Lavatai v. State

2005 WY 133, 121 P.3d 121, 2005 Wyo. LEXIS 159, 2005 WL 2548173
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 13, 2005
Docket03-206
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 2005 WY 133 (Lavatai v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lavatai v. State, 2005 WY 133, 121 P.3d 121, 2005 Wyo. LEXIS 159, 2005 WL 2548173 (Wyo. 2005).

Opinions

GOLDEN, Justice.

[¶ 1] The district court granted summary judgment to the State of Wyoming and its snowplow operator (State appellees) in a governmental claims act personal injury negligence action because the claimant’s (Seanoa F. Lavatai) notice of governmental claim, filed before the action was commenced, did not meet the constitutional requirement that the claimant sign the written claim and certify it under penalty of perjury. Beaulieu v. Florquist, 2001 WY 33, ¶¶ 12-18, 20 P.3d 521, 526-27 (Wyo.2001) (Beaulieu I); see also Wooster v. Carbon County Sch. Dist. No. 1, 2005 WY 47, 109 P.3d 893 (Wyo.2005); Bell v. Schell, 2004 WY 153, ¶¶ 10-11, 16-36, 101 P.3d 465, 468, 469-76 (Wyo.2004); Yoak v. Ide, 2004 WY 32, ¶ 6, 86 P.3d 872, 874 (Wyo.2004); and Beaulieu v. Florquist, 2004 WY 31, ¶¶ 6-15, 86 P.3d 863, 866-69 (Wyo.2004) (Beaulieu II). In this appeal, Lavatai asks this Court to adopt a substantial compliance exception to the constitutional requirement. Failing this Court’s adoption of that exception, Lavatai asks this Court, on grounds of fairness and equity under the facts of this case, to relieve him of strict compliance with the constitutional requirement because of the State appellees’ failure, in the period leading up to the summary judgment proceeding, timely to reveal in what specific way his [122]*122governmental claim did not comply with the constitutional requirement. For the reasons stated below, this Court shall not relieve him of strict compliance with that constitutional requirement. This Court affirms the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the State appellees.

ISSUES

[¶2] Lavatai presents this statement of the issues:

1. Did the certification of Appellant’s deposition before a notary public under penalty of perjury, which deposition contains the same facts as in earlier filed governmental claim, constitute substantial compliance when the certification was signed by Appellant and served upon the State of Wyoming through its counsel prior to the governmental claim bar date?
2. Does equity and the fair administration of justice preclude the State of Wyoming from asserting the Article 16, § 7 defense under the narrow facts of this case, including the State’s failure to fulfill the mandatory duty imposed by the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure to timely, fully and completely answer interrogatories specifically designed to discover the basis of the State’s affirmative defense so that any defects in the government claim notice could be cured prior to the running of the governmental claim bar date?

The State appellees present these issues:

1. Did Appellant’s notice of claim meet the requirements of Wyo. Const, art. 16 § 7 and, thus, constitute a valid notice of claim?
2. Is the doctrine of substantial compliance available to Appellant to excuse his failure to comply with the requirements of Wyo. Const, art. 16 § 7?
3. Is any equitable doctrine available to Appellant to excuse his non-compliance with the requirement that a valid governmental claim be filed with the State Auditor or other appropriate official within two years of the date of the alleged act, error or omission as required by Wyo. Stat. § 1-39-113 and the decision of this Court in Beaulieu v. Florquist, 2001 WY 33, 20 P.3d 521 (Wyo.2001)?
4.Was the district court correct in granting summary judgment based on its finding that Appellant failed to timely file a valid notice of claim and that Appellant’s attempt to “cure” his defective notice of claim was untimely and ineffective?

FACTS

[¶3] On February 27, 2001, Lavatai, a truck driver from Utah, collided with a snow plow operated by a Wyoming state employee, Thomas Wilhelmsen. On March 30, 2001, this Court published Beaulieu I, which made it clear that a governmental claim must meet the requirements of Article 16, Section 7, of the Wyoming Constitution, including that the claim must be signed and certified under penalty of perjury by the claimant. Fourteen months later, on June 12, 2002, counsel for Lavatai signed and sent a letter “claim” to the State of Wyoming’s risk manager describing Lavatai’s claim and containing a request that the State notify Lavatai’s counsel of any “procedural” defects with the claim. The State made no response, and on September 23, 2002, Lavatai’s counsel sent another letter to the state risk manager inquiring about the status of the claim. On October 16, 2002, the state risk manager sent a letter to Lavatai’s counsel denying the claim solely on the merits and without mention of any failure to comply with statutory or constitutional requirements. Lavatai filed suit on October 31, 2002, and alleged in his complaint that he had filed a notice of claim “in accordance with W.S. § 1-39-113 and Art. 16, Sec. 7 of the Constitution of the State of Wyoming.”1 In the answer filed on Novem[123]*123ber 26, 2002, the State appellees declared that they “expressly deny the validity of said claim and deny that said claim complied with Wyoming law” and asserted, as the sixth affirmative defense, that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the matter. On December 31, 2002, Lavatai’s counsel served interrogatories on the State appellees requesting that they “[ijdentify all facts, ... witnesses, ... and ... writings ... in support of your affirmative defenses.”

[¶ 4] On January 14, 2003, State appel-lees’ counsel deposed Lavatai. On January 27, 2003, the district court held a scheduling conference in accordance with W.R.C.P. 16 and asked the parties to state whether dis-positive motions would be filed. State ap-pellees’ counsel indicated that dispositive motions would be filed but did not inform the court that any motion would be directed towards challenging subject matter jurisdiction. On February 1, 2003, the State appel-lees’ answers to Lavatai’s interrogatories were due but were not provided to Lavatai. On February 11, 2003, which was sixteen days before the expiration of the two-year period for filing a claim in compliance with the constitutional requirement, Lavatai signed his deposition transcript and changes thereto before a notary public under oath and penalty of perjury. On February 18, 2003, the court reporter certified delivery of the original deposition transcript and changes thereto made by Lavatai to State appellees’ counsel. The State employee defendant, Wilhelmsen, served his interrogatory answers; however, his answer to the specific interrogatory requiring all facts, witnesses, and writings in support of affirmative defenses stated:

See Defendants’ Answer and Affirmative Defenses, filed 11/26/02. As to the negligence, see Exhibit C and Plaintiffs depiction of facts contained in his deposition. Some affirmative defenses are legal and not factual in nature, and will be raised at the appropriate times.

The State, as defendant, failed to serve its answers to any of the interrogatories.

[¶ 5] The date of expiration of the two-year period for filing a claim complying with the constitutional requirement was February 27, 2003, and it was on that date the State appellees’ counsel filed and served on Lava-tai’s counsel the summary judgment motion specifying the jurisdictional defect in Lava-tai’s claim — that Lavatai had not signed the claim under penalty of perjury.

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

Related

McCann v. City of Cody
2009 WY 86 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2009)
Haney v. Cribbs
2006 WY 158 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2006)
Cantrell v. Sweetwater County School District No. 2
2006 WY 57 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2006)
Lavatai v. State
2005 WY 133 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2005 WY 133, 121 P.3d 121, 2005 Wyo. LEXIS 159, 2005 WL 2548173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lavatai-v-state-wyo-2005.