Williams v. City of Wichita, Kansas

• Court: Court of Appeals of Kansas
• Decided: March 18, 2022
• Docket: 121852
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 121,852

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

TYRA WILLIAMS, Individually and as Co-Special Administrator of the Estate of KAREN JACKSON, Deceased, SHANTA DAY, and ERNEST DAY, Appellants,

v.

CITY OF WICHITA, Kansas, and City of Wichita Police Department Officers ELIZABETH MARTIN and BRYAN KNOWLES, Appellees.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; ERIC A. COMMER, judge. Original opinion filed April 23, 2021. Opinion on remand filed March 18, 2022. Reversed and remanded.

Christopher A. McElgunn, of Klenda Austerman LLC, of Wichita, and James A. Thompson, of Malone, Dwire & Thompson, LLC, of Wichita, for appellants.

Samuel A. Green and J. Steven Pigg, of Fisher, Paterson, Sayler & Smith, L.L.P., of Topeka, for appellees.

Before HILL, P.J., BRUNS and SCHROEDER, JJ.

PER CURIAM: This wrongful death action returns to us on remand from the Kansas Supreme Court based on its recent holding in Herington v. City of Wichita, 314 Kan. 447, 500 P.3d 1168 (2021). In Herington, 314 Kan. 447, Syl. ¶¶ 4, 7-8, our Supreme Court overruled its previous decisions in Stanfield v. Osborne Industries, Inc., 263 Kan. 388, 949 P.2d 602 (1997), and Rhoten v. Dickson, 290 Kan. 92, 223 P.3d 786 (2010).

1 Because the district court expressly relied on the holdings in Stanfield and Rhoten in finding that the plaintiffs' claims were barred by res judicata, we reverse its decision granting summary judgment to the defendants. Moreover, because the district court did not address the alternative grounds for summary judgment argued by the defendants and based its decision solely on the res judicata issue, we remand this case to the district court for further proceedings.

Reversed and remanded.