Fred H. Blume

The case involved the Wyoming Wool Marketing Association suing wool producers William Woodruff and H. D. Bischoff for a $9,153.32 deficiency after advancing funds under a 1951 marketing agreement and selling their wool through the National Wool Marketing Corporation. The producers defended on grounds of the Association's alleged negligence in marketing the wool, which the trial court treated as a counterclaim, and the jury was instructed to offset any proven damages against the claimed deficiency. The jury returned a general verdict for the defendants, and the trial court denied the Association's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed, finding sufficient evidence of negligence, that damages were reasonably ascertainable from the record without exact precision, and no error in the instructions or failure to impute contributory negligence.

business & regulatorytorts & liability

In Voss Oil Company v. Voss, the corporation brought a counterclaim against former president Dale Voss and his son Warren Voss seeking recovery of a $39,502 secret profit from a 1954 subcontract for drilling ten wells under an operating agreement with Buckhorn Production Company. The district court awarded the Vosses unpaid director fees, expenses, and salary while rejecting the company's counterclaim, but the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed on the counterclaim and affirmed the fee awards. The court held that Dale Voss, acting as president, could not profit from a transaction involving the corporation without clear evidence that it was open, fair, and fully disclosed, which was not provided; Warren Voss, who knowingly participated, was also liable. Both were therefore jointly responsible for the profit siphoned from the company, while the salary and fee claims stood because they lacked a substantial connection to the breach.

business & regulatory

In Lore v. Town of Douglas, owners of a frozen food locker plant sued the Town of Douglas for damages from repeated basement flooding caused by the town's pressurized flushing of nearby sewer lines, alleging negligence and public nuisance without prior notice. The trial court entered judgment for the town, but on appeal the Wyoming Supreme Court reversed, holding that the plaintiffs' evidence—showing a known trouble spot with sand and gravel buildup, repeated incidents, and lack of rebuttal—made a prima facie case that the town failed to exercise reasonable care in maintaining the sewers. The court noted the complaint's pleading deficiencies regarding duties and governmental versus proprietary functions but found that subsequent pleadings and unrebutted testimony effectively amended the issues. It remanded for a new trial to apply definite standards of care, emphasizing that municipalities are liable for negligence in sewer maintenance but not as insurers. The topics are procedure and torts & liability.

proceduretorts & liability

This case involved a dispute between Svilar Light and Power, Inc. and Riverton Valley Electric Association over the right to construct a three-phase electrical transmission line to serve coal mines near Hudson, Wyoming, and the proper scope of Svilar's Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. The Public Service Commission denied Svilar's applications, granted RVEA the authority to serve the mines based on its approved system improvements, and limited Svilar's territory to the town limits and a half-mile radius. The district court affirmed, and the Wyoming Supreme Court upheld that decision. The court found the Commission's order supported by substantial evidence, including RVEA's service to far more customers in the surrounding area and its rate information from agency records, and held that the Commission had properly interpreted the certificate's "immediate vicinity" language based on historical service patterns.

business & regulatory

The case Torgeson v. Connelly involved a dispute over ownership of interests in two federal oil and gas leases originally held by Heintze, with plaintiff Connelly claiming title through assignments from Transco Gas and Oil Corporation to Austgen and then to himself, while defendant Torgeson claimed rights via an assignment of an operating agreement from McElroy and Markey that granted drilling rights and a retained working interest. The district court entered judgment quieting title in Connelly, and the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed. The court reasoned that when parties trace their titles to a common source, the plaintiff need only show superior title or equity against the defendant rather than against the world, that Wyoming recording statutes and requirements for acknowledgment and federal approval did not invalidate Connelly's chain, and that the evidence supported the trial court's findings on notice and recording. The operating agreement's unrecorded status and related statutory arguments did not overcome Connelly's position.

property

This case involved a dispute between a prime contractor (defendants) and subcontractors (plaintiffs) over a subcontract to perform road construction work at the Glasgow Air Force Base under a U.S. government prime contract. The plaintiffs sued for unpaid amounts due under the subcontract and for damages arising from a two-month delay in starting work caused by the defendants' failure to complete preliminary utility work. The trial court awarded the plaintiffs the claimed contract amounts plus delay damages based on idle labor costs and equipment rental value. On appeal, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed the contract award and the labor cost portion of the delay damages but modified the equipment damages award, holding that it must be reduced by the amount of normal depreciation that would have occurred if the equipment had been in use, and remanded for determination of that deduction based on evidence. The court reasoned that the contract bound the parties to the prime contract terms and that the defendants' directive to mobilize before the site was ready caused foreseeable idle costs, but the rental-value measure of damages required adjustment to avoid overcompensation.

business & regulatory