Bailey v. Manors Group

642 N.E.2d 249, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 1496, 1994 WL 590819
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 31, 1994
Docket29A05-9401-CV-6
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 642 N.E.2d 249 (Bailey v. Manors Group) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bailey v. Manors Group, 642 N.E.2d 249, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 1496, 1994 WL 590819 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

*251 OPINION

RUCKER, Judge.

The Indiana State Board of Health appeals from a grant of partial summary judgment and judgment entered against it ordering the payment of monitoring fees to Manors Group. The Board presents the following restated issues for review: 1) whether the trial court erred in finding that Ind.Code § 16-10-4-19 did not preempt Manors Group's common law remedies; and 2) whether the evidence supports recovery under the theory of quasi-contract.

We affirm in part and reverse in part.

In March, 1990, amidst allegations of seriously deficient patient care at the Mayfair Manor (Mayfair) health facility, a survey team from the Board of Health's Division of Health Facilities (Board) commenced an investigation of the facility. The team, having quickly substantiated the allegations, alerted the Board that conditions at Mayfair posed an immediate and substantial threat to the health, welfare, and safety of Mayfair's residents. The Board determined that the situation warranted "fast track decertification" and initiated an action to revoke Mayfair's health facility lHieense, or in the alternative to place the facility on probation and require employment of a monitor! On March 9, 1990, the Board issued an Emergency Order for Placement of a Monitor. 1 Using a list of monitors qualified for appointment, the Board telephoned Ginger L. Fitzpatrick through her employer, The Manors Group. Fitzpatrick, who was consulting elsewhere at the time, was informed by her office of the Board's request for monitoring services and immediately attended an emergency briefing with the Board. Fitzpatrick accepted the assignment and began the monitoring process at Mayfair the same day. From March 9, 1990 until April 21, 1990, Fitzpatrick monitored the facility, completing daily logs of her observations and recommendations and submitting weekly reports to the Board which documented the facility's progress. During the monitoring process, Fitzpatrick and Manors Group approached Mayfair's administration on several occasions in an attempt to execute a contract for payment for Fitzpatrick's time and services and eventually billed Mayfair in the sum of $12,556.50 for services rendered. Mayfair refused to enter into an agreement to compensate Fitzpatrick and subsequently filed for bankruptey protection. Manors Group, which paid Fitz patrick's fees during the time she served as a monitor, sued the Board under the theories of implied contract and quantum meruit to recover Fitzpatrick's monitoring expenses. The trial court granted partial summary judgment to Manors Group on the grounds that LC. § 16-10-4-19(d) did not bar Manors Group from recovering damages under common law theories of liability. The matter then proceeded to a bench trial, after which the court entered judgment against the Board in the amount of $12,556.50. This appeal ensued in due course. Additional facts are discussed below where relevant.

I.

The Board contends the trial court erred in granting partial summary judgment to Manors Group on the issue of whether I.C. § 16-10-4-19(d) operates to preempt common law theories of recovery. The trial court entered findings and conclusions in support of its judgment, noting that "[the statute provides one way in which a monitor may be paid. However, the State Board of Health or other state agencies may not avoid their responsibility to pay for services rendered under the auspices of I.C. 16-10-4-19(d)." Record at 80. A trial court's reasoning for entering summary judgment, although unnecessary, is helpful to the litigants and aids our review. Strutz v. McNagny (1990), Ind.App., 558 N.E.2d 1103, trans. de-mied. However, we are not bound by the findings of the trial court and our standard of review is the same as it was for the trial *252 court: whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether the moving party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Montgomery County Farm Bureau Co-op. Ass'n, Inc. v. Deseret Title Holding Corp. (1987), Ind.App., 513 N.E.2d 193, reh'g denied. We must consider the pleadings and evidence sanctioned by Ind.Trial Rule 56(C) without deciding its weight or credibility. Summary judgment should be granted only if such evidence shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party deserves judgment as a matter of law. Houin v. Burger by Burger (1992), Ind.App., 590 N.E.2d 593. All evidence must be construed in favor of the opposing party, and all doubts as to the existence of a material fact must be resolved against the moving party. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Metzler (1992), Ind.App., 586 N.E.2d 897, trans. denied.

At all relevant times, the costs provision of the monitoring statute provided as follows: "The costs of placing a monitor in a health facility ... shall be paid by the health facility unless it is determined by a final order under I.C. 4-21.5 that the placement of the monitor was not needed in which case the costs shall be reimbursed by the state." I.C. § 16-10-4-19(d) 2 According to the Board, the sole basis of lability against the state derives from improper appointment of a monitor, and thus Manors Group may not sustain a common law action to recover monitoring fees from the state.

Well-settled principles of statutory construction necessitate our disagreement with the Board that recovery under the statutory costs provision was Manors Group's exclusive remedy. The legislature is presumed to know the common law and to incorporate it into the statute except where it expressly indicates otherwise. Masterman v. Veldman's Equipment, Inc. (1988), Ind.App., 580 N.E.2d 312, 315, trans. demied. This rule is a corollary to the rule that statutes in derogation of the common law are to be strictly construed. Id.; Bartrom v. Adjustment Bureau, Inc., (1993), Ind., 618 N.E.2d 1, 10. We therefore presume that the legislature does not intend to make changes in the common law beyond what it declares either expressly or by unmistakable implication. Indianapolis Power & Light Co. v. Brad Snodgrass, Inc. (1991), Ind., 578 N.E.2d 669, 673; Victory Comm. v. Genesis Conv. Ctr. (1992), Ind.App., 597 N.E.2d 361, 365-66, reh'g denied.

Construing the monitoring statute in this manner, we find no indication that the statutory costs provision was intended to preempt common law claims against the state. Indeed, the Board does not designate, nor do we detect, a clearly manifested intent by the legislature to supplant common law theories of recovery.

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Bluebook (online)
642 N.E.2d 249, 1994 Ind. App. LEXIS 1496, 1994 WL 590819, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bailey-v-manors-group-indctapp-1994.