Gail M. McCormick v. Narragansett Improvement Company, Inc.

Syllabus

The plaintiff, Gail M. McCormick (plaintiff or Ms. McCormick), appealed from a Superior Court order and judgment in favor of the defendant, Narragansett Improvement Company, Inc. (defendant or NICO). Ms. McCormick filed a complaint in Superior Court seeking to recover damages for accident-related injuries which she believed were caused by uncovered manholes in the road that the NICO was contracted to repair. When NICO failed to timely plead or otherwise defend against the complaint, the court clerk entered default in favor of Ms. McCormick. More than seventeen months after receiving service of the complaint, NICO moved to vacate the entry of default against it. Despite NICO's failure to demonstrate good cause for its delay in pleading or otherwise defending against the complaint, the hearing justice granted the motion to vacate and the matter was set for trial. After a seven-day jury trial, the jury found NICO not liable for Ms. McCormick's accident-related injuries. On appeal, Ms. McCormick argued that the Superior Court erred in granting NICO's motion to vacate the entry of default and in denying her motion for a new trial. The Supreme Court concluded that, in the absence of sufficient evidence demonstrating good cause for the failure to plead or otherwise defend, the hearing justice abused his discretion in vacating the default. Accordingly, the Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the Superior Court.