Mills v. Reynolds

Page 48

837 P.2d 48

Timothy L. MILLS, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. Guy REYNOLDS and Sid Marks, Appellees (Defendants).

Levi Harry BUNKER, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. Jim NIGGEMYER, Appellee (Defendant).

Nos. 89-193, 89-195.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

July 20, 1992.

Gary L. Shockey and Philip White of Spence, Moriarity & Schuster, Jackson, and Robert R. Rose, Jr., and Robert R. Rose, III of Spence, Moriarity & Schuster, Cheyenne, for appellants.

William S. Bon and Patrick T. Holscher of Schwartz, Bon, McCrary & Walker, Casper, for appellees Reynolds and Marks.

Patrick J. Murphy of Williams, Porter, Day & Neville, P.C., Casper, and John T. Pappas of Western Law Associates, P.C., Lander, for appellee Niggemyer.

Rodger McDaniel of McDaniel and Tiedeken Law Offices, Cheyenne, for amicus curiae Wyoming AFL-CIO.

Robert W. Tiedeken, and George Santini of Graves, Santini & Villemez, P.C., Cheyenne, for amicus curiae Wyoming Trial Lawyers Ass'n.

Joseph B. Meyer, Atty. Gen., Ron Arnold, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., and Larry M. Donovan, Asst. Atty. Gen., for amicus curiae State of Wyoming.

Patrick R. Day of Holland & Hart, Cheyenne, for amici curiae Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Ass'n, Wyoming Min. Ass'n, Wyoming Trucking Ass'n, Inc., and Associated General Contractors of Wyoming, Inc.

Before MACY, C.J., and THOMAS, CARDINE, URBIGKIT ^* and GOLDEN, JJ.

MACY, Chief Justice.

In the rehearing granted in this case, Appellants Timothy L. Mills and Levi Harry Bunker ask this Court to declare that Wyo.Stat. § 27-14-104(a) (1987) was unconstitutional. We hold that the statute, which, under the Wyoming worker's compensation scheme, granted immunity from suits by co-employees to employees who were acting within the scope of their employment, was unconstitutional because it violated the Wyoming Constitution's guarantee of equal protection. ¹ Mills and Bunker presented the following issues in their original briefs:

1. Does Wyo.Stats.1977, as amended, Section 27-14-104, which grants immunity from suit to coemployees, violate Article 10, Section 4, of the Wyoming Constitution, which provides that "No law shall be enacted limiting the amount of damages to be recovered for causing the injury or death of any person"?

2. Does Wyo.Stats.1977, as amended, Section 27-14-104, which grants immunity from suit to coemployees, violate Article 10, Section 4, of the Wyoming Constitution, which limits the immunities which can be granted pursuant to Worker's Compensation laws to the "employer contributing as required by law" to the compensation fund?

3. Does Wyo.Stats.1977, as amended, Section 27-14-104, which grants immunity from suit to coemployees, violate Article I, Sections 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 34, and Article 3, Section 27, which provide for equality among all members of the human race in the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; equal political rights, equality in civil rights, and equal privileges among all citizens; due process of law; prohibit absolute and arbitrary uses of power, even by the greatest majority; provide for equal access to the courts for all citizens; provide that the right to a jury trial is inviolate; provide that all laws shall have a uniform operation; and which prohibit special legislation, especially special legislation which calls for the "limitation of civil actions," and which grants "to any corporation, association or individual ... any special exclusive privilege, immunity, or franchise whatever"?

In March 1988, Mills was employed by Dunbar Well Service, Inc. On the day that Mills sustained the injuries which serve as the basis for his suit, Appellee Guy Reynolds, a co-employee, told Mills to paint the hood of a pump truck. Reynolds directed Mills to use specific equipment, including a regulator and an air tank which was provided by Reynolds and Appellee Sid Marks, a co-employee. Reynolds did not supervise Mills or provide him with proper instructions on the tank's use. When Mills and a co-worker opened the tank, the regulator burst, and parts of the regulator and other equipment struck Mills in the face. Mills was severely injured.

The record from the companion case shows that Bunker was employed by Universal Equipment Co. In July 1987, Appellee Jim Niggemyer, Bunker's co-employee, instructed Bunker to remove electrical equipment from a mine site. Bunker was incorrectly informed that electricity to the equipment had been turned off. As he began working, Bunker placed a wrench in an electrical panel. The wrench touched a live electrical bar which delivered an electrical shock to Bunker. Bunker was thrown from a ladder, and he received serious injuries.

Mills filed a complaint, alleging that Reynolds and Marks were negligent and that their negligence was the proximate cause of his injuries. Bunker filed a similar complaint, naming Niggemyer as the defendant. In response, Appellees filed motions for summary judgments, asserting that, as co-employees of Mills and Bunker, they were immune from suit pursuant to § 27-14-104(a). Mills and Bunker argued, as they did before this Court, that Appellees were not immune because § 27-14-104(a) was unconstitutional under the Wyoming Constitution. The district court held a motion hearing and decided that Appellees were entitled to summary judgments because § 27-14-104(a) was constitutional and because it provided Appellees with immunity from suit.

On appeal, a majority of this Court upheld the constitutionality of § 27-14-104(a) and affirmed the district court's decision to grant summary judgments in favor of Appellees. Mills v. Reynolds, 807 P.2d 383 (Wyo.1991). Writing for the majority, Justice Thomas stated that the constitutionality of § 27-14-104(a) could be sustained by extending the rationale and holding of Meyer v. Kendig, 641 P.2d 1235 (Wyo.1982) (upholding the constitutionality of the statute which granted immunity to co-employees unless they were culpably negligent). He also said that the statement, " 'The right of each employee to compensation from the fund shall be in lieu of and shall take the place of any and all rights of action against any employer contributing as required by law,' " found in Article 10, Section 4 of the Wyoming Constitution did not limit the application of immunity to employers. Mills, 807 P.2d at 389. Justice Thomas rejected Appellants' due process arguments by stating that they failed to show how the scheme was unfair and that the statute was not an arbitrary enactment which failed "to promote a legitimate state objective by reasonable means." Id. at 395. In addition, Justice Thomas wrote that Appellants were not denied their right to access to the courts because, while the statutory immunity prevented employees from recovering from co-employees who were acting within the scope of their employment, it did not preclude them from going to court. Finally, he stated that § 27-14-104(a) did not violate Appellants' equal protection rights or amount to special legislation because every employee could be subject to the immunity pursuant to Wyo.Stat. § 27-14-103(g) (1987). ² After the decision was issued, Appellants filed petitions for a rehearing. We granted Appellants' petitions, heard oral arguments, and took the case under advisement.

Before an amendment in 1914, Article 10, Section 4 of the Wyoming Constitution provided:

No law shall be enacted limiting the amount of damages to be recovered for causing the injury or death of any person. Any contract or agreement with any employe[e] waiving any right to recover damages for causing the death or injury of any employe[e] shall be void.

Meyer, 641 P.2d 1235. The 1914 amendment expanded the provision to allow for worker's compensation legislation:

No law shall be enacted limiting the amount of damages to be recovered for causing the injury or death of any person. Any contract or agreement with any employee waiving any right to recover damages for causing the death or injury of any employee shall be void. As to all extra hazardous employments the legislature shall provide by law for the accumulation and maintenance of a fund or funds out of which shall be paid compensation as may be fixed by law according to proper classifications to each person injured in such employment or to the dependent families of such as die as the result of such injuries, except in case of injuries due solely to the culpable negligence of the injured employee. Such fund or funds shall be accumulated, paid into the state treasury and maintained in such manner as may be provided by law. The right of each employee to compensation from such fund shall be in lieu of and shall take the place of any and all rights of action against any employer contributing as required by law to such fund in favor of any person or persons by reason of any such injuries or death.

Wyo. Const. art. 10, § 4 (as amended in 1914). In 1975, the legislature enacted the first provision of the Wyoming Worker's Compensation Act (the Act) which referred to co-employee immunity. 1975 Wyo.Sess.Laws ch. 149, § 1. Wyo.Stat. § 27-312(a) (Supp.1975) provided:

(a) The rights and remedies provided in this act [§§ 27-310 to -388] for an employee and his dependents for injuries incurred in extra hazardous employments are in lieu of all other rights and remedies against any employer making contributions required by this act, or his employees acting within the scope of their employment unless the employees are grossly negligent, but do not supersede any rights and remedies available to an employee and his dependents against any other person.

(Emphasis added.) In 1977, the legislature changed the degree of negligence from grossly to culpably. See Wyo.Stat. § 27-12-103(a) (1977). ³

In Meyer, this Court sustained the constitutionality of the grant of immunity for co-employees unless they were "culpably negligent." In response to several constitutional arguments, this Court first held that the statute permissibly limited a "cause of action...