Barringer v. State
| Decision Date | 21 October 1986 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 15438-15440,s. 15438-15440 |
| Citation | 111 Idaho 794,727 P.2d 1222 |
| Parties | Linda C. BARRINGER, in her individual capacity, and Linda C. Barringer, as guardian ad litem for William C. Barringer, Jr., Plaintiff-Respondent, v. STATE of Idaho, Defendant-Respondent. STATE of Idaho, Third Party Plaintiff-Respondent, v. STACK STEEL & SUPPLY CO., a Washington corporation, Third Party Defendant- Respondent, and State of Washington, Department of Labor & Industries, Intervenor-Appellant. Linda C. BARRINGER, in her individual capacity, and Linda C. Barringer, as guardian ad litem for William C. Barringer, Jr., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STATE of Idaho, Defendant-Respondent. STATE of Idaho, Third Party Plaintiff-Respondent, v. STACK STEEL & SUPPLY CO., a Washington corporation, Third Party Defendant- Respondent, and State of Washington, Department of Labor & Industries, Intervenor-Respondent. Linda C. BARRINGER, in her individual capacity, and Linda C. Barringer, as guardian ad litem for William C. Barringer, Jr., Plaintiff-Respondent, v. STATE of Idaho, Defendant-Appellant. STATE of Idaho, Third Party Plaintiff-Appellant, v. STACK STEEL & SUPPLY CO., a Washington corporation, Third Party Defendant- Respondent, and State of Washington, Department of Labor & Industries, Intervenor-Respondent. |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Clyde G. Nelson, Soda Springs, and Dennis P. Conner, Great Falls, Mont., argued as amicus curiae.
Danny K. Radakovich, Lewiston, for plaintiff-respondent Linda C. Barringer.
Jeffrey A. Strother, and C. Wagahoff Dale, of Moffatt, Thomas, Barrett & Blanton, Boise, for defendant-respondent and third party plaintiff-respondent State of Idaho.
No appearance on rehearing was made on behalf of intervenor-appellant State of Wash. or third party defendant-respondent Stack Steel.
1985 OPINION NO. 143, ISSUED SEPTEMBER 25, 1985, IS HEREBY WITHDRAWN, AND THIS OPINION IS SUBSTITUTED THEREFOR.
HISTORY
William R. Barringer, Sr., was killed January 23, 1978, when the truck he was operating for Stack Steel & Supply Co., a Washington-based corporation, drove off the end of a run-away truck ramp on the Lewiston grade. The complaint in this case, filed January 18, 1980, by Barringer's wife, Linda, and son, William, Jr., alleges inter alia that the State of Idaho was negligent in the design, construction and maintenance of the run-away truck ramp.
At the time of the accident Mr. Barringer was, and his wife still is, a Washington resident. There is no dispute that at the time of the accident Mr. Barringer was in the course of employment with Stack Steel. As a result of Mr. Barringer's death, Washington's Department of Labor & Industries has paid, and continues to pay on behalf of the employer, worker's compensation benefits to Mr. Barringer's beneficiaries, Linda and William, Jr. These benefits are being paid pursuant to Washington's workers' compensation law.
Following commencement of the action in 1980, the State of Idaho, on March 12, 1982, filed a third party complaint against Stack Steel. The complaint alleged that Stack Steel committed tortious acts within the State of Idaho which were the direct and proximate cause of Mr. Barringer's death, and the state asserted claims for indemnification and contribution.
In its answer to the third party complaint, Stack Steel raised as an affirmative defense the fact that workers' compensation On September 8, 1982, the State of Idaho filed a motion for partial summary judgment, requesting the district court to (1) declare that Idaho, not Washington, law governs with respect to the third party complaint for indemnification and contribution; and (2) limit Mrs. Barringer's claim of damages to $100,000 as provided by I.C. § 6-926.
[111 Idaho 796] benefits had been paid under Washington's workers' compensation law and that under Washington law Stack Steel was immune from any indemnification or contribution.
In February, 1983, the district court held that Idaho, not Washington, law should determine the issues of contribution and indemnification. Motions for reconsideration were filed by Stack Steel and Mrs. Barringer.
On March 15, 1983, the Washington Department of Labor, having paid worker's compensation benefits to Mrs. Barringer, filed a notice of statutory lien pursuant to R.C.W. 51.24.080(2), claiming a right of reimbursement for worker's compensation benefits paid from any settlement or award recovered in the case. The State of Idaho moved to strike the department's claim of lien. On October 28, 1983, the Washington Department of Labor filed a complaint to intervene in the pending suit and immediately joined the motions for reconsideration filed by Stack Steel and Mrs. Barringer. The department argued that Washington workers' compensation law should be applied with respect to both the issues of indemnity and contribution and its right to reimbursement.
On November 18, 1983, the district court denied the motions for reconsideration and granted the State of Idaho's motion to strike the department's claim of lien. The district court held that the Washington Department of Labor's right to reimbursement from any judgment or settlement rendered in favor of Mrs. Barringer also should be determined as though the department were subrogated to Mrs. Barringer's recovery pursuant to I.C. § 72-223(3). Finally, the district court refused to grant the State of Idaho's request to limit Mrs. Barringer's claim of damages to $100,000, holding that limitation of the state's liability under I.C. § 6-926 does not apply until the state's liability has been determined at trial.
On December 12, 1983, the district court granted permission to appeal its November 18, 1983, order and on February 13, 1984, this Court granted leave to the department, Mrs. Barringer, and the State of Idaho to file notices of appeal. I.A.R. 12. The department's appeal is No. 15438; Mrs. Barringer's appeal is No. 15439; and the State of Idaho's appeal is No. 15440.
Two issues need to be resolved with respect to the Department of Labor's appeal. They are: (1) whether Washington or Idaho law governs the State of Idaho's claim of contribution and indemnification, and (2) whether Washington or Idaho law governs the Department of Labor's right to reimbursement for workers' compensation benefits paid from any settlement or award recovered in this case. We hold that on both issues Idaho law applies and, therefore, affirm the district court.
The Washington Department of Labor & Industry has appealed the district court's ruling that Idaho law should apply to the State of Idaho's claim for contribution for the alleged negligence of Stack Steel, the employer, and the Washington department's claim for reimbursement of worker's compensation benefits received by plaintiff. Idaho law allows a third party tortfeasor to defend on the basis that the employer was concurrently negligent, and the third party is allowed a limited right of contribution by a setoff against damages reflecting the employer's negligence. This offset cannot exceed the amount of the worker's compensation benefits provided by the employer and surety. The employer's and surety's right of reimbursement from the third party recovery is reduced by This exact conflict of law problem was addressed in our recent unanimous opinion of Runcorn v. Shearer Lumber Products, Inc., 107 Idaho 389, 690 P.2d 324 (1984), which had substantially identical facts to the present case. In both cases a Washington employer was doing business in Idaho through its employee. In both cases that employee was injured in Idaho due to the alleged negligence of an Idaho third party--in Runcorn, the third party was Shearer Lumber Products; in this case it is the State of Idaho. In both cases the third party defended claiming that the employer was concurrently negligent. In both cases the plaintiffs had received worker's compensation benefits paid by the Washington Department of Labor & Industry as surety on behalf of the Washington employer. In both cases the department surety argued that Washington law should apply barring any negligence to be attributed to the employer and no reduction in the surety's right of reimbursement from the tort recovery. However, in Runcorn Idaho law was determined to be applicable.
[111 Idaho 797] an amount equal to the offset. See I.C. § 72-209(2), -223; Schneider v. Farmers Merchant, Inc., 106 Idaho 241, 678 P.2d 33 (1983); Pocatello Industrial Park Co. v. Steel West, Inc., 101 Idaho 783, 621 P.2d 399 (1980); Tucker v. Union Oil Co. of Calif., 100 Idaho 590, 603 P.2d 156 (1979); Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Adams, 91 Idaho 151, 417 P.2d 417 (1966). Washington worker's compensation statutes and case law allow no negligence to be attributed to the employer and no reduction in the surety's right to reimbursement from the third party recovery for worker's compensation benefits paid to the injured employee. See Glass v. Stahl Specialty Co., 97 Wash.2d 880, 652 P.2d 948 (1982); Kelly v. Howard S. Wright Const. Co., 90 Wash.2d 323, 582 P.2d 500 (1978); Seattle First Natl. Bank v. Shoreline Concrete Co., 91 Wash.2d 230, 588 P.2d 1308 (1978). Thus, Idaho law conflicts with Washington law, and we must determine which state's law should properly be applied to this dispute.
In the present case, the employer and surety moved to dismiss the third party complaint filed by the State of Idaho based upon the employer's claim that Washington law applied and that, accordingly, no contribution and setoff was allowable. The district court held that Idaho law applied and denied the motion to dismiss. The department surety first argues that a reciprocity agreement between Washington and Idaho state agencies binds this Court to apply Washington law. However, this issue was disposed of in Runcorn:
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