St. Mary Medical Center v. Baker

611 N.E.2d 135, 1993 Ind. App. LEXIS 240, 1993 WL 76592

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: March 22, 1993
• Docket: 45A03-9211-CV-366
• Status: Published

Opinions

STATON, Judge.

St. Mary Medical Center ('Medical Center") appeals the dismissal of its complaint against Sheila Baker, presenting two issues for our review:

I. Whether the trial court properly dismissed Medical Center's claim for lack of subject matter and personal jurisdiction.

II. Whether the trial court properly awarded Baker attorney fees in the aggregate amount of $750.00.

We affirm and remand for evidentiary hearing on appellate attorney fees.

The facts alleged before the trial court are these. Baker was injured in the course of her employment at Marshalls Department Store and received treatment for her injuries at Medical Center. Travelers Insurance, a worker's compensation insurance carrier, paid a portion of the total charges billed but disputed the validity of certain other charges. Medical Center subsequently sought to collect the balance directly from Baker.

On October 8, 1991, Medical Center filed a complaint against Baker in the Lake Superior Court. On January 16, 1992, Baker moved to dismiss the complaint. On April 15, 1992, the trial court granted Baker's motion to dismiss:

"The Court, being duly advised in the premises, having reviewed Baker's Motion to Dismiss, the Medical Center's Reply thereto, and Baker's Reply to the Medical Center's Reply, and having reviewed 1.0. 22-8-1-2, 22-8-8-5 et seq., the Court hereby finds as follows:

1. That the proper venue for this claim would be for the Indiana Worker's Compensation Board in Marion County, Indianapolis, Indiana.

2. That the proper party, or parties, would be Travelers Insurance Company, and St. Mary Medical Center.

3. That this Court lacks jurisdiction to decide a dispute between Travelers Insurance Company and St. Mary Medical Center.

4. That this claim should not have been filed in the Superior Court.

5. That the Medical Center had no legal justifiable basis for same, and therefore, their claim is frivolous and warrants imposition of attorney's fees and Court costs in the amount of $500.00.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that the Motion to Dismiss should be granted, and that the movant should be entitled to attorney's fees for the filing of this claim without legal justifiable basis in the amount of $500.00."

Record, pp. 36-87.

I.

Dismissal of Complaint

IND.CODE 22-3-1-2 provides: "The worker's compensation board shall administer the worker's compensation law[.]" Where the legislature has provided an administrative agency with exclusive primary jurisdiction to decide a class of issues, the courts may not exercise jurisdiction until the parties have exhausted the procedures available before the administrative body. Indiana Forge and Machine Co. v. NIPSCO (1979), Ind.App., 396 N.E.2d 910, 912. Therefore, the Lake Superior Court was not the proper forum in which to bring an initial complaint arising out of a work-related injury.

Furthermore, the parties' dispute as to the applicability of IND.CODE 22-8-8-5 should have been addressed to the worker's compensation board.¹ Pursuant to IND. CODE 22-3-1-8(b), the board is authorized, inter alia: to hear, determine, and review all claims for compensation under IC 22-8-2 through IC 22-38-7; to require medical service for injured employees; to approve claims for medical service; to make conclusions of facts and rulings of law; and to certify questions of law to the court of appeals. (Emphasis added.)

It is uncontroverted that Baker's injuries arose out of the course of her employment. Medical Center's claim for payment above that voluntarily provided by the employer's insurer should have been addressed to the worker's compensation board. 1.0. 22-3-1-2; 1.C. 22-8-8-5; Talas v. Correct Piping Co., Inc. (1982), Ind., 485 N.E.2d 22.

IL.

Award of Attorney Fees

Pursuant to IND.CODE 84-1-82-1(b)(1), the trial court may award attorney fees in any civil action if it finds that a party brought the action on a frivolous, unreasonable, or groundless claim. Awards under LC. 34-1-82-1 are afforded a multi-step standard of review. First, we review the trial court's findings of fact under the clearly erroneous standard and second, we review de novo the trial court's legal conclusions. Finally, we review the trial court's decision to award attorney fees and the amount thereof under an abuse of discretion standard. Kahn v. Cundiff (1989), Ind.App., 533 N.E.2d 164, 167, adopted on transfer 543 N.E.2d 627.

Here, the trial court was not presented with disputed facts and did not enter findings of fact. We therefore review the court's conclusion of law that Medical Center's claim was "frivolous." A claim or defense is "frivolous" (a) if it is taken primarily to harass or maliciously injure a person, (b) if the lawyer is unable to make a good faith and rational argument on the merits of the action, or (c) if the lawyer is unable to support the action by a good faith and rational argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law. Id. 533 N.E.2d at 170.

A litigant is obligated to investigate the legal and factual basis of the claim when filing it and to continuously evaluate the merits of counterclaims or defenses asserted in litigation. General Collections, Inc. v. Decker (1989), Ind.App., 545 N.E.2d 18, 20. An examination of the legal basis of Medical Center's claim and the supporting arguments discloses no foundation for the decision to file an action in superior court. Treatment was provided by Medical Center to Baker because of her work-related injury. A cursory review of the worker's compensation statutes by Medical Center's attorney would have revealed the proper forum in which to seek payment-the worker's compensation board.

Finally, we review the amount of attorney fees awarded. Here, the trial court awarded $500.00 in its order of dismissal and $250.00 in its order denying Medical Center's motion to correct errors. No evidence was submitted to the trial court on the issue of attorney fees. However, a trial court may take judicial notice of reasonable attorney fees in routine cases involving relatively small amounts. Id. 533 N.E.2d at 172.

Baker's counsel was obliged to file an answer to Medical Center's complaint, a motion to dismiss and a brief supporting the motion to dismiss. Counsel also appeared at hearings on the motion to dismiss and motion to correct errors. The award of attorney fees in the aggregate amount of $750.00 was within the trial court's discretion.

Baker has requested appellate attorney fees in the amount of $8,500.00. We conclude that appellate attorney fees are appropriate in this case. However, no evidence has been presented to the trial court relative to an hourly fee or hours expended. We therefore remand for a hearing as to the appropriateness of the $3,500.00 amount requested.

Affirmed; remanded for an evidentiary hearing on appellate attorney fees.

HOFFMAN, J., concurs. BAKER, J., dissents and files separate opinion.

1 . 1.C. 22-3-3-5 provides; "The pecuniary liability of the employer for medical, surgical, hospital and nurse service herein required shall be limited to such charges as prevail in the same community for similar service to injured persons of like standard of living when such service is paid for by the injured person. The employee and the employee's estate do not have liability to a health care provider for payment for services obtained under IC 22-3-3-4. The right to order payment for all services provided under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6 is solely with the board. All claims by a health care provider for payment for services are against the employer and the employer's insurance carrier, if any, and must be made with the board under IC 22-3-2 through IC 22-3-6."

Medical Center claims that the 1991 amendment providing for employee non-liability should be inapplicable to it because the services in question were rendered in 1990 and because retroactive application would unconstitutionally impair its vested property right. Baker responds that the board intends to apply the amendment retroactively, as evidenced by a letter from the Executive Secretary of the board, attached to Baker's brief as an "exhibit." The "exhibit" is not a part of the official record of proceedings. Inasmuch as Medical Center failed to present this issue to the proper forum-the board having authority to certify questions of worker's compensation law to this court-the issue of statutory construction is not properly before this court. As we observed, supra, the Lake Superior Court properly dismissed Medical Center's action for lack of jurisdiction.