Moody v. Delta Western, Inc.
Alaska Supreme Court
38 P.3d 1139 (2002)
- Written by Craig Conway, LLM
Facts
An intoxicated Joseph Coolidge took a Delta Western, Inc. (Delta Western) (defendant) fuel truck containing 10,000 pounds of fuel that an employee had parked in his driveway and began driving around town. The truck was unlocked and the keys were in the ignition, in violation of company policy. During his trek, Coolidge ran cars off the road, nearly collided with other vehicles, and drove at speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour. Several police officers responded in an attempt to pull Coolidge over. Brent Moody (plaintiff), the chief of police, was riding as a passenger in a van driven by another officer when Coolidge rammed the van and propelling Moody against the dashboard and windshield. Moody suffered permanent injuries as a result. Moody filed suit against Delta Western alleging the company, through its employee, negligently failed to remove the fuel truck’s keys from the ignition thereby preventing Coolidge taking the truck. Delta Western moved for summary judgment on the basis that the Firefighter’s Rule barred Moody’s cause of action. The trial court agreed and granted the motion. Moody appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Matthews, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
