Willoughby v. Sinclair Oil & Gas Co., 188 F.2d 902, 10th Cir. (1951)

188 F.
2d 902
WILLOUGHBY,
v.
SINCLAIR OIL & GAS CO. et al.
No. 4152.
United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

April 19, 1951.
Paul W. Updegraff, Norman, Okl. (Joe A. Smalley, Norman, Okl., was

with him on the brief), for appellant.
Robert L. Imler, Tulsa, Okl., and Clyde J. Watts, Oklahoma City, Okl.
(Ralph W. Garrett, Dudley C. Phillips, Tulsa, Okl., and Mart Brown,
Oklahoma City, Okl., were with them on the brief), for appellees.
Before PHILLIPS, Chief Judge, and MURRAH and PICKETT, Circuit
Judges.
MURRAH, Circuit Judge.
The primary question here is whether this cause or causes of action are
removable under Section 1441(c), 28 U.S.C.A., from the state court where
originally filed, to the United States District Court for the Western District of
Oklahoma. The question is presented on an appeal from an order enjoining the
parties from proceeding in the state court, and a preliminary question is
whether the trial court actually issued the injunctive order from which the
appeal was taken; if so, whether the order was set aside so as to moot the
question.
The questions are presented on these facts. This action was brought in the
District Court of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, by the administratrix of the
Estate of Vester E. Willoughby, for compensatory and punitive damages for his
wrongful death, allegedly resulting from an explosion when he accidentally
lighted propane gas which had gathered around a new hot water heater in the
basement of his home. The explosion was alleged to have been caused by
negligent failure of the defendants, Sinclair Oil and Gas Company 'and/or'
Peppers Refining Company, to effectively odorize the propane sold by one or

both of the defendants, and from whom the decedent purchased it. The
explosion is also alleged to have been caused by the failure of defendant,
Fischer and Son Plumbing Company, to test the connections when it installed
the heater as subcontractor for defendants, Barber and Short. Each of the
separate acts of negligence is alleged to have been the proximate cause of the
explosion and resultant injuries. The prayer was for judgment against the
defendants jointly and severally in the sum of $165,960.80 compensatory
damages, and $25,000 punitive damages against each of the defendants.
Sinclair, the only nonresident defendant, removed the case to the federal court
on the grounds that the complaint stated 'a separate and independent claim or
cause of action' against it under 28 U.S.C.A. 1441(c).
3
A motion to remand was sustained. 89 F.Supp. 994. After remand, Peppers

Refining Company was dismissed from the suit without further amendment.
Thereupon, Sinclair again removed the case, contending that since Peppers was
the only defendant jointly or concurrently liable, the case was now removable
by it as a separate and independent cause of action. When, in the hearing on the
second motion to remand, the trial court indicated its disposition to retain
jurisdiction, and plaintiff's attorney indicated his intention to nevertheless
proceed in the state court, the trial court stated for the record that 'the motion to
remand is overruled and an injunction against the parties to proceed in the state
court is entered.'
The Clerk's minutes, entered July 31, 1950, recited that the motion to remand
was overruled, and exception was allowed, and 'Plaintiff and her counsel
enjoined from proceeding further in the state court.' The Clerk's minutes also
recite that on the same day, plaintiff filed notice of appeal from the order of
July 25, 1950, and also from the order of July 31, 1950, enjoining plaintiff from
proceeding further in a state court, and that on the same date, a cost bond on
appeal was filed. The order signed by the court, filed August 2, 1950, recited
that 'the court, upon consideration, is of the opinion that an injunction against
further proceedings in state court is unnecessary at this time. The order granting
an injunction entered at the hearing is therefore set aside.' The appellees
contend that this order is not appealable because it was never entered, and if so,
it was set aside when the order on the motion to remand was finally signed and
filed.
On the question whether the docket entries by the clerk constituted the
judgment of the court, we recently held in Lucas v. Western Casualty and
Surety Co., 10 Cir., 176 F.2d 506, following Rules 79 and 58, Fed.Rules
Civ.Proc. 28 U.S.C.A. and supplemental Rule VII of the Western District of
Oklahoma, that no order of this kind was effective in the Western District of
Oklahoma before its notation in the civil docket by the clerk at the specific
direction of the court. But here, unlike the Lucas case, the order appealed from
was entered by an appropriate notation on the docket at the specific direction of
the court, and the judgment was therefore effective as of that date, to-wit, July
31, 1950. The filing of notice of appeal and the cost bond on the same date
deprived the court of jurisdiction to set aside the judgment at a later date. Miller
v. United States, 7 Cir., 114 F.2d 267; Jordan v. Federal Farm Mortgage Corp.,
8 Cir., 152 F.2d 642; Midland Terminal Ry. Co. v. Warinner, 10 Cir., 294 F.
185.
6
It is settled beyond doubt that an order denying a motion to remand is not

appealable, but an order enjoining the parties from proceeding in the state court
is appealable. See Johnson v. Butler Bros., 8 Cir., 162 F.2d 87, 172 A.L.R.
1157; Morgan v. Kroger Groc. and Baking Co., 8 Cir., 96 F.2d 470; Cray,
McFawn and Co. v. Hegarty, Conroy and Co., 2 Cir., 85 F.2d 516; Peters v.
Standard Oil Co. of Texas, 5 Cir., 174 F.2d 162, 164. We conclude that the
judgment is appealable.
In denying the motion to remand, the trial court took the ultimate view that the
failure to specifically allege concurrent negligence and the specific allegation
that the separate acts of negligence were the proximate cause of the harm,
amounted to separate and independent claims within the meaning of Section
1441(c).
Under the last construction of the separable controversy clause of Section 71,
28 U.S.C.A., if defendants were charged with negligence, but the charge
against the nonresident defendant was based on different and non-concurrent
acts of negligence and a cause of action which was joint in character was not
alleged, a separable controversy was presented. Where, however, in the absence
of clear proof of bad faith in the joinder, concurrent acts of negligence on the
part of the defendants sued as joint tort-feasors were sufficiently alleged, a
separable controversy was not presented, and the fact that the defendants might
have been sued separately afforded no ground for removal. Pullman Co. v.
Jenkins, 305 U.S. 534, 538, 59 S.Ct. 347, 83 L.Ed. 334. But see Mr. Justice
Black's concurring opinion, 305 U.S.at page 544, 59 S.Ct. 347, 83 L.Ed. 334.
In the revision of the Code, effective September 1, 1948, Section 71, 28

U.S.C.A., on removal of causes became Section 1441, 28 U.S.C.A., and the
litigation-provoking separable controversy provisions of the former Code were
supplanted by Paragraph (c) of section 1441, which provides that 'Whenever a
separate and independent claim or cause of action, which would be removable
if sued upon alone, is joined with one or more otherwise non-removable claims
or causes of action, the entire case may be removed and the district court may
determine all issues therein * * * .' By the substitution of the words 'separate
and independent claim or cause of action' for the juristic phrase 'separable
controversy' to delineate federal jurisdiction, the revisers avowedly intended to
decrease the volume of federal litigation by eliminating the removability of a
separable controversy unless it constitutes a separate and independent claim or
cause of action. See Revisers' Notes to Section 1441, 28 U.S.C.A. According to
Professor Moore, the revisers 'eliminated the separable controversy which
involves the joinder of multiple parties interested in one cause of action, and
confined removal to the situation where there is a joinder of two or more causes
of action.' See Prof. Moore's Commentary on the United States Judicial Code,
p.239. And see American Fire and Casualty Co. v. Finn, 71 S.Ct. 534.
10
Thus, where in any suit there is more than one defendant, one of whom is a
citizen of the state of the plaintiff, in order to be removable under Section 1441
(c), there must be more than one claim or cause of action, and the claim against
the non-resident defendant must be separate and independent from the claim or
cause of action asserted against the resident defendant.
11
Generally, 'a 'cause of action' may mean one thing for one purpose and
something different for another.' United States v. Memphis Cotton Oil Co., 288
U.S. 62, 67, 53 S.Ct. 278, 280, 77 L.Ed. 619. In his Commentaries on the
Revised Code, Professor Moore would have us use the terms 'claim' and 'cause
of action' synonymously and in the same broad sense in which the word 'claim'
is used in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, i.e., as a short and plain
statement showing that the pleader is entitled to relief in any form grantable by
the court. The claim may be stated in the alternative, hypothetical or
conditional, either in one or separate counts. See Rules 8(a, e), 10(b) and 54(c),
F.R.C.P. In other words, 'to denote the aggregate of operative facts which give
rise to a right enforceable in the courts.' Original Ballet Russe v. Ballet Theatre,
2 Cir., 133 F.2d 187, 189. See also Birnbaum v. Birrell, D.C., 9 F.R.D. 72;
Clark on Simplified Pleading, 2 F.R.D. 456, 463.
12
Consistently with this concept of 'claim or cause of action,' Professor Moore

says that where 'a group of operative facts give rise to a claim on the part of the
defendant, as where several persons contribute to his injury and he sues one or
more of them in one action, the plaintiff is proceeding on one cause of action
and it is not removable under Section 1441(c).' Thus, 'where the plaintiff joins
two or more defendants to recover damages for one injury, and even though he
charges them with joint and several liability or only several liability, or charges
them with liability in the alternative, there is no joinder of separate and
independent causes of action within the meaning of Section 1441(c).' Moore's

Commentaries, pages 238 and 251. See also Notes 12 and 13, American Fire
and Casualty Co. v. Finn, supra.
13
Thus, in the American Fire and Casualty Company case, the Supreme Court
held that a claim for relief in the alternative against three defendants, one of
which was a resident of the state of the complainant, was not 'separate and
independent.' After 'Considering the previous history of 'separable controversy,'
the broad meaning of 'cause of action,' and the congressional purpose in the
revision resulting in 28 U.S.C. 1441(c),' the Supreme Court concluded that
'where there is a single wrong to plaintiff, for which relief is sought, arising
from an interlocked series of transactions, there is no separate and independent
claim or cause of action under Sec. 1441(c).' (71 S.Ct. 537.)
14
And, construing the statute in the light of Mr. Moore's comments, other courts
have said that a complaint which alleges but one redressable wrong growing out
of a 'coincidence of basic operative facts' for which joint and several relief is
sought against resident and non-resident defendants, is not a separate and
independent claim within the meaning of Section 1441(c). Mayflower
Industries v. Thor Corp., 3 Cir., 184 F.2d 537. The claim is said not to be
separate and independent if the separate acts of negligence of the tort-feasors
are 'simply component parts of one occurrence,' the legal result of which is joint
liability, for joint liability for the whole tort negatives the idea of a separate and
independent claim. Bentley v. Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Co., 5 Cir., 174
F.2d 788, 793. See also Edwards v. E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Co., 5 Cir.,
183 F.2d 165; Doran v. Elgin Cooperative Credit Ass'n, et al., D.C. Neb., 95
F.Supp. 455. It has been suggested that a ready test for a separate and
independent claim or cause of action is whether the satisfaction of the judgment
against one party to the suit would be satisfaction against all. That is, if joint
relief is sought, the claim is not separate and independent. See Judge
Goodrich's special concurrence in Mayflower Industries v. Thor Corp., supra.
15
Were we to embrace Professor Moore's interpretation of the statute and the

cases in accord, we could conclusively dispose of our question by borrowing
the language of Judge Holmes in Edwards v. E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Co.,
supra, 183 F.2d at page 168, to say that in our case 'There was but one accident,
one explosion, one catastrophe, one civil wrong or injury; in a word, one tort,
resulting from one or more negligent acts; it culminated in the injuries to
appellant. Leading up to the final event were a series of transactions, and
doubtless several acts of negligence, that materially contributed to the tragic
end * * * but there was only one wrong, one infraction of a legal right; and it
gave rise to a joint or several cause of action, which appellant has elected to
make joint.'
16
But we are not prepared to go the whole way, or for that matter to establish the
rule of this Circuit governing removability under Section 1441(c), since in our
view, the complaint, liberally construed, sufficiently makes out a case of
concurrent negligence, which, even under the separable controversy rule, would
bar removal. As the trial court so aptly said when it first remanded the case,
'Although there is no express allegation of 'concurrent' negligence as such in the
plaintiff's petition, the facts alleged clearly indicate that the negligence was
concurrent in the sense that the tortious act or omission of each defendant was a
substantial factor contributing to the ultimate injury.' It went on to say that
'Such acts or omissions were also concurrent causes in the sense of being
'causes acting contemporaneously and which together cause the injury, which
injury would not have resulted in the absence of either'.' At that time, the court
was of the view that the failure to use the word 'concurrent' was not decisive if
the factual allegations conveyed the same meaning, citing Bentley v.
Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Co., supra. See Willoughby v. Sinclair Oil and
Gas. Co., D.C., 89 F.Supp. 994, 996.
17
We agree with this view of the case, and also agree that the allegations in the
complaint are clearly susceptible of the theory that the injury was caused by the
concurrence of the separate acts of negligence of the two defendants. There can
therefore be no separate and independent claim or cause of action asserted
against the nonresident defendant.
18
The case is reversed and remanded with directions to sustain the motion to
remand.

Willoughby v. Sinclair Oil & Gas Co., 188 F.2d 902, 10th Cir. (1951)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Willoughby v. Sinclair Oil & Gas Co., 188 F.2d 902, 10th Cir. (1951)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Willoughby v. Sinclair Oil & Gas Co., 188 F.2d 902, 10th Cir. (1951)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

188 F.

United States Court of Appeals Tenth Circuit.

Paul W. Updegraff, Norman, Okl. (Joe A. Smalley, Norman, Okl., was

Peppers Refining Company, to effectively odorize the propane sold by one or

A motion to remand was sustained. 89 F.Supp. 994. After remand, Peppers

It is settled beyond doubt that an order denying a motion to remand is not

In the revision of the Code, effective September 1, 1948, Section 71, 28

Consistently with this concept of 'claim or cause of action,' Professor Moore

independent causes of action within the meaning of Section 1441(c).' Moore's

Were we to embrace Professor Moore's interpretation of the statute and the

You might also like