Walker v. Women's Prof'l Rodeo Ass'n, Inc.

498 P.3d 648

2021 COA 105 M

Mary WALKER and Carley Cervi, Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v.WOMEN'S PROFESSIONAL RODEO ASSOCIATION, INC.; Doreen Wintermute, in her official capacity as Chief Executive Officer; and Sheridan-Wyo-Rodeo, Incorporated, Defendants-Appellees.

Court of Appeals No. 20CA0668

Colorado Court of Appeals, Division II.

Announced August 5, 2021

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing September 9, 2021

Kathie Troudt Riley, P.C., Kathie Troudt Riley, Loveland, Colorado, for Plaintiffs-Appellants

Burns, Figa & Will, P.C., Dana L. Eismeier, Erik K. Schuessler, Greenwood Village, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellee Women's Professional Rodeo Association

Mulliken Weiner Berg & Jolivet P.C., Murray I. Weiner, Colorado Springs, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellee Doreen Wintermute

Sparks Willson, P.C., Eric V. Hall, Scott W. Johnson, Colorado Springs, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellee Sheridan-Wyo-Rodeo, Incorporated

Opinion by JUDGE LIPINSKY

¶ 1 Alexis de Tocqueville's observation about Americans’ propensity to form associations rings just as true today as it did more than 180 years ago:

Americans of all ages, all stations in life, and all types of disposition are forever forming associations. There are not only commercial and industrial associations in which all take part, but others of a thousand different types — religious, moral, serious, futile, very general and very limited, immensely large and very minute.

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America 513 (J.P. Mayer ed., George Lawrence trans., Anchor Books 1969). And many of our nation's associations have adopted rules to govern themselves.

¶ 2 Although associations have long been deeply ingrained in American culture, in this case we decide a novel issue under Colorado law: whether members of an association — here a nonprofit corporation — may obtain a legal remedy against the association's board of directors when the board allegedly violates the association's rules to the members’ detriment.

¶ 3 Plaintiffs, Mary Walker and Carley Cervi, are professional barrel racers. Barrel racing is a timed rodeo event in which the participant, usually a woman, must guide her galloping horse through a complete circle around each of three barrels, creating a cloverleaf pattern, and back to the starting point. Cooper v. Comm'r , No. 16331-04S, 2005 WL 1693673, at *1 n.3 (T.C. July 21, 2005) (unpublished opinion) (not precedential pursuant to I.R.C. § 7463(b) ).

¶ 4 The Women's Professional Rodeo Association, Inc. (the WPRA), was founded in 1948 as a Colorado nonprofit corporation for, among other purposes, organizing female professional rodeo contestants and setting standards for "cowgirl events." The WPRA adopted approximately 200 pages of rules, including rules addressing its internal governance and the procedures at rodeo events in which its members participate. WPRA, 2019 Official Rule Book for the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (Dec. 2018), https://perma.cc/MJU8-2EAV (the Rules).

¶ 5 Walker and Cervi — members of the WPRA — dispute the WPRA's interpretation of the Rules applicable when a majority of contestants who registered for barrel racing at a rodeo do not compete because of dangerous arena conditions. Walker and Cervi are two of the riders who competed in barrel racing at the Sheridan, Wyoming, rodeo (the Rodeo) in 2019. Most of the other contestants did not compete in barrel racing at the Rodeo because, the day before the official start date of the Rodeo, the judges declared the arena conditions dangerous as a result of heavy rains.

¶ 6 Walker and Cervi filed this case against the WPRA; Doreen Wintermute in her official capacity as chief executive officer of the WPRA; and Sheridan-Wyo-Rodeo, Incorporated (Sheridan Incorporated), the organizer of the Rodeo, after the WPRA did not pay Walker and Cervi the prize money to which they claim they were entitled after they finished in first and second place, respectively, in barrel racing conducted at the Rodeo after the arena conditions improved. They appeal the district court's orders dismissing their claims for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted and awarding attorney fees to the WPRA and Wintermute without a hearing.

¶ 7 We affirm the district court's entry of judgment in favor of the WPRA, Wintermute, and Sheridan Incorporated and its ruling that the WPRA and Wintermute are entitled to recover attorney fees. However, we reverse the court's award of a specific amount of attorney fees and remand the case to the district court to conduct a hearing on the reasonable amount of attorney fees awardable to the WPRA and Wintermute.

¶ 8 Before we turn to the facts underlying Walker and Cervi's claims, we review the Rules applicable to this case.

I. The Applicable Rules

¶ 9 Under the Rules, a barrel racer competing at a WPRA-sanctioned rodeo may participate in either "barrel racing slack" or regularly scheduled performances. See Rule 12.6. The "slack" consists of barrel races scheduled before or after the regularly scheduled performances. Rule 12.6.1. The record indicates that a racer cannot compete in both the "slack" and the regularly scheduled performances.

¶ 10 Rodeo organizers offer "added money" to attract contestants to participate in their rodeos. See Rule 10.1.6-10. The prize money "pot" awarded to barrel racers at a rodeo consists of the contestants’ entry fees plus any added money. In addition to prize money, a contestant in a WPRA-sanctioned barrel race can earn points. Rule 15. Upon reaching specified point totals, a racer qualifies for events at future rodeos. Rule 15.1.

¶ 11 The Rules provide an alternate payout system for barrel racing contestants when a barrel race is canceled due to dangerous conditions. Under Rule 10.9, known as the "day money" rule,

if barrel race is cancelled after some have competed due to dangerous conditions, the event may be paid off using the day money system in order not to sacrifice money won at that rodeo or event.

....

In the case of cancellation of an event ... if half or more of the contestants competed, then all added money plus applicable entry fees are to be paid out to those contestants and points will count. If less than half compete, a prorated portion of the added money plus applicable entry fees are to be paid out and only those points will count.

Rule 10.9.1, 10.9.3. If the day money rule applies, each contestant who competed in "barrel race," as that term appears in the day money rule, receives the same payout, based on the formula in the rule, regardless of her performance. Rule 10.9.2. The day money rule does not specify whether "barrel race" refers to a single event or all the barrel races conducted at a rodeo.

¶ 12 The Rules also contain a grievance procedure if a WPRA member believes the WPRA, its board of directors, or an individual director violated the Rules "due to an official act or failure to act." Rule 1.4.2. The Rules specify that a member must submit any grievance in writing to the WPRA's board of directors. Id. The board will then "determine the correctness of the grievance" at its next regular meeting, which the complaining member may attend. Id.

¶ 13 The Rules also contain an appeal procedure. If a member is dissatisfied with the board's resolution of her grievance, she may submit a written appeal to the board. Id. As part of her appeal, she may present any "new data or evidence" and "any new witnesses" at the board's next regular meeting. Id. The Rules do not specify every procedural step applicable to grievances and appeals.

¶ 14 Significantly, the Rules grant the WPRA board discretion in operating the organization and applying the Rules. Rule 4.1.2 states that "[t]he Board of Directors shall have discretionary power to conduct the business and affairs of the WPRA ...."

II. Background Facts

¶ 15 Walker and Cervi registered to compete in WPRA-sanctioned barrel racing at the Rodeo, scheduled for July 10 through 13, 2019. Because the WPRA sanctioned the event, contestants could earn both prize money and points. Sheridan Incorporated contributed $12,000 in "added money" to the "pot." Nearly 150 barrel racers registered to compete at the Rodeo. Approximately 100 of them were slated to race in the "slack" and forty-eight were scheduled to race in the regularly scheduled performances. The barrel racing at the Rodeo was to take place in an open-air arena.

¶ 16 The "slack" took place the day before the official start date of the Rodeo. The area had experienced heavy rains that day, however, and the arena was muddy. Before the "slack," approximately forty-five of the contestants announced that they would not compete.

¶ 17 Thirty-six other contestants showed up to compete in the "slack." But after only three contestants rode, the arena judges declared the ground conditions too dangerous for further racing and canceled the "slack."

¶ 18 The regularly scheduled performances at the Rodeo took place over the next several days; by then, the arena conditions had improved. Walker took first place and Cervi took second in the regularly scheduled performances.

¶ 19 Walker and Cervi alleged that, following the cancellation of the "slack," a WPRA executive consulted with a Sheridan Incorporated representative and the arena judges and decided to refund the entry fees paid by those barrel racers who were present and prepared to compete at the Rodeo. Walker and Cervi further allege that the WPRA directors on the WPRA's Competition Committee voted not to count the points earned by the barrel racers who competed at the Rodeo and to reduce the "added money" awardable for participation in the Rodeo from $12,000 to $4,000. This decision affected not only the contestants who had been prepared to race in the "slack," but also the contestants who competed in the regularly scheduled performance at the Rodeo.

¶ 20 A few days after the Rodeo, the WPRA published a "Payout Update" advising its members that, rather than the original advertised payout, which included the $12,000 "added money,"...