Court of Appeals hears challenge over tow-rotation removal, standing and discovery sanctions

The Utah Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Mountain West Towing v. West Jordan over whether individual tow-operator owners may recover emotional-distress damages the city says derive from harms to their companies, and whether the district court properly excluded economic-damages evidence.

Chris Bartolamucci, counsel for West Jordan and the municipal defendants, told the panel the individual plaintiffs’ emotional-distress claims are “entirely derivative” of harms to their companies and therefore lack standing. Bartolamucci cited the state and federal decisions the defense relied on, telling the court the owners “were never on the tow rotation, only their companies,” and urging that precedent bars individual recovery for distress tied to corporate losses.

Judges pressed on procedural posture and standard of review — whether the operative order is a judgment-as-a-matter-of-law ruling or a pretrial summary-judgment decision — because that determines whether the appellate court reviews legal correctness or…