Colorado Insurance Guaranty Ass'n v. Menor

166 P.3d 205, 2007 Colo. App. LEXIS 831, 2007 WL 1288494
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 3, 2007
Docket05CA2483
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 166 P.3d 205 (Colorado Insurance Guaranty Ass'n v. Menor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Colorado Insurance Guaranty Ass'n v. Menor, 166 P.3d 205, 2007 Colo. App. LEXIS 831, 2007 WL 1288494 (Colo. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

Opinion by

Judge LOEB.

Plaintiff, Colorado Insurance Guaranty Association (CIGA), appeals the judgment of the district court dismissing its complaint against defendant, Michael L. Menor, pursuant to C.R.C.P. 12(b). We reverse and remand for further proceedings on CIGA's complaint.

In 1997, Menor, who was employed by Sunstate Equipment, was driving in a vehicle owned and insured by Sunstate, when a vehicle driven by an uninsured motorist veered out of control and into the path of Menor's vehicle, severely injuring him.

Menor filed for workers' compensation benefits under Sunstate's insurance policy with Industrial Indemnity Company, and Industrial admitted liability for such benefits. In 2002, Fremont Indemnity Company, which had acquired Industrial and had sue-ceeded to its obligations under the workers' compensation policy, filed a final admission for liability (FAL) for permanent total disability benefits and medical benefits.

In 2008, Fremont became insolvent. Pursuant to the Colorado Insurance Guaranty Association Act, § 10-4-501, et seq., C.R.S. 2006 (the Act), CIGA assumed responsibility for the claim and continued to pay workers' compensation benefits to Menor thereafter. See Alexander v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 42 P.3d 46, 47 (Colo. ("CIGA is a nonprofit, unincorporated legal entity cere-ated by the [Act] ... to create a means for insureds to recover on claims against insolvent insurers.... CIGA steps into the shoes of the insolvent insurer to pay claims within the coverage and limits of the insurance policy.").

Sunstate also had an insurance policy providing uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage with St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company. In 2000, Menor filed a claim with St. Paul for UM/UIM benefits because the driver whose negligence caused the accident and his injuries was uninsured. Menor and St. Paul apparently agreed to resolve that claim through arbitration. In June 2000, Menor also filed a complaint against St. Paul in the Pueblo County District Court alleging entitlement to UM/ UIM benefits under the St. Paul policy.

In February 2001, Menor, Sunstate, and St. Paul entered into a settlement regarding Menor's claim under the St. Paul policy for a lump sum payment of $265,000, and periodic payments of $33,700, to be paid annually beginning in June 2012 and guaranteed to last for 20 years, until June 2081. The settlement agreement was silent as to any allocation or apportionment between economic and noneconomic damages. Also, there is no indication in the record that the settlement was submitted to the district court for approval.

In November 2008, CIGA filed a petition with the Division of Administrative Hearings to modify, terminate, or suspend workers' compensation benefits based on § 10-4-512, C.R.S.2006, the nonduplication of recovery provision of the Act. CIGA asserted entitlement to a statutory offset, pursuant to § 10-4-512(1), C.R.S.2006, that would reduce Me-nor's workers' compensation benefits based on his UM/UIM insurance settlement with St. Paul to the extent the settlement was for economic damages.

Following a hearing, an administrative law judge (ALJ) found that the nonduplication of recovery provision was applicable and grant[209]*209ed CIGA's petition. However, the ALJ found that she did not have jurisdiction to determine the amount of the offset, finding instead that the "amount of offset, if any, must be determined in a Jorgensen hearing by the trial court in the tort case, by apportionment of economic and noneconomic damages." See Colo. Comp. Ins. Auth. v. Jorgensen, 992 P.2d 1156 (Colo.2000).

CIGA then filed this action in the Pueblo County District Court, pursuant to § 10-4-512, requesting a judgment that the amounts of Menotr's prior settlement with St. Paul "were for economic damages, thereby eliminating CIGA's obligations to Menor for workers' compensation benefits."

Menor moved to dismiss CIGA's complaint under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

The district court granted the motion to dismiss based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The district court did not rule on Menor's alternative C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5) contention. This appeal followed.

I. Subject Matter Jurisdiction

CIGA contends the district court erred in dismissing its complaint under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) on the ground that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the case. We agree.

We review de novo a district court's legal conclusions on a motion to dismiss under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Ashton Props., Ltd. v. Overton, 107 P.3d 1014, 1017 (Colo.App.2004).

A court must have jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter of the issue to be decided if its judgment is to be valid. In re Marriage of Stroud, 631 P.2d 168, 170 (Colo.1981). "Subject matter jurisdiction concerns the court's authority to deal with the class of cases in which it renders judgment." In re Marriage of Stroud, supra, 631 P.2d at 170.

Subject matter jurisdiction is defined as a court's power to resolve a dispute in which it renders judgment. Ashton Props., Ltd. v. Overton, supra. A court has subject matter jurisdiction if "the case is one of the type[s] of cases that the court has been empowered to entertain by the sovereign from which the court derives its authority" Horton v. Suthers, 43 P.3d 611, 615 (Colo.2002) (quoting Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis, Inc. v. Adams, 718 P.2d 508, 513 (Colo.1986)).

"The Colorado Constitution vests district courts with general subject matter jurisdiction in civil cases." Ashton Props., Ltd. v. Overton, supra, 107 P.3d at 1017; see Colo. Const. art. VI, § 9(1) ("The district courts shall be trial courts of record with general jurisdiction, and shall have original jurisdiction in all civil, probate, and criminal cases, except as otherwise provided herein, and shall have such appellate jurisdiction as may be prescribed by law."). As courts of general jurisdiction, the district courts in Colorado have the authority to consider questions of law and of equity and to award legal and equitable remedies. Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis, Inc. v. Adams, supra, 718 P.2d at 518; Ashton Props., Ltd. v. Overton, supra, 107 P.3d at 1017.

Both CIGA and Menor agree the ALJ correctly concluded that she did not have jurisdiction to apportion the settlement among Menor, St. Paul, and Sunstate, because the UM/UIM settlement did not involve workers' compensation benefits. Ct. MGM Supply Co. v. Indus. Claim Appeals Office, 62 P.3d 1001, 1004 (Colo.App.2002) (ALJs have jurisdiction to decide workers' compensation cases).

CIGA relies on Jorgensen, a case interpreting subrogation rights under § 841-208, C.R.S.2006, of the Workers' Compensation Act, for the proposition that jurisdiction to review and apportion settlement proceeds lies with the court that has jurisdiction over the tort claim. Colo. Comp. Ins. Auth. v. Jorgensen, supra, 992 P.2d at 1160; see § 8-41-2083 (providing that a workers' compensation insurer is subrogated to the injured claimant's rights to recover damages against a tortfeasor).

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166 P.3d 205, 2007 Colo. App. LEXIS 831, 2007 WL 1288494, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/colorado-insurance-guaranty-assn-v-menor-coloctapp-2007.