,000 in damages from the Defendants, related to construction defect damages that bore no causal relationship to the misrepresentation alleged to have been made by the Defendants. In its published decision the court established, for the first time, that in an action for misrepresentation related to the purchase of a residential home, it is necessary for the plaintiff to prove that the alleged misrepresentation proximately caused the damage, and that this causal link cannot be established by “but for” causation, which has been rejected in Minnesota.

On behalf of Defendant Lifetime Fitness, Inc., Michael S. Kreidler and Louise A. Behrendt successfully obtained dismissals from the Hennepin County District Court with respect to three separate premises liability cases filed against Lifetime by members who allegedly sustained injuries while using health club facilities. In two of the cases, Smith v. Lifetime Fitness, Inc. and Resnick v. Lifetime Fitness, Inc., et al, member claims of negligence were dismissed on the strength of exculpatory clauses in the Lifetime membership agreements. In the third case, Mukai v. Lifetime Fitness, Inc., summary judgment was granted because the plaintiff could not establish that Lifetime knew or should have known about an unidentified substance on the gym floor which allegedly caused her to slip and fall. All three cases demonstrate that Minnesota courts are willing to enforce a legitimate exculpatory clause with respect to claims of simple negligence, and that the rule in Minnesota remains that property owners are not strictly liable for slips and falls on their premises.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued a decision affirming the trial court’s entry of summary judgment in favor of general contractor Mathy Construction in a case where a woman and her young daughter were killed after their vehicle struck an exposed guardrail abutment. See Estate of Joanna Brown v. Mathy Construction Co., 313 Wis. 2d 497, 756 N.W. 2d 417 (Ct. App. 2008). At the time of the accident Mathy was under contract with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to reconstruct portions of the state highway where the accident occurred. On behalf of Mathy, Michael S. Kreidler and Louise A. Behrendt argued that even as a private contractor Mathy was entitled to the governmental immunity that would have been extended to Wis. D.O.T. had it constructed the roadway, because Mathy followed the state’s reasonably precise directives with respect to project safety. The case is significant because it marks the first reported case out of the Wisconsin appellate courts to reaffirm the availability of governmental immunity to private contractors doing business with the state, since the Wisconsin Court of Appeals issued its decision in Estate of Lyons v. CNA Ins. Co., 207 Wis. 2d 446, 558 N.W. 2d 658 (Ct. App. 1996).