Keller v. Kraft

2005 WI App 102, 698 N.W.2d 843, 281 Wis. 2d 784, 2005 Wisc. App. LEXIS 336
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedApril 12, 2005
Docket2004AP1315
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2005 WI App 102 (Keller v. Kraft) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keller v. Kraft, 2005 WI App 102, 698 N.W.2d 843, 281 Wis. 2d 784, 2005 Wisc. App. LEXIS 336 (Wis. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

WEDEMEYER, PJ.

¶ 1. James R. Kraft and the City of Milwaukee appeal from an order denying their motion seeking summary judgment.1 Kraft and the City claim that the trial court should have granted summary judgment because the Kellers' case is barred by the exclusive remedy provision(s) of the worker's compen[787]*787sation law. Because we agree with Kraft and the City, we reverse the trial court's order and remand with directions to the trial court to grant judgment dismissing the Kellers' complaint.

BACKGROUND

¶ 2. This is the second time this case has been before us. The pertinent facts are set forth in our decision following the first appeal. See Keller v. Kraft, 2003 WI App 212, ¶¶ 2-3, 267 Wis. 2d 444, 671 N.W.2d 361. In sum, while driving his vehicle, Christopher Keller, a firefighter for the Milwaukee Fire Department, collided with Kraft, a police officer for the City of Milwaukee. Both parties were on duty at the time. Keller suffered personal injuries as a result of the accident and received worker's compensation benefits from the City of Milwaukee. Approximately two years after the accident, Keller filed suit against Kraft and the City seeking additional compensation.

¶ 3. Kraft and the City filed a motion for summary judgment on the basis that the Worker's Compensation Act was Keller's exclusive remedy because Kraft and Keller were both City of Milwaukee employees. Keller contended that his case fell under the third coemployee exception provided in Wis. Stat. § 102.03(2) (2003-04),2 which permits an employee to file suit "against a coemployee of the same employer to the extent that there would be liability of a governmental unit to pay judgments against employees under a collective bargaining agreement or a local ordinance." Id. Keller proffered section 3-23 of the Milwaukee City [788]*788Charter3 as a local ordinance satisfying the requisites of the exception contained in § 102.03(2). The City's response was that this local ordinance did not apply because it was enacted solely to reflect the public employee indemnification requirement of Wxs. Stat. § 895.46.4 The trial court ruled in favor of Kraft and the City, and dismissed the Kellers' complaint. The Kellers appealed to this court.

¶ 4. During the course of the first appeal, and at oral argument, the City maintained that "ordinance section 3-23" did not apply. This court disagreed with the City's argument. In the first appeal on this matter, we reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment and remanded for further proceedings, ruling that the Kellers' case was not barred by the exclusive [789]*789remedy of the worker's compensation law because a local ordinance — section 3-23 of the Milwaukee City Charter — existed, such that the third coemployee exception of Wis. Stat. § 102.03(2) permitted the lawsuit. See Keller 1, 267 Wis. 2d 444, ¶ 18. On remand, the City filed a second motion for summary judgment, arguing to the trial court for the first time that section 3-23 of the Milwaukee City Charter was not a local ordinance as that term is used in § 102.03(2). The City filed documentation in support of its motion demonstrating that section 3-23 was a Wisconsin session law that appeared in the Milwaukee City Charter only because it is a law that affects the City. The supporting documentation revealed that this session law was never adopted by the Milwaukee Common Council as an ordinance of the City of Milwaukee. The trial court denied the motion, ruling that "as a matter of law .. . 3-23 does appear to fit the ordinance requirements as set forth in the exception under [§] 102.03(2)." The trial court, in part, relied on the Keller I case from this court, which referred to section 3-23 as a "local ordinance." Kraft and the City appeal from the trial court's order.

DISCUSSION

¶ 5. In Keller I, we did not address the issue presented in the instant appeal — whether section 3-23 of the Milwaukee City Charter is actually an ordinance. We did not address this issue because it was presumed by all parties that section 3-23 was in fact an ordinance. Subsequent to our decision in Keller I, the City conducted additional research investigating the history of section 3-23. As a result of the information discovered, the City filed a motion for summary judgment with the trial court. The City contended that its newly discov[790]*790ered documentation demonstrated that section 3-23 was not actually an ordinance, but rather a session law. Accordingly, the City argued that section 3-23 did not satisfy the requisite of the third coemployee exception of the worker's compensation law, Wis. Stat. § 102.03(2) and, therefore, the Kellers' lawsuit was barred by the exclusive remedy provision(s) of the worker's compensation law. The trial court rejected the City's argument and denied its motion seeking summary judgment. We hold that the trial court erred, reverse the trial court's order, and remand with directions to the trial court to grant the City's motion seeking summary judgment.

¶ 6. This case comes to us after an unsuccessful summary judgment motion. Our review of a summary judgment decision is de novo. See Green Spring Farms v. Kersten, 136 Wis. 2d 304, 315-17, 401 N.W.2d 816 (1987). This appeal turns on the interpretation of section 3-23 of the Milwaukee City Charter, which is also a question of law requiring our independent review. See generally Hughes v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 197 Wis. 2d 973, 978-79, 542 N.W.2d 148 (1996). Although this case does not involve the actual interpretation of the meaning of section 3-23, it involves the classification or characterization of section 3-23. This does not involve a dispute of factual questions. Rather, it involves the interpretation of undisputed facts and the application of legal principles. Bantz v. Montgomery Estates, Inc., 163 Wis. 2d 973, 978, 473 N.W.2d 506 (Ct. App. 1991).

¶ 7. The undisputed facts in this case are as follows. Section 3-23 was enacted by the Wisconsin Legislature as sec. 925-269m in 1913. It was then reprinted in the three-ring binder that includes the Milwaukee City Charter because it is a state law that [791]*791affects city government.5 It was issued number 3-23 as part of the numbering and reorganization of the Charter. Since first printing, section 3-23 has always been identified as a session law, as are the many other session laws also contained in the Milwaukee City Charter.

¶ 8. It has never been voted on by the Milwaukee Common Council. It has never been "entered or recorded in any ordinance or record book," pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 889.04.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Flores v. Goeman
2013 WI App 110 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2013)
Keller v. Kraft
2005 WI App 102 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2005 WI App 102, 698 N.W.2d 843, 281 Wis. 2d 784, 2005 Wisc. App. LEXIS 336, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keller-v-kraft-wisctapp-2005.