Mortimer v. Riviera Apartments

840 P.2d 383, 122 Idaho 839, 1992 Ida. LEXIS 157
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 22, 1992
Docket19425
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 840 P.2d 383 (Mortimer v. Riviera Apartments) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mortimer v. Riviera Apartments, 840 P.2d 383, 122 Idaho 839, 1992 Ida. LEXIS 157 (Idaho 1992).

Opinions

BISTLINE, Justice.

Claimant Lynn Mortimer (“Mortimer”) was seriously and permanently injured when he fell off the roof of a garage at the Riviera Apartment Complex in Idaho Falls. The Industrial Commission determined Mortimer was entitled to worker’s compensation. We affirm in part and remand for reconsideration in part.

BACKGROUND

Riviera Apartments (“Riviera”) is an apartment complex owned by Dean Mortimer (Claimant Lynn Mortimer’s brother), Marshall Egan, and M & M Investments. Jim Terry and Pat Mahin own M & M Investments. In September of 1987, Mortimer began working at the Riviera Apartments. Riviera carried no worker’s compensation insurance.

Starting in September of 1987 until April 7, 1988, Mortimer performed various maintenance and remodeling jobs at Riviera. On April 7, 1988, Mortimer and another man were measuring the roofs on each of the garages at Riviera in order to determine how much material would be required to re-roof the garages. Mortimer stepped backwards off of a roof and suffered extensive injury.

After a hearing on the question of liability, the Commission concluded that Mortimer was an employee of Riviera and that Mortimer’s injury arose out of and during the course of his employment. In so holding, the Commission rejected Riviera’s claims that Mortimer was either an employee of First Financial Corporation or an independent contractor and that Mortimer was on his own errand when he was injured.

Riviera appealed to this Court, challenging the finding of liability. Mortimer moved to dismiss the appeal as premature. While that motion was pending, Mortimer moved for an order changing the caption of the complaint to include, as defendants, the alleged owners of Riviera. The Commission denied the motion. Mortimer moved to reconsider. The Commission also denied the motion for reconsideration, in part because of the pending appeal. This Court thereafter dismissed Riviera’s appeal as premature.

The type and amount of benefits to which Mortimer was entitled were determined by the Commission at a later hearing. The Commission also awarded Mortimer a 10 percent penalty, attorney fees, and costs because of Riviera’s failure to comply with the statutory requirement for payment of unemployment compensation claims.

Mortimer challenges on appeal the Commission’s order denying his post-hearing motions to amend his pleading. Riviera cross-appeals from the Commission’s findings that Mortimer was an employee of Riviera who was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the injury and the Commission’s award to Mortimer of additional compensation, costs, and attorney fees which were assessed for Riviera’s failure to secure payment of worker’s compensation claims. For the reasons which follow, we remand for further consideration of: (1) the motion to change caption and (2) the question of whether Mortimer was a casual employee and thus outside the scope of worker’s compensation coverage. We affirm the other rulings of the Commission.

DISCUSSION

A. THE ORDER DENYING THE MOTION TO CHANGE CAPTION IS REMANDED FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION.

1. Mortimer’s Appeal is Timely.

Riviera first argues that Mortimer’s appeal should be dismissed because Mortimer did not timely file his notice of appeal. The motion to reconsider was denied on May 14, 1991, but the notice of appeal [842]*842was not filed until July 11,1991, fifty-eight days later. Riviera contends that the forty-two day period began to run when the Commission denied Mortimer’s motion to reconsider. Mortimer argues that the notice was timely filed because the period did not begin to run until May 30, the date the Commission issued its order awarding benefits.

A party seeking review of a decision of the Industrial Commission must physically file a notice of appeal with the Commission within forty-two days from the filing date of any decision, order, or award which is appealable as a matter of right. I.A.R. 14(b). Idaho Appellate Rule 11(d) provides that only a “final decision or order of the Industrial Commission or ... [a] final decision or order upon rehearing or reconsideration by the administrative agency[ ]” may be appealed as a matter of right. Thus, whether the forty-two day period began to run when the Commission denied Mortimer’s motion to change caption depends on whether that order was appealable as a matter of right as a “final decision or order upon rehearing or reconsideration.”

We have previously stated that a decision of the Industrial Commission which does not finally dispose of all of the claimant’s claims is not a final decision subject to appeal pursuant to I.A.R. 11(d), especially in cases where the Commission has retained jurisdiction. Kindred v. Amalgamated Sugar Co., 118 Idaho 147, 149, 795 P.2d 309, 311 (1990); see Jensen v. Pillsbury, 121 Idaho 127, 823 P.2d 161 (1992). Here, the order denying Mortimer’s motion to reconsider the motion to change caption did not finally dispose of all of Mortimer’s claims; furthermore, the Commission retained jurisdiction in order to determine the amount of benefits to which Mortimer was entitled.

Riviera’s reliance on Fenich v. Boise Elks Lodge # 310, 106 Idaho 550, 682 P.2d 91 (1984), is misplaced. In that case, we dismissed an appeal from a decision that was not brought within forty-two days even though the Industrial Commission stated that it reserved jurisdiction over the claimant. Although at first glance Fenich may seem to be in conflict with Kindred, the two cases are distinguishable on their facts. The distinguishing feature of Fenich is that, notwithstanding the continuing jurisdiction of the Commission on other matters, the order appealed from fully and completely resolved all the issues in that cause. In Kindred, there were still other matters relating to the same cause which were yet to be fully resolved.

This case is like Kindred in that the Commission had continuing jurisdiction after the denial of the motion to change caption and the motion to reconsider because there were still unresolved issues in that same cause, to wit: the extent of benefits Mortimer was entitled to receive. In other words, the Commission had not fully and completely resolved all the issues in Mortimer’s case when it denied his motion to reconsider. To require Mortimer to appeal within forty-two days after the denial of his motion to reconsider would contravene our policy of avoiding piecemeal litigation.

Accordingly, pursuant to Kindred, we hold that the order denying the motion to reconsider was not a final decision or order for purposes of I.A.R. 11(d). The appeal was timely because it was filed within forty-two days after the issuance of the Commission’s decision awarding benefits.

2. The Order Denying The Motion to Change the Caption is Vacated and Remanded for Further Consideration.

As noted above, Riviera appealed from the finding of liability. The appeal was eventually dismissed. One of the issues raised in that appeal was that the judgment is not enforceable because the Riviera Apartments is not a legal entity, such as a partnership or a corporation.

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

Related

Idaho Retired Firefighters Ass'n v. Pub. Emp. Ret. Bd.
443 P.3d 207 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2019)
Todd L. Hamilton v. Alpha Services, LLC
351 P.3d 611 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2015)
Joseph A. Gerdon v. Joshua R. Rydalch
280 P.3d 740 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2012)
Losser v. Bradstreet
183 P.3d 758 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2008)
Hernandez v. Triple Ell Transport, Inc.
175 P.3d 199 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2007)
Shriner v. Rausch
108 P.3d 375 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2005)
Stoica v. Pocol
39 P.3d 601 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2001)
McGee v. JD LUMBER
17 P.3d 272 (Idaho Supreme Court, 2000)
Casey v. Sevy
921 P.2d 190 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1996)
Bettinger v. Idaho Auto Auction, Inc.
912 P.2d 695 (Idaho Court of Appeals, 1996)
Kiele v. Steve Henderson Logging
905 P.2d 82 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1995)
Livingston v. Ireland Bank
910 P.2d 738 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1995)
Campbell v. Bonneville County Board of Commissioners
880 P.2d 252 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1994)
Mortimer v. Riviera Apartments
840 P.2d 383 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
840 P.2d 383, 122 Idaho 839, 1992 Ida. LEXIS 157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mortimer-v-riviera-apartments-idaho-1992.