Boyd v. Nation, No. 95-112
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Wyoming |
| Writing for the Court | Before GOLDEN; GOLDEN |
| Citation | 909 P.2d 323 |
| Docket Number | No. 95-112 |
| Decision Date | 05 January 1996 |
| Parties | Maurice F. BOYD, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. Lois Ann NATION, Appellee (Defendant). |
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v.
Lois Ann NATION, Appellee (Defendant).
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Maurice F. Boyd, Riverton, appellant pro se.
Kathleen J. Doyle of Schwartz, Bon, Walker & Studer, LLC, Casper, for appellee.
Before GOLDEN, C.J., and THOMAS, MACY, TAYLOR and LEHMAN, JJ.
GOLDEN, Chief Justice.
Maurice F. Boyd (Boyd) brought a negligence action against the mayor of Evansville, Lois Ann Nation (Nation), for injuries suffered while he attempted to repair a water line she ordered him to repair. Boyd appeals the district court's order granting Nation's motion for summary judgment, which was based on governmental immunity of public employees pursuant to the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act.
We affirm.
Appellant Boyd originally presented the issue as:
The district court erred in not allowing this case to proceed to trial in order for a jury to decide whether there was an exception to governmental immunity.
Appellee Nation presented the following issues:
1. Whether a town employee can sue the elected Mayor of a town for injuries he received on the job.
(A) Whether Lois Nation, as the Mayor of Evansville, is immune from suit pursuant to the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act.
(B) Whether Lois Nation is immune from suit pursuant to the Wyoming Worker's Compensation Act.
2. Whether the plaintiff is estopped from suing the Mayor based upon a settlement agreement he entered into with the town of Evansville.
In his reply brief, Boyd echoes the issues presented by Nation.
On July 3, 1988, a water line broke in the town of Evansville. Boyd, the public works director for Evansville, was injured while attempting to repair the broken water line pursuant to an order from Nation. Boyd claims Nation was aware of the danger of an attempted repair, but she negligently issued the order to repair the water line anyway. Boyd received worker's compensation benefits for his injuries pursuant to a settlement dated June 3, 1991. On May 24, 1993, Boyd filed a personal injury action against Nation, apparently alleging negligence. Nation filed a motion to dismiss on the basis that the statute of limitations for the claim had run. Boyd filed an amended complaint, alleging that Nation was the mayor of Evansville and, as such, was a co-employee of Boyd. Boyd also alleged that he had complied with the
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Wyoming Governmental Claims Act and properly made demand on the Town of Evansville for payment of his claims. The district court's order dismissing Boyd's original complaint and allowing Boyd to amend his complaint to "incorporate specific allegations of the conduct of the defendant as a co-employee with respect to the plaintiff's injuries" did not address Nation's statute of limitations concerns.Nation later filed a motion for summary judgment. After briefing by the parties and a hearing, the district court granted Nation's motion for summary judgment. The district court held that a government "co-employee can sue under the culpable negligence standard of the worker's compensation statutes only if the action falls within a waiver of immunity." Opining that Harbel v. Wintermute, 883 P.2d 359 (Wyo.1994), is directly on point, the court found that Nation was not "in operation of" a public utility when Boyd was injured, and Nation was immune from suit under the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act.
In United Mine Workers of America, Local 1972 v. Decker Coal Co., 774 P.2d 1274 (Wyo.1989), we held:
It is fundamental, if not axiomatic, that, before a court can render any decision or order having any effect in any case or matter, it must have subject matter jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is essential to the exercise of judicial power. Unless the court has jurisdiction, it lacks any authority to proceed, and any decision, judgment, or other order is, as a matter of law, utterly void and of no effect for any purpose. Subject matter jurisdiction, like jurisdiction over the person, is not a subject of judicial discretion. There is a difference, however, because the lack of jurisdiction over the person can be waived, but lack of subject matter jurisdiction...
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Beaulieu v. Florquist, No. 02-276.
...Workers' Compensation Div., 952 P.2d 1108, 1117 (Wyo.), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 814, 119 S.Ct. 49, 142 L.Ed.2d 38 (1998); Boyd v. Nation, 909 P.2d 323, 325 (Wyo. 1996); Amrein, 851 P.2d at 771; Dee v. Laramie County, 666 P.2d 957, 959 (Wyo. 1983); and Board of Trustees of University of Wyomi......
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Wooster v. Carbon County School Dist. No. 1, No. 04-146.
...allege compliance with governmental claims procedures with specificity. [¶ 15] Amrein was followed in 1996 by two cases, Boyd v. Nation, 909 P.2d 323, 325-26 (Wyo.1996), and Allen v. Lucero, 925 P.2d 228, 230 (Wyo.1996), where district courts were found to lack subject matter jurisdiction d......
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Brown v. City of Casper, No. S–09–0263.
...rule limiting district court authority without any constitutional or statutory support. Amrein was followed by Boyd v. Nation, 909 P.2d 323 (Wyo.1996) (dismissing the complaint because it did not allege the date the notice of claim was presented); Allen v. Lucero, 925 P.2d 228 (Wyo.1996) (d......
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Routh v. State, ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Div., No. 96-291
...quoted in United Mine Workers of America Local 1972 v. Decker Coal Co., 774 P.2d 1274, 1283 (Wyo.1989), and followed in, Boyd v. Nation, 909 P.2d 323, 325 (Wyo.1996); see also, Pawlowski v. Pawlowski, 925 P.2d 240, 243 (Wyo.1996) (subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived by the Just as ......
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Beaulieu v. Florquist, No. 02-276.
...Workers' Compensation Div., 952 P.2d 1108, 1117 (Wyo.), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 814, 119 S.Ct. 49, 142 L.Ed.2d 38 (1998); Boyd v. Nation, 909 P.2d 323, 325 (Wyo. 1996); Amrein, 851 P.2d at 771; Dee v. Laramie County, 666 P.2d 957, 959 (Wyo. 1983); and Board of Trustees of University of Wyomi......
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Wooster v. Carbon County School Dist. No. 1, No. 04-146.
...allege compliance with governmental claims procedures with specificity. [¶ 15] Amrein was followed in 1996 by two cases, Boyd v. Nation, 909 P.2d 323, 325-26 (Wyo.1996), and Allen v. Lucero, 925 P.2d 228, 230 (Wyo.1996), where district courts were found to lack subject matter jurisdiction d......
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Brown v. City of Casper, No. S–09–0263.
...rule limiting district court authority without any constitutional or statutory support. Amrein was followed by Boyd v. Nation, 909 P.2d 323 (Wyo.1996) (dismissing the complaint because it did not allege the date the notice of claim was presented); Allen v. Lucero, 925 P.2d 228 (Wyo.1996) (d......
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Routh v. State, ex rel. Wyoming Workers' Compensation Div., No. 96-291
...quoted in United Mine Workers of America Local 1972 v. Decker Coal Co., 774 P.2d 1274, 1283 (Wyo.1989), and followed in, Boyd v. Nation, 909 P.2d 323, 325 (Wyo.1996); see also, Pawlowski v. Pawlowski, 925 P.2d 240, 243 (Wyo.1996) (subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived by the Just as ......