Case Brief Edgewater Motels, Inc. V. Walgreen Company

Business Law

Case Brief Edgewater Motels, Inc. V. Walgreen Company

Action: This matter consists of two consolidated appeals from the post-trial orders of the St. Louis County District Court. Plaintiff Edgewater Motels, Inc., and defendant A. J. Gatzke contend that the trial judge erred by ordering judgment for defendant Walgreen Company not-withstanding a jury verdict which found that Gatzke, a Walgreen employee, negligently caused a fire in plaintiff's motel while he was in the scope of his employment. Plaintiff also claims that the trial judge erred in refusing to set aside a jury finding that plaintiff's negligence caused 40 percent of the damages sustained by Edgewater. The amount of damages was stipulated by the parties at $330,360.

Brief Fact Summary. The District Court, St. Louis County (Minnesota) found for Defendants, notwithstanding a jury verdict that its employee negligently caused a fire in the motel while he was in the scope of his employment.

The fire in question broke out on August 24, 1973, in a room at the Edgewater Motel in Duluth, Minnesota, occupied by Arlen Gatzke, a 31-year Walgreen employee and then district manager, During that time, he stayed at the Edgewater Motel at Walgreen's expense. His laundry, living expenses, and entertainment were items of reimbursement. After filling out the expense account Gatzke went to bed, and soon thereafter a fire broke out. Gatzke escaped from the burning room, but the fire spread rapidly and caused extensive damage to the motel.

The jury found that Gatzke's negligence was a direct cause of 60 percent of the damages sustained by Edgewater. The jury also determined that Gatzke's negligent act occurred within the scope of his employment with Walgreen's. Plaintiff was found to be negligent (apparently for providing a plastic wastebasket) and such negligence was determined to be responsible for 40 percent of the fire damage sustained by Edgewater. The jury also decided that "The Bellows" was not...