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Klas v. Phillips Petroleum Co.
Citations: 426 N.W.2d 8; 101 Oil & Gas Rep. 503; 1988 N.D. LEXIS 177; 1988 WL 74419Docket: Civ. No. 880020
Court: North Dakota Supreme Court; July 19, 1988; North Dakota; State Supreme Court
Joan Klas and Dan Wilson appeal a summary judgment dismissing their lawsuit against Phillips Petroleum and Aminoil USA, Inc. The case stems from a December 1982 top lease executed by their uncle, Grat Wilson, for land in McKenzie County, North Dakota, for which Aminoil paid a bonus of $48,075. In 1985, Grat Wilson conveyed this land to Klas and Wilson. They later sued Phillips and Aminoil seeking additional payments for alleged accreted land due to the drying up of Nohle Lake, claiming a mutual mistake regarding the estimated acreage in the lease. The trial court ruled that there was no evidence of a mistake and denied the reformation of the lease, granting summary judgment to the defendants. The court emphasized that summary judgment is appropriate when there are no genuine issues of material fact, and defined a mistake of fact under North Dakota law as an unconscious ignorance of a fact material to the contract, which was not present in this case. NDCC 32-04-17 allows for the reformation of a contract if it does not accurately reflect the parties' intentions due to fraud, mutual mistake, or a unilateral mistake known or suspected by the other party. In the case of Wehner v. Schroeder, the court determined that Klas and Wilson failed to present evidence that Grat Wilson was unaware of the true facts surrounding the desiccation of Nohle Lake. Consequently, Klas and Wilson did not demonstrate a genuine issue for trial, as required by Rule 56(e), NDRCivP. Aminoil and Phillips Petroleum successfully established that there was no genuine issue regarding any material fact, leading to their entitlement to judgment of dismissal under Rule 56(c), NDRCivP. The trial court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Aminoil and Phillips Petroleum was upheld.