Blankenship v. Grandy's, Inc.
Citation | 839 S.W.2d 680 |
Decision Date | 08 September 1992 |
Docket Number | No. 17804,17804 |
Parties | Paula BLANKENSHIP (formerly known as Paula Starchman), Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GRANDY'S, INC. and Maverick Restaurant Corporation and the Division of Workers' Compensation of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Defendants-Respondents. |
Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Charles Buchanan, Joplin, for plaintiff-appellant.
Ronald G. Sparlin, Blanchard, Van Fleet, Martin, Robertson & Dermott, Joplin, for respondent Grandy's, Inc.
David B. Mouton, Flanigan, McCanse & Lasley, Carthage, for respondent Maverick Restaurant Corp. MAUS, Judge.
In this action, Paula Blankenship alleges that a "Transcript of Compromise Settlement", by mistake, incorrectly designates the "Employer". By this action, filed in the Circuit Court of Jasper County, she seeks to modify the Transcript of Compromise Settlement to correctly designate another corporation as the Employer. The trial court dismissed her petition with prejudice for the reason it failed to state a cause of action. Blankenship appeals.
The merit of that point is to be measured by the following standard.
Nappier v. Kincade, 666 S.W.2d 858, 860 (Mo.App.1984).
Also see Mercantile Trust Co., N.A. v. Harper, 622 S.W.2d 345 (Mo.App.1981); North Elec. Co. v. Satallite Communications, 588 S.W.2d 261 (Mo.App.1979); Schnabel v. Taft Broadcasting Company, Inc., 525 S.W.2d 819 (Mo.App.1975).
The following is a summary of the facts established by the petition under the foregoing standard. Grandy's, Inc., of Lewisville, Texas, was the franchisor for a number of fast-food restaurants known as "Grandy's". Maverick Restaurant Corporation, of Wichita, Kansas, as a franchisee, operated a fast-food restaurant under the trade name of "Grandy's" at 1306 S. Range Line, Joplin, Jasper County, Missouri. While employed by Maverick Restaurant Corporation in its business at 1306 S. Range Line, on May 12, 1986, Blankenship was severely injured when a fellow employee spilled hot grease upon her.
Blankenship filed a claim under the "Workers' Compensation Law", § 287.010, to recover for such injuries. She alleged that her employers were:
"Grandy's, 1306 S. Range Line, Joplin, Missouri 64801; Grandy's, Inc., 997 Grandy's Lane, Lewisville, Texas 75067-2599; Maverick Restaurant Corporation, 101 Main Place, 100 N. Main, Wichita, Kansas 67202."
The Answer to that claim was filed by "Grandy's" and admitted the employer was "Grandy's located at 1306 S. Range Line." It denied the balance of the allegations concerning the identity of the employer. The Division sent notices of proceedings in respect to the workers' compensation claim to Blankenship and her attorney and to "Grandy's" and to "Maverick Restaurant Corporation", who were listed as the "Employer". Grandy's, Inc., did not file an answer nor participate in the proceedings in respect to Blankenship's claim.
On August 2, 1988, Blankenship entered into an oral compromise settlement of her claim before the Administrative Law Judge. The "Transcript of Compromise Settlement" prepared by the Division listed "Employer" as "Grandy's, Inc., a subsidiary of Maverick Restaurant Corporation". Blankenship alleges that such designation of the employer was the result of a mistake or inadvertence.
Blankenship filed an action against Grandy's, Inc., of Lewisville, Texas, to recover for the personal injuries she sustained on May 12, 1986, while employed by Maverick Restaurant Corporation at 1306 S. Range Line. Grandy's, Inc. filed a motion for summary judgment based upon the Transcript of Compromise Settlement and the allegation that the action by Blankenship is barred because her exclusive remedy was under the Workers' Compensation Law. The allegations of Blankenship's petition in this action continued:
Blankenship prayed the court to set aside the compromise settlement with Grandy's, Inc., a subsidiary of Maverick Restaurant Corporation d/b/a Grandy's, and to enter an order declaring the compromise settlement was with Maverick Restaurant Corporation d/b/a Grandy's, and to modify the Transcript of Compromise Settlement to show the correct employer.
Curiously, not only Grandy's, Inc., but also Maverick Restaurant Corporation, filed a motion to dismiss Blankenship's petition for failure to state a cause of action. Both have filed a brief in support of the trial court's action. Basically, they support the trial court's action with the same argument. Grandy's, Inc. asserts "Appellant's justification for modifying the compromise settlement was that she settled her workers' compensation claim against this respondent Grandy's Inc. (as her employer) and then in a separate action, sought to recover civil damages against Grandy's, Inc. as a result of the same accident." They both cite and rely upon Ley v. St. Louis County, 710 S.W.2d 493 (Mo.App.1986) and Morgan v. Duncan, 361 Mo. 683, 236 S.W.2d 281 (1951). They focus upon the following proposition from Ley: "What is required is a finding of fraud or mistake in the very act of obtaining the award or order." Ley at 496. They point out that the petition contains no allegation of fraud in the very act of obtaining the award. They say the type of mistake alleged is not of the nature "contemplated by the applicable case law" as a basis for the relief sought.
Grandy's, Inc. and Maverick Restaurant Corporation have misconceived the basis for relief alleged by Blankenship. She does not allege a "mutual mistake" of the parties upon the basis of which they entered into the agreed settlement. See Link v. Dowdy, 816 S.W.2d 927 (Mo.App.1991). Nor does she allege that she was prevented from appearing in the proceedings by reason of a "mistake". See Contrare v. Cirese, 336 S.W.2d 485 (Mo.1960). She does not attempt to allege the perpetration of any "fraud" as a basis to set aside the compromise settlement such as that described in Ley, supra. Also see Daffin v. Daffin, 567 S.W.2d 672 (Mo.App.1978). In fact, she does not seek to invalidate or set aside the compromise settlement that had been agreed upon by the parties. She seeks to correct the record which, by reason of mistake, does not reflect the actual agreement.
It has been long recognized that even a final judgment entered by "mistake" is subject to correction. When the mistake is apparent from the record, this is the basis for the familiar remedy of a judgment "nunc pro tunc".
In re Marriage of Royall, 569 S.W.2d 369, 371 (Mo.App.1978).
The scope of judgments nunc pro tunc has been described in the following terms.
. Mo. Highway & Transp. Com'n v. Roth, 735 S.W.2d 19, 21 (Mo.App.1987).
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