Bedell v. Williams

• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: PAUL E. DANIELSON
• Citation: Bedell v. Williams, 2012 Ark. 75, 386 S.W.3d 493 (Ark. 2012)
• Decision Date: 23 February 2012
• Docket Number: No. 11–664.,11–664.
• Parties: Donald B. BEDELL; Little Rock Healthcare # 1, Inc. d/b/a Little Rock Healthcare & Rehab; and Heartland Personnel Leasing, Inc., Appellants v. Brenda WILLIAMS, As Personal Representative of the Estate of Minnie Lee Valentine, Deceased, Appellee.

2012 Ark. 75

386 S.W.3d 493

Donald B. BEDELL; Little Rock Healthcare # 1, Inc. d/b/a Little Rock Healthcare & Rehab; and Heartland Personnel Leasing, Inc., Appellants

v.Brenda WILLIAMS, As Personal Representative of the Estate of Minnie Lee Valentine, Deceased, Appellee.

No. 11–664.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Feb. 23, 2012.

Stuart Paul Miller, Jeffrey Wahl Hatfield, Jess Askew III, Jamie Kel Fugitt, Elisa M. White, E.B. Chiles IV, Joseph R. Filasco, Kevin A. Crass, Jamie Huffman Jones and Phillip M. Brick, Jr., Little Rock, Kirkman T. Dougherty, Jeffrey David Rickard and Kynda Almefty–Hernandez, Fort Smith, for appellant.

Melody H. Piazza, Tammera Rankin Harrelson, Deborah Truby Riordan, Brian David Reddick, Brent L. Moss, Brent Lee Moss and Jeffrey Ryan Priebe, Little Rock, Brian Gene Brooks, Greenbrier, for appellee.

PAUL E. DANIELSON, Justice.

Appellants Donald B. Bedell, Little Rock Healthcare # 1 d/b/a Little Rock Healthcare and Rehab (“LRHC”), and Heartland Personnel Leasing, Inc., appeal from a judgment in favor of appellee Brenda Williams, as personal representative of the Estate of Minnie Lee Valentine, deceased, which was entered on November 15, 2010, by the Pulaski County Circuit Court. In addition, each appellant also appeals from their motions for judgment not withstanding the verdict and, alternatively, their motions for new trial or remittitur. Appellant Bedell argues the following on appeal: (1) the circuit court deprived Bedell of his defense by prohibiting the use of post discharge evidence; (2) the negligence verdict must be reversed and dismissed; (3) the punitive-damages verdict must be reversed or dismissed; and [2012 Ark. 2]4) the compensatory-damages award should be either vacated or reduced. Appellants LRHC and Heartland, for their points on appeal, argue that the circuit court erred by (1) failing to grant a new trial after making several errors on evidentiary rulings; (2) allowing a witness to give expert testimony on the issue of dignity; (3) denying LRHC's motion in limine to preclude adverse opinion testimony from its nurses pursuant to Ark.Code Ann. § 16–114–207(3); (4) giving a jury instruction on the Residents' Rights Act claim that omitted proximate causation as an element of the claim; (5) instructing the jury on spoliation; and (6) denying Heartland's motion for directed verdict. After review, we reverse, dismissing appellant Bedell and remanding for a new trial as to LRHC and Heartland.

The pertinent facts are these. Minnie Valentine suffered a severe stroke on May 14, 2004. A little over a week after her stroke, Valentine left the care of St. Vincent Hospital and entered into the care of LRHC, a nursing care facility located in Little Rock. She was fully dependent on nursing care for her daily needs and entered LRHC with a feeding tube, a urinary tract infection, and a pressure sore on her coccyx. Despite treatment, Valentine's coccyx pressure sore did not heal. Additionally, she showed signs of dehydration and malnutrition despite her feeding tube and care from a nutritionist.

On June 10, 2004, Valentine was transferred and admitted to Baptist Health Medical Center with pneumonia. Despite treatment from wound-care specialists, Valentine's pressure sore worsened. Baptist continued the basic nutrition plan for Valentine initiated by LRHC. After two weeks at Baptist, Valentine returned to LRHC on June 25, 2004. Her health continued to decline, and her pressure sore continued to worsen. On July 6, 2004, Valentine's nurses reported signs of infection related to her pressure sore to her physician. Subsequently, on July 7, 2004, Valentine was readmitted to Baptist due to infection. Again, despite continuous treatment from wound-care specialists at Baptist, the condition of Valentine's pressure sore declined.

On August 11, 2004, Valentine was discharged from Baptist and admitted to Quapaw Quarter Nursing Center and Rehab, another nursing care facility. There, Valentine's general medical condition continued to decline. Despite receiving weekly treatments from wound-care specialists from the Arkansas Heart Hospital, the pressure sore on Valentine's coccyx steadily worsened and additional pressure sores developed on her ankles and feet, which ultimately necessitated multiple amputations. Valentine died in February 2005, seven months after her second discharge from LRHC.

On February 17, 2006, Williams, as the personal representative of the Estate of Minnie Valentine, filed suit against Donald B. Bedell, the sole member of the governing body for LRHC; Heartland; HC Services & Solutions; Claims Administrators of Arkansas, LLC; Arkansas Health Care Holdings; Arkansas Health Care Management, LLC; and Care Options, Inc., alleging claims for ordinary negligence, medical malpractice, violation of the Residents' Rights Act, and felony neglect. The complaint also asserted several causes of action against Quapaw, including a count for wrongful death, based on allegations that Quapaw had failed to provide appropriate care to Valentine during her residency there from August 11, 2004, through her death in February 2005. Approximately one week prior to trial, Williams nonsuited her claims against Quapaw.

Before trial, the circuit court granted partial summary judgment for Claim Administrators of Arkansas and declared Ark.Code Ann. § 16–114–207(3) unconstitutional as a violation of the separation-of-powers doctrine. During the course of the trial, Williams voluntarily dismissed her claims against HC Services & Solutions, Claims Administrators of Arkansas, and Arkansas Health Care Holdings. The circuit court granted a directed verdict in favor of Bedell, LRHC, and Heartland on the felony-neglect claim.

Following trial, the jury returned a $5.1 million verdict against LRHC, awarding $1.8 million in compensatory damages for ordinary negligence, $1.9 million in compensatory damages for medical negligence, and $1.4 million in compensatory damages for violation of the Residents' Rights Act. Although the jury also found LRHC liable for punitive damages, it awarded no money on the punitive-damages claim against LRHC. The jury returned a verdict for $350,000 in compensatory damages against Heartland on the ordinary-negligence claim, but found that Heartland had no liability on the remaining claims against it. Additionally, the jury rendered a $5 million verdict against Bedell on the claim for ordinary negligence, awarding $3 million in compensatory damages and $2 million in punitive damages. The jury found no liability against Arkansas Health Care Management, LLC, and Care Options, Inc. The circuit court entered a judgment on these verdicts and dismissed with prejudice all remaining causes of action.

On November 29, 2010, LRHC, Heartland, and Bedell filed motions for new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which the circuit court denied on December 16, 2010. Thereafter, LRHC, Heartland, and Bedell, filed timely notices of appeal on January 6, 2011. Appellants appeal from the final judgment and all orders denying their motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and for new trial. Additionally, each appellant appeals all intermediate rulings by the circuit court that affected the above-mentioned judgment and orders.

Our standard of review for a denial of a directed-verdict motion is well settled:

[I]n reviewing the denial of a motion for [a directed verdict], we will reverse only if there is no substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Substantial evidence is that which goes beyond suspicion or conjecture and is sufficient to compel a conclusion one way or the other. It is not our place to try issues of fact; we simply review the record for substantial evidence to support the jury's verdict. In determining whether there is substantial evidence, we view the evidence and all reasonable inferences arising therefrom in the light most favorable to the party on whose behalf judgment was entered. A motion for directed verdict should be denied when there is conflict in the evidence, or when the evidence is such that fair-minded people might reach different conclusions.

Carter v. Cline, 2011 Ark. 474, at 10, 385 S.W.3d 745, 752. The same standard holds true for a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. See id. A circuit court may enter a judgment notwithstanding the verdict only if there is no substantial evidence to support the verdict and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See id.

A motion for new trial is addressed to the sound discretion of the circuit court, and the circuit court's refusal to grant it will not be reversed on appeal unless an abuse of discretion is shown. See Cochran v. Bentley, 369 Ark. 159, 251 S.W.3d 253 (2007). An abuse of discretion means a discretion improvidently exercised, i.e., exercised thoughtlessly and without due consideration. See id.

We first address Bedell's argument that the circuit court erred by denying his directed-verdictmotion and his judgment notwithstanding the verdict, as we agree and dismiss Bedell. Bedell argues that a claim of negligence against him could not stand because Williams failed to establish that he owed a duty to Valentine. Williams responds that the circuit court correctly denied Bedell's motions because a duty was established by both a federal regulation and an internal policy of LRHC. We disagree and hold that Bedell, as the president of the corporation that operated LRHC, owed no personal duty to Valentine.

The first issue in determining whether there was evidence of negligence is whether Bedell owed any duty to Valentine. See Yanmar Co., Ltd. v. Slater, 2012 Ark. 36, 386 S.W.3d 439. This court has stated that the question of what duty, if any, is owed a plaintiff alleging negligence is always a question of law and never one for the jury. See id. Thus, the law of negligence requires as an essential element...