Justia Idaho Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Appellants David and Marsha Steed are the former employers of Claimant Marsha Fearn. Ms. Fearn resigned from her job in April 2009, and sent an email with her personal contact information to approximately 7500 of the Steeds’ sales contacts. Upon finding out about this email, the Steeds terminated Ms. Fearn's employment. A state Department of Labor (DOL) appeals examiner and the Industrial Commission (Commission) both determined that the Steeds failed to show that Ms. Fearn was discharged for misconduct. The Steeds appealed the decisions of both the DOL and the Commission. Upon consideration of the record and the applicable legal authority, the Supreme Court found that the DOL's and Commission's decisions were supported by substantial and competent evidence. The Court affirmed the decisions. View "Fearn v. Steed" on Justia Law

Petitioner-Appellant Roger Steele and several residents appealed a district court order that dismissed their claim that the City of Shelley (City) illegally annexed land in Bingham County known as "Kelley Acres." The district court found that there was no statutory authorization for the district court's review of the annexation. On appeal to the Supreme Court, Appellants argued that the annexation was "arbitrary and capricious" and procedurally defective. Upon careful consideration of the arguments and the applicable legal authority, the Supreme Court found that there was indeed, no statutory authority for judicial review of the annexation. Furthermore, the Court found substantial evidence that supported the City's annexation of Kelley Acres. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. View "Steele v. City of Shelley " on Justia Law

Plaintiff Eileen McDevitt tripped and fell on a recessed irrigation box outside Sportsman's Warehouse. The store was part of a larger shopping center. Plaintiff sued the store and others to recover for her injuries. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the store, finding that as a tenant in the shopping center, the store owed no duty to shoppers (or invitees) to warn them of potential hazards. Plaintiff appealed to the Supreme Court. Upon careful consideration of the arguments and the applicable legal authority, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision. View "McDevitt v. Sportsmans Warehouse, Inc." on Justia Law

The Idaho Department of Water Resources (Department) appealed an order of the district court that required it to strike a term from a hydropower water right license issued to the Idaho Power Company. In 1984, an agreement was entered into between Idaho Power, the State, the governor, and the attorney general, in an effort to resolve a controversy associated with the company's water rights at the Swan Falls Dam. As part of the Swan Falls agreement, the parties agreed to support legislation for the commencement of an adjudication of water rights in the Snake River Basin. One key piece of the legislation that was passed pursuant to the Swan Falls Agreement gave the Department specific authority to subordinate hydropower rights in a permit or license to the rights of subsequent upstream depletionary users. The Department was also authorized to limit a permit or license involving hydropower to a term of years. The Department issued a final order that articulated the legal basis for including the "term of years" condition in the license to Idaho Power. The Company sought judicial review of the Department's final order, arguing that the Department did not have statutory authority to include a term condition in its license. The court indeed concluded that the Department did not have the authority to limit the license. The Department appealed to the Supreme Court. Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the Department had the statutory authority to include a term condition in Idaho Power's license. The Court reversed the district court's decision. View "Idaho Power Company v. Idaho Dept of Water Resources" on Justia Law

Coeur d'Alene Paving, Inc. (CDA Paving) leased several parcels of real property in Kootenai County from Beacon West, LLC. Approximately thirty acres of this leased property was zoned for mining activity. CDA had an interest in two undeveloped parcels that were initially zoned for agricultural use. The two agricultural parcels bordered the mining-parcel, but were not adjacent to it. In January 2008, CDA Paving submitted an application to the Kootenai County Building and Planning Department to have its two agricultural lots rezoned for mining. The Kootenai County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held public hearings on the application, and eventually approved the application. Several property owners located in the vicinity of the zone changes, including Appellant Linda Ciszek, petitioned the district court for a declaratory judgment, alleging the zone change was invalid. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of CDA Paving, holding that the BOCC had the authority to amend its zoning map. Appellants raised multiple issues with the district court's decision. Principal among their arguments to the Supreme Court was that the BOCC lacked statutory authority to approve a zoning application as it had for CDA Paving. The Supreme Court found all of Appellants' arguments persuasive, and affirmed the district court's decision. View "Ciszik v. Kootenai County Bd of Commissioners" on Justia Law

In October 2008, the Idaho Power Company filed an application with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) to modify its tariff. Some of the proposed amendments applied to the relocation of utilities facilities within public rights-of-way. The City of Nampa and the Association of Canyon County Highway Districts intervened in the proceedings, and each objected to the Company’s proposed amendments to the tariff. The IPUC approved the amendments, and Ada County Highway District (ACHD) filed a petition or reconsideration and clarification. Specifically, ACHD argued that the IPUC exceeded its authority in approving the amendments and that portions of the amended tariff were “an unlawful attempt to amend or abrogate the common law rule requiring a utility to relocate its facilities placed in a public right-of-way at its expense.” Upon review, the Supreme Court found that the IPUC exceeded its authority in determining utilities relocation within public rights-of-way. The Court set aside the amended tariff. View "Ada County Highway Dist. v. Idaho Public Utilities Comm’n " on Justia Law

In October 2008, the Idaho Power Company (Company) filed an application with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (IPUC) seeking to modify its “line extension” tariff that applied to requests for electrical service that required the installation, alteration, relocation, removal or attachment of company-owned distribution facilities. As homes are constructed in a subdivision, the homeowner requests to be connected to power, and the Company installs wiring from a transformer to the house at no cost to the homeowner. The cost of constructing new distribution facilities had been paid partially from up-front capital contributions from developers, and partially from electric rates charged to all customers. Under the old tariff, the Company gave developers a “line installation allowance” to offset a portion of the developers’ costs in having the Company construct distribution facilities. The allowance was equal to the Company’s cost of providing and installing transformers within the subdivision. Per-lot refunds were refunded to the developer when a permanent residence connected to electrical service and occupied a lot within five years. The per-lot refunds could be as much as $800 each. In this proceeding, the Company sought to change line installation allowances to fixed sums. It also wanted to eliminate the per-lot refunds. The Building Contractors Association of Southwestern Idaho filed a petition to intervene in the proceeding. The Contractors sought to increase per-lot refunds. The IPUC granted the Company’s request to change the line extension allowance to a fixed sum. The Contractors asked the IPUC to reconsider tariff change, but the IPUC denied the request. On appeal to the Supreme Court, the Contractors challenged the sufficiency of the evidence presented by the Power Company to support the tariff change. Finding the evidence sufficient to support the IPUC’s decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the IPUC’s decision to change the power company’s tariff. View "Building Contractors Association of Southwestern Idaho v. Idaho Public Utilities Comm’n " on Justia Law

Plaintiff-Appellant James Wylie owned a subdivision in the City of Meridian. He sought a declaration from the district court that the City and the Idaho Transportation Department improperly denied access for his property directly onto a nearby state highway. The district court dismissed Plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that he failed to present a “justiciable issue.” The Supreme Court’s review of the record revealed that Plaintiff acquired the land in question subject to certain conditions recorded in the plat for the subdivision. The plat listed plainly that “the subject property does have frontage along [the state highway] but . . . not direct access [to the highway].” The Court reasoned that Plaintiff failed to bring an issue for the Court to resolve since Plaintiff’s recorded deed clearly listed the frontage road as access to his property. Therefore, the Court reasoned that the case was “non-justiciable” and affirmed the lower court’s decision to dismiss Plaintiff’s case. View "Wylie v. Idaho Bd of Transportation" on Justia Law