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Ulen v. American Airlines

United States District Court · Civil Procedure

Civil ProcedureSummary JudgmentRule 56summary judgmentinterrogatoriesadmissions on filegenuine issue of material factnegligence

Facts

The complaints alleged that plaintiffs were passengers for hire on defendant's airplane and were injured when it crashed into a mountain near Rural Retreat, Virginia; one plaintiff also sought consortium damages for his wife's injuries. Plaintiffs relied on interrogatory answers showing the flight was planned and executed at 4000 feet even though a regulation required at least 1000 feet above the highest obstacle within five miles of the course, and the mountain was about two miles from the course and approximately 4000 feet high. Plaintiffs also asserted that weather conditions made contact flying improper and that instrument flying would have required a higher altitude. Defendant denied negligence, argued interrogatories could not support summary judgment, disputed proximate cause, invoked the Warsaw Convention as to two plaintiffs, and sought to amend its answer to add defenses including act of God and unavoidable accident.

Issue

Whether, under Rule 56, the court could rely on answers to interrogatories as admissions on file to determine that no genuine issue of material fact existed on negligence and proximate cause, and if so, whether summary judgment should immediately be entered despite the defendant's request to amend its answer and make a further showing.

Rule

Under Rule 56, summary judgment should be entered when the pleadings, depositions, admissions on file, and affidavits show no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Answers to interrogatories may serve as admissions on file for this purpose. General denials or conventionally labeled defenses are insufficient; the opposing party must show by appropriate pleadings and supporting proof either a justification for the conduct shown or facts from which reasonable minds could infer that the defendant's negligence was not the proximate cause of the injury.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

In a negligence suit in federal court in Colorado, Lena Ortiz alleges that Summit Charter Air flew her commuter flight from Grand Junction to Denver below a mandatory minimum route altitude and struck a ridge. In answers to interrogatories, Summit admits the flight plan called for 6,000 feet even though the highest obstacle within five miles of the route was 5,700 feet and the governing safety rule required at least 1,000 feet above that obstacle; Summit files no affidavits and relies on its answer's general denial of negligence.

Should the court treat the interrogatory answers as a permissible basis for summary judgment on liability?

Explanation. Rule 56 allows the court to consider pleadings, depositions, admissions on file, and affidavits. The majority expressly held that answers to interrogatories may serve as admissions on file for summary-judgment purposes. Where those answers establish an unexcused violation of safety requirements and the opponent offers no factual showing in response, the court may rely on them to find no genuine issue on liability. (Derived from Ulen v. American Airlines (n.d.).)