Gilchrist v. Trail King Industries, Inc.

2002 SD 155, 655 N.W.2d 98, 2002 S.D. LEXIS 179
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 11, 2002
DocketNone
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2002 SD 155 (Gilchrist v. Trail King Industries, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gilchrist v. Trail King Industries, Inc., 2002 SD 155, 655 N.W.2d 98, 2002 S.D. LEXIS 179 (S.D. 2002).

Opinions

MILLER, Retired Justice.

[¶ 1.] John Gilchrist sued Trail King Industries, Inc. seeking damages for bad faith, wrongful termination, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Gilchrist appeals a judgment based upon a jury verdict rendered in favor of Trail King. We reverse and remand.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

[¶ 2.] The facts of this case are complex. Further specific details can be found in two of our earlier holdings (Gilchrist v. Trail King Industries, Inc. and Rehabilitation Strategies, Inc., 2000 SD 67, 612 N.W.2d 10 (Gilchrist I) and Gilchrist v. Trail King Industries, Inc., 2000 SD 68, 612 N.W.2d 1 (Gilchrist II)). For purposes of this appeal, however, we will briefly summarize the history of the case.

[¶ 3.] Gilchrist, as an employee of Trail King, was injured while taking inventory on September 1, 1994. He slipped and fell off a lift and was briefly suspended in air when a ring on his pinkie finger caught on a bracket. He sustained immediate injuries to his finger, neck, back, and shoulder. He ultimately developed carpal tunnel syndrome and severe depression.

[¶ 4.] Trail King, which is self-insured for workers’ compensation, paid workers’ compensation benefits to Gilchrist, including the initial cost of his medical care. After a couple months, Trail King employed Risk Strategies, Inc. (RSI) to facilitate Gilchrist’s rehabilitation. Kathy Burns, an employee of RSI, was assigned to Gilchrist’s case and her responsibility was to act as a sort of intermediary between Trail King and Gilchrist’s doctors. Part of Burns’ duties was to attend doctor appointments with Gilchrist and to keep Trail King informed of Gilchrist’s medical status, including when he could return to work.

[¶ 5.] Dr. Cho, one of Gilchrist’s doctors, issued Gilchrist a release to return to work for light duty under the misguided opinion that his health was improving. Furthermore, Dr. Cho was unaware that Gilchrist was suffering other symptoms [100]*100such as internal bleeding and vomiting. Although Burns, as the person hired by Trail King to oversee Gilchrist’s rehabilitation program, had access to all of Gilchrist’s medical records, she did not inform Dr. Cho of his other medical problems. Apparently, Dr. Cho asked Burns to give her Gilchrist’s other medical records, but Burns did not send them to her. Moreover, in Dr. Cho’s subsequent affidavit, she stated, “Burns ... had not kept me fully advised of John Gilchrist’s ongoing treatment by other physicians at the time opinions were requested of me concerning Mr. Gilchrist’s wrist problems.” She further repudiated her earlier opinion that Gilchrist’s back pain and carpal tunnel syndrome were not related to the work injury after she was furnished with Gilchrist’s other medical records.

[¶ 6.] On December 13, 1994, Norman Tarbell, Trail King’s worker compensation coordinator, met with Gilchrist to discuss his return to work. Gilchrist claims Tarbell told him he would not be receiving any further worker compensation benefits and that unless he returned to work the next day, he would be considered to have voluntarily ended his employment. After Gilchrist allegedly informed Tarbell that he was too sick to work, Tarbell told him to return the next morning and together they could call his doctors. Gilchrist never returned to work after this meeting. On December 14,1994, Trail King sent a certified letter to Gilchrist informing him that because Dr. Cho had issued a return to work slip, he would be considered voluntarily terminated, if he did not return to work in the next forty-eight hours. (This was pursuant to Trail King’s employment policy, outlined in its employee handbook, which provided that if an employee missed more than two consecutive work days without reason, he would be considered to have voluntarily terminated his employment.)

[¶ 7.] Gilchrist continued his medical treatment with several doctors, including Dr. Hoversten, with whom Trail King had arranged for an independent medical evaluation. Dr. Hoversten discovered Gilchrist had a right rotator cuff injury and carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. He scheduled Gilchrist for surgery to correct both of these injuries at the same time. However, before such surgery and about a month later, Dr. Cho determined that the injuries to Gilchrist’s right shoulder and hand were caused by his fall at work, but that the other injuries were not related to the accident. Based on this information, RSI recommended to Trail King that it not pay for the carpal tunnel surgery. After Dr. Hoversten’s office was informed that Trail King would not pay for this part of the surgery, it informed Gilchrist, who in turn cancelled the entire procedure, expressing that he did not have money to pay for the uncovered part. It was Gilchrist’s view that Trail King was “jerking him around.”

[¶ 8.] Gilchrist filed a workers’ compensation action and additionally brought a civil action against Trail King and RSI for wrongful termination, bad faith, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The South Dakota Department of Labor initially issued a decision ruling that Gilchrist was entitled to rotator cuff surgery and carpal tunnel surgery on his right hand but denying that his severe depression, which Gilchrist claimed resulted in total disability, was caused by the work injury. Gilchrist appealed this decision to the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court which reversed the Department’s ruling. It held that Gilchrist’s psychological disability claim was work related and thus, compen-sable. However, the circuit court remanded the case to the Department for a determination of whether Gilchrist unreasonably refused or neglected to have his right rotator cuff surgery. The Depart[101]*101ment thereafter ruled Gilchrist did not unreasonably refuse or neglect to avail himself to medical or surgical treatment and granted Gilchrist total disability benefits. That ruling was later affirmed by the Sixth Circuit Judge. In the meantime, before the Department’s initial decision was reversed, Trail King and RSI both moved for summary judgment on the claims against them in the separate civil action. Those motions were heard in the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court. That judge granted summary judgment to RSI (he also entered certification under SDCL 15-6-54(b) so that an appeal could be perfected). Additionally, the circuit judge denied summary judgment to Trail King. Gilchrist appealed the Fourth Circuit Judge’s grant of summary judgment to RSI, and Trail King appealed the Sixth Circuit’s decision regarding the Department’s workers compensation ruling.

[¶ 9.] In opinions filed concurrently, Gilchrist I and Gilchrist II, we affirmed both the circuit courts’ decisions. We held that summary judgment was proper as to RSI and that the Department’s ruling, which the Sixth Circuit affirmed, was not clearly erroneous.

[¶ 10.] Subsequently, a jury trial ensued on Gilchrist’s civil action against Trail King. On October 1, 2001, the jury entered a verdict in Trail King’s favor, dismissing all three of Gilchrist’s cause of actions on their merits. Gilchrist appeals. Specifically, he raises the following issues:

1.Whether the trial court abused its discretion when it granted Trail King’s motions in limine:
a. prohibiting Gilchrist from referring to or presenting evidence about RSI and/or Burns; and
b.

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Related

Blanchard v. Mid-Century Insurance Co.
2019 S.D. 54 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2019)
Gilchrist v. Trail King Industries, Inc.
2002 SD 155 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
2002 SD 155, 655 N.W.2d 98, 2002 S.D. LEXIS 179, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilchrist-v-trail-king-industries-inc-sd-2002.