Schwandt v. Park Christian Sch.

1

Mark Schwandt, Respondent, v. Park Christian School, Respondent

Josh Lee, Respondent Raymond Kvalvog, Appellant American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I., Respondent Secura Supreme Insurance Company, Respondent.

No. A23-0052

Court of Appeals of Minnesota

September 18, 2023

This opinion is nonprecedential except as provided by Minn. R Civ. App. P. 136.01, subd. 1(c).

Otter Tail County District Court File No. 56-CV-21-3056.

Susan M. Holden, Marcia K. Miller, SiebenCarey, P.A., Minneapolis Minnesota (for respondent Schwandt).

Brian N. Johnson, Amanda M. Cialkowski, Matthew C. Murphy, Nilan Johnson Lewis PA, Minneapolis, Minnesota (for respondent Park Christian School).

William M. Moran, Briana G. Gornick, Haws-KM, P.A., St. Paul Minnesota (for respondent Lee).

Raymond Kvalvog, Moorhead, Minnesota (pro se appellant).

Matthew D. Lutz, Madison, Wisconsin (for respondent American Family Mutual Insurance Company).

William L. Davidson, Lind, Jensen, Sullivan &Peterson, P.A., Minneapolis, Minnesota (for respondent Secura Supreme Insurance Company).

Considered and decided by Bratvold, Presiding Judge; Worke, Judge; and Connolly, Judge.

BRATVOLD, Judge.

Following the entry of a final judgment after the settlement of a personal-injury action against appellant as owner of the pickup truck involved in the accident, appellant asks this court to vacate the judgment and remand to stay the settlement and allow appellant to "take over the litigation" from his insurance defense counsel, who had settled the case within the insurance-policy limits.

Appellant, who is self-represented before this court, argues that the district court erred by (1) stating that appellant was required to use the district court's eFiling system; (2) failing to grant a continuance so appellant could respond to his insurer's notice of intervention; and (3) denying appellant's motion to stay the settlement of all claims against him. We first conclude that the district court erred in stating that appellant was "required" to use the eFiling system, but this error was harmless. Second, the district court did not abuse its discretion by failing to grant a continuance because appellant does not claim, nor can we discern, any prejudice from allowing the insurer to intervene for the limited purpose of responding to appellant's motion to stay the settlement. Third, the district court did not abuse its discretion by denying appellant's motion to stay the settlement because appellant failed to show error or prejudice. Thus, we affirm.

FACTS

This case arises from a June 23, 2015 accident that occurred on Interstate 94 near Dalton. Appellant Raymond Kvalvog's son was driving respondent Mark Schwandt, Kvalvog's other son, and one additional passenger to a high-school basketball tournament in a pickup truck owned by Kvalvog. All four individuals in the pickup truck were members of the boys' basketball team at respondent Park Christian School (PCS). Respondent Josh Lee, the coach of the PCS boys' basketball team, was driving the second vehicle in a three-vehicle caravan heading to Wisconsin. When an unidentified semi truck encroached into the left traffic lane, Kvalvog's son lost control of the pickup truck which was the last vehicle in the caravan. The pickup crossed into the median and rolled over. Both of Kvalvog's sons were killed, and Schwandt was injured.

Before this case was commenced, Kvalvog brought a wrongful-death claim against Lee and PCS in state court.^[1] A jury determined that the unidentified semi-truck driver was negligent and caused the accident. The jury also determined that the trip was a school activity and that neither Lee nor Kvalvog's son was negligent. Kvalvog appealed, and this court affirmed in Kvalvog v. Lee, No. A20-0693, 2021 WL 3027269 (Minn.App. July 19, 2021), rev. denied (Minn. Sept. 30, 2021).

This case originated in June 2021 when Schwandt sued Kvalvog, PCS, Lee, and Schwandt's own insurer, respondent American Family Mutual Insurance Company, for the injuries he sustained in the June 23 accident. Relevant to some of the reasons Kvalvog raises for staying the settlement, Kvalvog subpoenaed the state trooper who investigated the accident; the wife of the PCS principal at the time of the accident; and two others. The state trooper and the PCS principal's wife moved to quash the subpoenas.

After a hearing, the district court granted the motions to quash in part and denied them in part. The district court's order permitted Kvalvog to depose the state trooper for a maximum of two hours and the PCS principal's wife for a maximum of 90 minutes, stating that "[t]here are relevant matters to be explored through discovery." Briefly stated, the district court allowed discovery into the state trooper's possible bias based on his friendship with the PCS principal.

On October 6, 2022, Kvalvog amended his answer to assert cross-claims against Lee and PCS for indemnification and contribution. On October 12, via an online platform, all parties participated in mediation. Schwandt settled his claim against American Family based on a standard uninsured-motorist-benefits release. Schwandt also settled his claims against PCS, Lee, and Kvalvog via Pierringer releases. During the mediation, Kvalvog was represented by attorney Garth Unke, who was retained by Kvalvog's insurer, Secura Supreme Insurance Company. A claims representative for Secura was also present at the mediation.

On October 13, Unke filed notice of withdrawal as counsel for Kvalvog. On October 24, Schwandt filed a letter with the district court stating that his "claims against all defendants in this matter have been fully resolved" and that the parties planned to file "a Stipulation of Dismissal with Prejudice" once the "appropriate settlement documents are executed."

On November 2, Kvalvog, acting pro se, moved to "stay the enforcement of any proposed settlement in this case which was alleged to have been made through mediation on or about October 12, 2022." In an accompanying affidavit, Kvalvog averred that he was at the mediation with Unke "in the same virtual room" but had "virtually no contact" with Unke between 1:30 p.m. and 4:40 p.m. "Unke came back and told [Kvalvog] that the case was settled." After learning that he would "no longer have the right to pursue" depositions of the state trooper and the PCS principal's wife or his cross-claims, Kvalvog fired Unke. Kvalvog's affidavit also opposed "the actions by Secura in settling this case" because the settlement was in "bad faith," without his consent, and "adversely affected" his cross-claims and planned depositions. Schwandt, PCS, Lee, and American Family opposed Kvalvog's motion.

On November 14, Secura filed a complaint and notice of intervention, arguing that it had "the right to settle claims made against Defendant Kvalvog" and would "suffer irreparable harm" if the settlement agreement was not enforced. A hearing on Kvalvog's motion and Secura's notice was scheduled for November 22.

On November 21, attorney David Chapman^[2] entered a limited appearance on behalf of Kvalvog and moved for "a continuance of the hearing currently scheduled for November 22, 2022." In the supporting memorandum of law, Chapman asserted that because Kvalvog approached him "late" about appearing at the November 22 hearing, he had "not had an opportunity to review the merits of . . . Kvalvog's motion" and that until that morning, he was "unaware" that the other parties had responded to Kvalvog's motion. The district court denied the request for a continuance.

During the November 22 hearing, the district court allowed Secura to intervene, noting that no parties "filed any response" to Secura's notice. Kvalvog stated that he "never received" Secura's request to intervene, after which the district court noted that Kvalvog was "required" to "sign up for the eFile and Serve." Kvalvog said he had not signed up for eFile.

The district court then inquired about Kvalvog's motion to stay the settlement. Kvalvog told the district court that he had "no issues at all with the settlement" involving American Family, PCS, Lee, or "monies that they're getting from [Kvalvog's] insurance company." Kvalvog argued that the settlement was "not . . . in good faith," explaining that Secura "took [his] rights away for depositions" and "cross claims" for contribution and indemnity and asked the district court to give him "a little time to simply take the depositions." Kvalvog explained that he wanted the depositions to "get some clarity finally after seven years . . . as to why [his] boys are not here" and that "[i]t's not about the money."

At the conclusion of the hearing, the district court denied Kvalvog's motion to stay the settlement. The district court explained that while it had found the depositions "would be relevant to a claim or defense[,] . . . the claim has settled," and thus, "depositions are no longer relevant to anything that is going to happen in the future in this case. All claims have been resolved."

On November 23, in a written order, the district court allowed Secura to intervene "for the limited purpose of responding" to Kvalvog's motion to stay the settlement. The district court also denied Kvalvog's motion to stay the settlement, reasoning that "Kvalvog has no legal basis to obstruct or delay the settlements between [Schwandt] and Co-Defendants" and that Secura acted within its "authority" to settle "Schwandt's claim against Defendant Kvalvog for an amount within the applicable policy limits." The district court concluded that "[a]ll claims in this matter have resolved" and that there are "no longer any facts to obtain relevant to any claim or defense."

On December 7, Kvalvog filed a request for leave to...