S-22-0075 Dennis and Janelle Trausch (Appellants) v. Linda Hagemeier and RLI Insurance Co. (Appellees)
Appeal from the District Court for Clay County, Judge Vicky L. Johnson
Attorneys: Terry Barber (Barber & Barber for Appellants) and Richard P. Garden, Jr. (Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather for Appellees)
Civil: Negligence, Dismissal, and Sanctions
Proceedings Below: The trial court dismissed Appellants’ lawsuit with prejudice and imposed sanctions upon Appellants. On appeal and on its own motion, the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered that this case be removed from the docket of the Nebraska Court of Appeals and transferred to its docket.
Issues: On appeal, Appellants make the following assignments of error: 1) The trial Court erred in sustaining Hagemeier’s motion to dismiss; 2) The trial Court erred in determining that the Trausch claims were “grounded in negligence;” 3) The trial Court erred in determining that the applicable statute of limitations was Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-207(3) (negligence -- four years); 4) The trial Court erred in determining that Neb. Rev. Stat. § 25-209 had no application to the case; 5) The trial Court erred in determining that the Trausch claims did not include an “action on an official bond;” 6) The trial Court erred in determining that because the claims fail as to Hagemeier, they also fail as to her bond company; 7) The trial Court erred in determining that there was “no method of correcting this error by additional pleading, the First and Second Causes of Action [were] dismissed with prejudice without leave to re-file;” 8) The trial Court erred in determining that “the conduct of the Defendants herein was frivolous, willful, in bad faith, and vexatious”, and deserved imposition of “the sum of $10,000.00 in sanctions; and 9) The trial Court erred by failing to allow Trauschs an opportunity to be fully heard on the subject motions.