O'Brien v. Mobile Pub. Library
| Decision Date | 18 March 2022 |
| Docket Number | 2200845 |
| Parties | Daniel B. O'Brien, in his capacity as the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Alabama v. Mobile Public Library |
| Court | Alabama Court of Civil Appeals |
Appeal from Mobile Circuit Court (CV-17-902697)
Daniel B. O'Brien, in his capacity as the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Alabama and who was the trustee for the bankruptcy estate of Aaron A. Mosley, appeals from a judgment entered by the Mobile Circuit Court ("the trial court") in favor of the Mobile Public Library ("the library"). This court dismissed a previous appeal by Mosley and a cross-appeal by the library as having been taken from a nonfinal judgment. See Mosley v. Mobile Public Library (No. 2190979, May 28, 2021), ___ So.3d ___ (Ala Civ. App. 2021) (table), and Mobile Public Library v. Mosley, (No. 2200029, May 28, 2021), ___ So.3d ___ (Ala. Civ. App. 2021) (table).
For purposes of this case, it is undisputed that, on December 4 2015, Mosley was injured in an automobile accident that occurred during the line and scope of his employment with the library. The accident was caused by a third party, Shantell Carter. Thereafter, pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act ("the Act"), § 25-5-1 et seq., Ala. Code 1975, Mosley commenced a workers' compensation action in the trial court against the library; that action was assigned case number CV-17-902927 (). Mosley also commenced an action alleging tort claims against Carter and claims for uninsured-motorist insurance benefits against GEICO Casualty Company, which was his automobile insurer, and CNA Insurance Company, which was the library's automobile insurer; that action was assigned case number CV-17-902697 ("the tort action"). Transportation Insurance Company ("TIC") was eventually substituted as a party in lieu of CNA Insurance Company, which was then dismissed as a party to the tort action. The present appeal arises from the tort action, but it concerns the library's purported right to subrogation or reimbursement under Ala. Code 1975, § 25-5-11(a), regarding uninsured-motorist insurance proceeds paid to Mosley by TIC. Mosley and the library agreed to settle Mosley's workers' compensation claim for a $20, 000 lump-sum payment to Mosley for "past and future compensation benefits, and vocational rehabilitation benefits." The record indicates that Mosley had already been paid $17, 270.14 in medical benefits and/or temporary-total-disability benefits.[1] The settlement agreement left future medical benefits open. Also, the settlement agreement stated that the library "reserve[d] any rights it may have to subrogation/credit on any recovery obtained by [Mosley] against a third-party defendant or [uninsured-motorist insurance] carrier responsible for payment of damages, through settlement or judgment, as a result of the motor vehicle accident at issue herein." The hearing in the workers' compensation action as to the approval of the settlement agreement was postponed pending the trial in the tort action. See Ala. Code 1975, § 25-5-56 ().
Carter did not appear in the tort action, and GEICO was allowed to opt out for purposes of the trial in that action. Thereafter, the tort action was tried before a jury, which issued a verdict for $100, 000 as damages. On October 2, 2019, the trial court entered a judgment for $100, 000 in favor of Mosley and against TIC; the following day, the trial court amended its judgment to reflect that the judgment also was against Carter. The judgment, as amended, is hereinafter referred to as "the October 2019 judgment."[2] On October 7, 2019, the library filed a motion to intervene in the tort action to "preserv[e] its right to subrogation for any monies awarded to [Mosley] against any third party relating to" the automobile accident at issue. See § 25-5-11(a). The library alleged that it had a subrogation lien for $37, 270.14 ($20, 000 plus $17, 270.14) and requested that the trial court in the tort action (1) direct "[Mosley] and his counsel to pay to [the library] the amount of its subrogation lien, less its pro rata share of attorney fees pursuant to Alabama Code [1975, ] § 25-5-11(e)," and (2) enjoin Mosley and his counsel from disbursing any payments made by TIC under its policy with the library for uninsured-motorist coverage ("the TIC policy"), unless Mosley or his counsel first satisfied the library's subrogation lien. On October 8, 2019, the trial court entered an order granting the library's motion to intervene, and, on November 1, 2019, the trial court entered an order enjoining Mosley and his counsel in the tort action from disbursing any payments they received from TIC.
In the interim, on October 13, 2019, Mosley filed a motion in the workers' compensation action seeking a declaration that any proceeds paid to him under the TIC policy were exempt from the library's claim under § 25-5-11(a). He also filed a motion in the workers' compensation action requesting that the trial court reject the settlement that he purportedly had agreed to in that case. Thereafter, the library filed in the workers' compensation action a motion to enforce the settlement agreement in that action and a response opposing Mosley's attempt to have the proceeds paid under the TIC policy declared exempt from the library's claim under § 25-5-11(a).
On January 21, 2020, the trial court in the workers' compensation action entered an order denying Mosley's motion to set aside the settlement agreement and approving the settlement of the workers' compensation action ("the settlement order").[3] In the settlement order, the trial court stated that it was In addition, the settlement order further stated that the library "shall reserve the right to pursue subrogation/reimbursement/credit for any and all benefits paid as the result of the [October 2019] judgment in the third party lawsuit."
On March 3, 2020, Mosley filed a satisfaction of the October 2019 judgment entered against TIC in the tort action.[4] On May 29, 2020, Mosley filed in the tort action a motion seeking a declaration that the proceeds paid to him under the TIC policy were exempt from the library's claim under § 25-5-11(a). The library filed a response to Mosley's May 2020 motion, alleging, in part, that Mosley contemporaneously had filed a motion in the workers' compensation action requesting a declaration that the proceeds paid to him under the TIC policy were exempt from the library's claim under § 25-5-11(a). Attached to the library's response was a copy of an order entered on June 2, 2020, in the workers' compensation action that stated: The library also alleged that, on January 13, 2020, the trial court in the workers' compensation action had entered an order denying Mosley's motion to declare the proceeds paid to him under the TIC policy exempt from the library's claim under § 25-5-11(a), and, thus, the library asserted that the doctrine of res judicata precluded the trial court in the tort action from considering that issue. The record does not include a copy of any such January 13, 2020, order, however, and such a conclusion is in tension with the respective provisions in the settlement order (which was entered on January 21, 2020), reflecting that the trial court in the workers' compensation action was aware of the subrogation issue pending in the tort action and that "[t]his Order is not to be construed as affecting the rights of either party regarding that issue."
On June 9, 2020, the library filed a motion in the tort action seeking to enforce its subrogation rights, and, on June 24, 2020, the library filed a motion seeking a determination, without a hearing, of its claim under § 25-5-11(a). The latter motion alleged that the library apparently had filed a motion in the workers' compensation action seeking an order enforcing its right to subrogation. However, no copy of the latter motion was attached to the motion filed in the tort action, and the latter motion is not in the record on appeal. Nevertheless, the record includes a copy of an order purportedly entered by the trial court in the workers' compensation action on June 10, 2020, which stated: "The MOTION TO ENFORCE SUBROGATION filed by [the library] is hereby granted." (Capitalization in original.) The library argued to the trial court in the tort action that, based on the June 2, 2020, and June 10, 2020, orders entered in the workers' compensation action, "the issues before this Court are now res judicata ...."
On July 29, 2020, the trial court entered an order in the tort action denying Mosley's motion to declare the proceeds paid to him under the TIC policy exempt from the library's claim under § 25-5-11(a); that order is hereinafter referred to as "the July 2020 order." Specifically, the trial court concluded that precedents that supported the denial of the library's claim, see State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Cahoon, 287 Ala. 462, 252 So.2d 619 (1971); River Gas Corp. v. Sutton, 701 So.2d 35, 39 (Ala. Civ. App. 1997); and Bunkley v Bunkley Air Conditioning,...
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