Garcia v. Albuquerque Public Schools

663 P.2d 1198, 99 N.M. 741
New Mexico Court of Appeals·Decided May 10, 1983·No. 5990·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

OPINION

LOPEZ, Judge.

The plaintiff appeals a summary judgment granted in his workmen’s compensation suit against Albuquerque Public Schools. We affirm.

This appeal presents two issues: 1. Whether the summary judgment was properly granted; 2. Whether a deposition taken without leave of court can be used in connection with a motion for summary judgment.

FACTS

* Plaintiff was injured in November of 1980 while working as a custodian for Albuquerque Public Schools. Following plaintiff’s work-related injury APS paid him temporary total disability workmen’s compensation benefits. The payments were being made on January 19, 1982, when plaintiff brought suit in this case, asking for determination of permanent disability, past and future medical expenses, rehabilitation expenses and attorney’s fees. Plaintiff specifically alleged that he had unpaid medical expenses for which APS refused to pay and that he had been prescribed rehabilitation, for which APS refused to pay. The claim for unpaid medicals was abandoned in plaintiff’s brief. Plaintiff does not allege that he is not receiving the maximum allowable weekly compensation benefits. APS answered denying these allegations and affirmatively alleged that it was paying maximum compensation benefits. APS filed its motion for summary judgment on grounds of premature filing of plaintiff’s claim against the employer as set out in § 52-1-69, N.M.S.A.1978, and that all reasonable medical and rehabilitational services were being provided.

POINT NO. 1. PROPRIETY OF A SUMMARY JUDGMENT

The trial court based its judgment on statutory prematurity under § 52-1-69.

The plaintiff challenges the summary judgment on grounds that failure of the APS to reimburse his rehabilitation expenses triggers a determination by the trial court of workmen compensation benefits and entitlements. To support this contention, plaintiff advances the theory of estoppel and the theory that maximum compensation benefits must be distinguished from rehabilitation expenses. APS contends that the trial court was correct. We shall decide plaintiff’s two sub-points separately.

A. Estoppel.

Plaintiff claims that APS represented that it would reimburse plaintiff for rehabilitation expenses, that plaintiff relied, on the representation to his detriment and, therefore, APS should be estopped from denying liability under the shield of the Workmen’s Compensation Act. The cases cited by plaintiff relate to estoppel as applied to various workmen’s compensation cases, however none of them deal with a factual situation similar to the case at bar.

APS responds to plaintiff’s argument with the contention that plaintiff could not have relied on APS’s representations regarding rehabilitation when plaintiff undertook locksmith training some time before APS recommended rehabilitation training. Facts in the transcript show that plaintiff started payments to the Belsaw Institute for Locksmithing sometime in early 1981. [The dates on cancelled checks are hard to read but the check on the bottom of transcript page 209 is numbered 1507 and was written on April 30, 1981. The preceding checks numbered 1493, 1475, and 1416 which also appeared on page 209 were written before April 30, 1981.] Plaintiff states that payments for the locksmith course started in January 1981.

In an affidavit sworn on June 1, 1982, plaintiff stated that he enrolled in a locksmith course, that APS knew of plaintiff’s enrollment in the course, and that APS’s claims representative received information regarding the rehabilitation course but had not reimbursed plaintiff for tuition or supplies. Plaintiff’s affidavit also contained the following:

2. I have had discussions with Mr. Jim Tanner [APS’s claims representative] on starting me on rehabilitation in early 1982, but that I was informed by him that Albuquerque Public Schools would not advance any rehabilitation funds.

The chronology of events shows that plaintiff started the locksmith course in early 1981. We are cited to no date when APS told plaintiff that he would be reimbursed for rehabilitational expenses. Through paragraph two of plaintiff’s affidavit, quoted above, we can see that APS talked to plaintiff about starting rehabilitation in early 1982, but that APS would not fund it. In State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co. v. Gonzales, 83 N.M. 296, 491 P.2d 513 (1971), the court stated that there is no estoppel unless a person acted in reliance on the acts of the other whereby the person was induced to take a position to his prejudice or detriment. In the case at bar, the fact recited above shows that plaintiff acted with the expectation that APS would reimburse him for his training. The facts, however, do not show that plaintiff acted in reliance upon assertions made by APS. Rather, there is no evidence that APS and plaintiff had even discussed rehabilitation at the time plaintiff started the locksmith course. Moreover, by plaintiff’s own affidavit, there is evidence that Garcia knew that APS would not pay for his vocational retraining expenses. Accordingly, APS was not estopped from claiming that plaintiff was not entitled to reimbursement for his. vocational rehabilitation. Since there was no evidence of estoppel, there was no genuine issue of material fact on that ground and summary judgment was proper. N.M. R.Civ.P. 56, N.M.S.A.1978 (1980 Repl. Pamph.); Goodman v. Brock, 83 N.M. 789, 498 P.2d 676 (1972).

B. Maximum Compensation Benefits.

The trial court denied plaintiff’s claim for reimbursement of rehabilitation expenses on the grounds of statutory prematurity. Section 52-1-69. The issue, however, is whether plaintiff complied with § 52-1-50, N.M.S.A.1978 (1982 Cum.Supp.), which provides for payment of certain rehabilitation expenses. The record shows that plaintiff did not seek to establish his need for rehabilitation services; rather, he sued for reimbursement of monies expended for such services. Clearly, plaintiff did not follow the requirements of § 52-1-50, which provides as follows:

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Garcia v. Albuquerque Public Schools, 663 P.2d 1198, 99 N.M. 741 (N.M. Ct. App. 1983).

663 P.2d 1198 (Garcia v. Albuquerque Public Schools) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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