Justice Jim Rice delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 BAM Ventures, LLC (BAM) appeals the order of the Fifth Judicial District Court, Beaverhead County, Montana, granting a preliminary injunction in favor of Reed and Robin Schifferman (Schiffermans). We affirm and restate the issue on appeal as follows: Did the District Court err by granting a preliminary injunction without a finding of "great or irreparable injury " FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 The facts herein are taken...
Chief Justice Mike McGrath delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Petitioners Steve Bullock, in his official capacity as Governor of Montana, and Martha Williams, in her official capacity as Director of the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, invoke this Court's original jurisdiction to declare whether Montana law requires FWP to bring conservation easement transactions of more than 100 acres or $ 100,000 in value before the Board of Land Commissioners for final approval. 2 We...
Justice James Jeremiah Shea delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Defendant Zachary Tucker Martin appeals from the sentence and judgment of the Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, designating him a repeat persistent felony offender (PFO) and sentencing him under the requirements of 46-18-502(2), MCA. 2 We address the following issue on appeal: Whether the District Court erred by sentencing Martin as a repeat persistent felony offender under 46-18-502(2), MCA....
Justice Laurie McKinnon delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 G.W.'s mother, S.W. (Mother) appeals from an order of the Eighth Judicial District Court, Cascade County, terminating her parental rights. We affirm and address: Whether the District Court clearly erred by adjudicating G.W. a Youth in Need of Care. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 In January 2016, the Department of Public Health and Human Services (Department) petitioned the District Court for Emergency Protective...
Justice James Jeremiah Shea delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Michael McLean, McLean & McLean, PLLP, Miantae McConnell, and Joseph and Marilyn Micheletti challenge the entry of summary judgment in favor of ALPS Property & Casualty Insurance Company ("ALPS") by the Third Judicial District, Deer Lodge County. We restate the issues as follows: Issue One: Whether the District Court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of ALPS on rescission of the Policy and declaring it void ab...
Justice Dirk Sandefur delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Associated Management Services, Inc. (AMS) and Daniel R. Ruff and Ruff Software, Inc. (collectively Ruff) litigated numerous claims and counterclaims in the Montana Thirteenth Judicial District Court, Yellowstone County, over the parties' relative rights regarding the web-based payroll processing software, TimeTracker, developed by Ruff and licensed to AMS. Ultimately, the District Court granted summary judgment to Ruff,...
Justice Ingrid Gustafson delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Anthony Raelund, Candice Raelund, Raelund Family Trust, (collectively "the Raelunds") and Brooke Anthony Weeks (Weeks) appeal from an order of the Eleventh Judicial District Court, Flathead County, denying two motions filed by the Raelunds: Motion to Set Aside Default and Motion to Set Aside Default Judgment, and two motions filed by Weeks: Motion for Leave to Intervene by Brooke Anthony Weeks and Motion for Brooke Weeks to...
Justice Laurie McKinnon delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Steve Darty, successor trustee of the Michael R. Grauman Living Trust, and Marcus Grauman, Michael Grauman's brother, (together Darty) appeal from an order of the Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, denying Darty's motion to enjoin transfer on death beneficiaries, Colleen Cornish, Gary Stoddard, Whitehall School System, and Whitehall Food Bank, et al., (together TOD Beneficiaries), from dissipating account funds...
Justice Ingrid Gustafson delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 David Ramsbacher (Ramsbacher) appeals from an order of the Fourth Judicial District Court, Missoula County, granting summary judgment in favor of Jim Palmer Trucking (JPT). We affirm. 2 We restate the issue on appeal as follows: Does 39-8-207(8)(b)(i), MCA, which extends the exclusive remedy of the Workers' Compensation Act from a Professional Employer Organization to its client, violate Article II, Section 16, of the...
Justice Beth Baker delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Danielle Jones worked as a house painter for All Star Painting, Inc. during the summer of 2014. Two months after quitting her job, she filed a complaint with the Montana Human Rights Bureau (HRB), alleging that the company's owner, Norman Hodges, had sexually harassed her at work. After a contested hearing, the Hearing Officer granted judgment in favor of All Star Painting. Both the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and First Judicial...
Justice Ingrid Gustafson delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Southwest Montana Building Industry Association (SWMBIA) appeals three orders of the Eighteenth Judicial District Court, Gallatin County, which directed SWMBIA to transfer funds from the Impact Fee Payer Class Refund Account (Refund Account) to the City of Bozeman (Bozeman), to submit an accounting of the Refund Account, and for contempt of court. We affirm. 2 We restate the issues on appeal as follows: 1. Did the...
Chief Justice Mike McGrath delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Michael Tonn, Anne Quast, William Tonn, Jr., and Cheryl Tonn, in her capacity as trustee (collectively William Heirs), appeal from a decision by the Sixteenth Judicial District Court granting The Estate of Elizabeth Sylvis, Daniel Sylvis, and Katie Atkinson's motion for summary judgment. We affirm. 2 The William Heirs present the following issue for review: Whether the District Court erred when it declined to apply...
Justice Laurie McKinnon delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Dale J. Davis, Vincent G. Keogh, Gary Housman, Tom E. Jenkin, and Joe E. Adams appeal from orders of the Fifth Judicial District Court, Jefferson County, denying them attorney fees, costs, and disbursements. We affirm and restate the issues on appeal as: 1. Did the District Court err in concluding that the Elected Officers were not entitled to attorney fees from either Jefferson County or Nemeth under the Uniform Declaratory...
Justice Beth Baker delivered the Opinion of the Court. 1 Michael Borges worked as a juvenile detention officer at the Missoula County Detention Facility from 2006 to 2015. He informed his supervisors and human resources personnel in May 2014 that he had been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and experienced debilitating hypersensitivity to fragrances. Borges filed a complaint with the Human Rights Bureau (HRB) on October 31, 2014, alleging that the detention facility and the...
