2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Thomas P. Murphy, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (15 pages)

            Joel Barnhouse appeals from the decree dissolving his marriage to Lynne Barnhouse.  He argues the court should have set aside his gifted and premarital property before dividing the remaining property between the parties.  OPINION HOLDS: We find that some of the realty should be excluded from marital property, and we modify the equalization payment to Lynne.  We otherwise affirm the district court, including the award of spousal support to Lynne.  We also deny Lynee’s request for appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Guthrie County, Thomas P. Murphy, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (9 pages)

            Capstone Group, Inc. (Capstone) appeals from the district court ruling that denied a property tax exemption for its nursing facility.  OPINION HOLDS: We find Capstone is a charitable institution that operates the facility solely for charitable purposes and without a view to pecuniary profit.  Therefore, the entire property qualifies for the property tax exemption.  We reverse the district court and remand for entry of an order exempting the property. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Steven P. Van Marel, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., May, J., and Blane, S.J.  Per Curiam.  (4 pages)

            Defendant appeals the revocation of his deferred judgment and imposition of sentence which included a condition of probation that he reside in a residential facility.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in either instance, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Sarah E. Crane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., Potterfield, S.J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (6 pages)

            Samir Shams appeals the order dismissing his claims of conversion, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty against Sona Hassan following a bench trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Shams’s claim that the district court failed to honor the parties’ stipulation is not preserved for our review.  Finding no error in the district court’s determination that Shams failed to meet his burden of proving his claims, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Martha L. Mertz, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (11 pages)

            Geri Doyle appeals from a grant of summary judgment to her former attorney, Mark Otto, on her claims of legal negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent misrepresentation, and for punitive damages.  OPINION HOLDS: Otto met his burden to show there were no genuine issues of material fact that he did not breach his professional duty of skillful, prudent, and diligent representation to Doyle.  As a matter of law, he was entitled to summary judgment, and we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Mitchell E. Turner, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J.  (13 pages)

            Chipokas, LLC appeals from a summary judgment ruling in favor of Casey’s Marketing Company (Casey’s) that determined Casey’s was not contractually bound to lease certain property from Chipokas.  OPINION HOLDS: A provision of a lease assigned to Casey’s did not require Casey’s to lease an adjoining piece of land upon renewal of the lease because the original lessee did not assign the right to renew the adjoining land to Casey’s and instead retained the right to renew the lease of the adjoining land.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, Timothy Jarman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (3 pages)

            Michael Van Essen Jr. appeals the revocation of his deferred judgment and the sentence imposed arguing the court failed to state adequate reasons for its decision.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the revocation of Van Essen’s deferred judgment and the sentence imposed.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie K. Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (10 pages)

           Charles Gabus Ford fired Lucas Woods after he failed an employee drug test.  Woods filed a petition at law asserting he was wrongfully terminated because Gabus Ford violated Iowa Code section 730.5 (2017)—Iowa’s private sector employee drug-and-alcohol-testing statute.  On appeal from dismissal of his petition, Woods asserts Gabus Ford did not: (1) send its certified mailing of the post-test notice return receipt requested as required in subsection (7)(j)(1); (2) establish it complied with the supervisory personnel training described in subsection (9)(h); and (3) include in its notice to Woods the cost of a confirmatory drug test as required in subsection (7)(j)(1).  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review of the record, we find no reversible error in Woods’s first two claims.  But we agree Gabus Ford’s failure to include the cost of the confirmatory drug test in its post-test notice to Woods violated the statute.  So we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Sarah Crane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Greer, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (23 pages)

            Presbyterian Homes & Services, Inc., doing business as Mill Pond, and its insurer Zurich American Insurance Company appeal the district court order affirming in part and reversing in part a final decision of the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commission. The claimant, Mary Buchanan, cross-appeals. Appellants argue the district court erred by finding (1) the commissioner’s factual findings on medical causation were supported by substantial evidence; and (2) the commissioner’s determination Buchanan had sustained sixty-five percent industrial disability as a result applied the correct legal standard and was supported by substantial evidence.  On cross appeal, Buchanan argues the district court erred by reversing the final decision awarding her penalty benefits.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supported the commissioner’s finding on medical causation.  The commissioner’s industrial disability rating was supported by substantial evidence and not irrational, illogical, or wholly unjustifiable.  The district court correctly reversed the commissioner’s award of penalty benefits.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Michael D. Huppert, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (6 pages)

            An employer appeals following judicial review of a worker’s compensation decision granting an application for alternate medical care.  OPINION HOLDS: The agency properly granted alternate medical care.  The employer conceded that it had authorized the employee’s care with the doctor from whom the employee sought to continue treatment and never told the employee it would no longer authorize treatment with the doctor.  The employee thus was entitled to continue care with that doctor as long as the doctor indicated the treatment related to the work injury.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clarke County, John D. Lloyd, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (7 pages)

            Michael Siefkas appeals a district court order in a proceeding concerning his father’s estate.  Michael argues the district court erred in determining a jointly-held account should be listed on the estate inventory and was subject to attorney fees.  He also argues the jointly-held account was not an estate asset.  OPINION HOLDS: The account was held in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship between the decedent and his two sons.  Accordingly, it was not an estate asset and ownership of the account passed automatically to the survivors.  However, because assets held in joint tenancy are considered gross assets of the estate for tax purposes, the account was properly included on the inventory form and may be considered in the court’s discretionary award of a reasonable attorney fee.  We offer no opinion as to how much should be allowed by the court as a reasonable fee. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, John J. Haney, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED ON APPEAL; AFFIRMED ON CROSS-APPEAL.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (9 pages)

            Brian Freiberg appeals, and Amanda Freiberg cross-appeals, the district court’s denial of their respective requests to modify their dissolution decree.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm on the issues raised in Amanda’s cross-appeal.  On Brian’s appeal, we affirm all aspects of the modification decree except we reverse the visitation portion of the decree and remand for substitution of Brian’s requested visitation provision and for reconsideration of child support in light of the change.