Court grants summary judgment for ConocoPhillips on negligence action

Jill Smith and Rachel Stahle co-authored the Motion for Summary Judgment and Rachel Stahle argued the Motion in front of the Circuit Court of Warren County, Missouri. The case arose out of the attempted sale of the Dog Wood Truck Stop located in Boonville, Missouri, from its owner, Plaintiff Greis Oil Company (“Greis”) to Defendant Lion Petroleum, Inc. (“Lion”). The sale never came to fruition; the closing was rescheduled several times and cancelled each time. At some point, however, Greis and Lion supplied documents to ConocoPhillips asking ConocoPhillips to begin crediting sales at the gas station to Lion instead of Greis. ConocoPhillips began to credit the sales to Lion when it was notified that the sale of the station had not occurred. A total of $48,684.37 was credited to Lion, and Lion refused to return the money to Greis. Greis filed a lawsuit against Lion, ConocoPhillips, and Neumayer Equipment Company (“Neumayer”), which was the company that physically changed the machines at the Dog Wood Truck Stop to begin crediting Lion. Greis’ claim against ConocoPhillips was for negligence. Neumayer filed a cross claim against ConocoPhillips. ConocoPhillips moved for summary judgment on all issues, arguing it did not owe a duty to Greis because there was no common law duty imposed on ConocoPhillips, nor was there a contractual agreement between ConocoPhillips and Greis that would give rise to a duty. ConocoPhillips further argued that if a duty did exist, no duty was breached. The Circuit Court of Warren County, Missouri, granted total summary judgment in favor of ConocoPhillips on Greis’ Petition and Neumayer’s cross claim.