Gibson v. Wal-Mart Stores, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT

• Decision Date: 25 June 1999
• Docket Number: DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES,PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,No. 98-8040,WAL-MART,98-8040
• Citation: 181 F.3d 1163
• Parties: (10th Cir. 1999) GALE D. GIBSON, FORMERLY KNOWN AS GALE D. WIDMER,, v.STORES INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION; BECKY BROOKS,
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

Page 1163

181 F.3d 1163 (10th Cir. 1999)

GALE D. GIBSON, FORMERLY KNOWN AS GALE D. WIDMER, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, v. WAL-MART STORES INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION; BECKY BROOKS, DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES.

No. 98-8040

U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit

June 25, 1999

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming. D.C. No. 97-CV-1044- B

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] James R. McCarty, Casper, Wyoming, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Rosemary Orsini (David P. Hersh, Diane Vaksdal Smith on the brief), Burg & Eldredge, Englewood, Colorado, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before Porfilio, Magill,^* and Lucero, Circuit Judges.

Magill, Circuit Judge.

Several years after being injured while stocking shelves at a Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) store and receiving more than $31,000 in benefits from Wal-Mart's private workers' compensation plan, Gale Gibson brought this action against Wal-Mart and Becky Brooks, a former co-employee, alleging that they negligently caused her injuries. Gibson appeals the district court's order granting Wal-Mart's motion to compel arbitration and dismissing her claims. We affirm.

I.

On December 17, 1993, Gale Gibson and Becky Brooks were moving stock in the back room of a Wal-Mart store located in Wyoming. Gibson was injured when a box being placed on top of a shelf by Brooks fell on her. While at work nearly a week later, on December 22, 1993, Gibson determined that she needed to see a doctor because of her injuries. She asked the store's assistant manager, Jim Miller, whether Wal-Mart would pay for her to see a doctor. Miller told her that Wal-Mart would pay for her medical expenses only if she signed some release papers and sought benefits through Wal-Mart's private workers' compensation plan. Miller also told her that her health insurance (secured through Wal-Mart) would not cover her medical expenses because her injury was work-related. Later that day, Gibson went to the store manager, Gary Powers, and asked to sign the release papers. Powers presented her with a "WAIVER AND RELEASE OF RIGHT TO SUE" agreement (the Agreement), which Gibson signed without reading.

In the Agreement, Gibson "expressly and voluntarily waive[d] and release[d]... any and all rights which he/she may have to file any independent action in any court against Wal-Mart, its officers, directors, employees, agents or attorneys as the result of any accident... which arises in any manner out of [her] employment with Wal-Mart." Agreement at 1. She "acknowledge[d] that if he/she does file any action against Wal-Mart as the result of any occupational injury..., he/she forfeits all benefits under Wal-Mart's workers' compensation plan...." Id. She also "agree[d] to arbitrate any disputes as to entitlement to benefits under Wal-Mart's workers' compensation plan, which shall be a full and final resolution, binding on both parties." Id. In addition, she acknowledged that she "underst[oo]d the nature of this waiver and release" and that she "ha[d] been given the opportunity to review completely the Workers' Compensation Plan of Wal-Mart... [and] to consult with counsel of his/her choosing prior to signing this document." Id. at 1-2. In consideration for this release and waiver, Wal-Mart maintained a private workers' compensation plan and agreed to pay benefits to Gibson under the terms of that plan.

After signing the Agreement, Gibson received more than $31,000 in benefits under Wal-Mart's workers' compensation plan over several years. The plan ceased paying benefits to Gibson when two independent doctors diagnosed her as having attained her point of maximum medical improvement. Notwithstanding the doctors' diagnoses and the termination of her benefits, Gibson continued to seek medical treatment and incur expenses. She then filed this diversity action against Wal-Mart and Brooks, alleging that they were liable for her injuries. Invoking the Agreement and its arbitration clause, Wal-Mart filed a motion to compel arbitration. The district court granted the motion and dismissed the lawsuit.

II.

We review a district court's grant of a motion to compel arbitration de novo. See Armijo v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 72 F.3d 793, 796 (10th Cir. 1995). The parties agree that we should review the record under the standard for summary judgment. Summary judgment is appropriate if "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). When applying this standard, we examine the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, Gibson. See Byers v. City of Albuquerque, 150 F.3d 1271, 1274 (10th Cir. 1999). "If there is no genuine issue of material fact in dispute, then we next determine if the substantive law was correctly applied by the district court." Wolf v. Prudential Ins. Co. of Am., 50 F.3d 793, 796 (10th Cir. 1995). Because this is a diversity case, we review the district court's determinations of state law, in this case Wyoming law,¹ de novo. See Salve Regina College v. Russell, 499 U.S. 225 231 (1991).

In Wyoming, "[t]he right to submit a dispute to arbitration is contractual," Jackson State Bank v. Homar, 837 P.2d 1081, 1085 (Wyo. 1992), and a written agreement between an employer and an employee "to submit any existing or future controversy to arbitration is valid, enforceable and irrevocable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of the contract." Wyoming Stat. § 1-36-103. Gibson contends that she did not contractually agree to arbitrate the present dispute and, even if she did, the Agreement is invalid and unenforceable on both legal and equitable grounds. We address these contentions in reverse order.

A. The Agreement is enforceable.

Gibson asserts legal and equitable grounds for revoking the Agreement. She first contends that the Agreement is void and unenforceable because it violates two provisions of the Wyoming Constitution and one Wyoming statute. She also argues that the Agreement is void and unenforceable because she signed it under duress. See Applied Genetics Int'l, Inc. v. First Affiliated Sec., Inc., 912 F.2d 1238, 1241 (10th Cir. 1990) ("Under Wyoming law a contract may be cancelled because of duress."). We disagree with both contentions.

1. The Agreement is valid under Wyoming law.

Gibson contends that the Agreement violates Article 10, § 4 and Article 19, § 7, of the Wyoming Constitution, as well as Wyoming Statute § 27-1-105. However, it is clear from the express language of these constitutional and statutory provisions that they are not applicable to the Agreement.

The Agreement does not violate Article 10, § 4 of the Wyoming Constitution. That section provides, in relevant part, that "[a]ny contract or agreement with any employee waiving any right to recover damages for causing the death or injury of any employee shall be void." Wyo. Const. art. 10, § 4. In this case, the Agreement specifically provides for Gibson to recover benefits for her injuries and, in fact, she received more than $31,000 in benefits from Wal-Mart's workers' compensation plan. Accordingly, the Agreement does not run afoul of Article 10, § 4. See Lea v. D&S Casing Serv., Inc. (In re Lea), 707 P.2d 754, 755-56 (Wyo. 1985) (holding that a stipulation entered into between an employer and employee providing for the employer to pay a fixed amount of workers compensation benefits was binding and "was not an agreement 'waiving any right to recover damages for causing the death or injury of any employee' prohibited by Article 10, § 4").

The Agreement also does not violate either Article 19, § 7 of the Wyoming Constitution or Wyoming Statute § 27-1-105. This constitutional provision and statute prohibit an employer from conditioning employment on an employee's assent to a release or discharge from liability for injuries occurring in the course of employment.² Here, however, there is no evidence that Wal-Mart conditioned Gibson's employment on her assent to any release of liability. Moreover, the Agreement does not operate to release Wal-Mart from liability or responsibility for Gibson's injuries. Rather, Wal-Mart, through its private workers' compensation plan, accepted liability for Gibson's injuries and paid her more than $31,000. See Lea, 707 P.2d at 756 (finding that an employer's stipulation to pay a fixed amount of workers' compensation benefits to its employee "did not operate to relieve the employer from liability," but demonstrated that "the employer accepted liability"). Accordingly, we hold that the Agreement does not violate either Article 19, § 7 or § 27-1-105.

2. There was no duress.

Gibson also asserts that the Agreement is void because she signed it under duress. The facts do not support this assertion.

Gibson, the party seeking to cancel the Agreement, bears the burden of proving that she signed it under duress. See Goodson v. Smith, 243 P.2d 163, 171 (Wyo. 1952). "[D]uress exists whenever a person is induced, by the unlawful act of another, to perform some act under circumstances which deprive him of the existence of free will." In re TR, 777 P.2d 1106, 1111 (Wyo. 1989). "Therefore, in order to show duress in Wyoming a party must show deprivation of free will because of the unlawful act of another." Applied Genetics, 912 F.2d at 1241-42. Whether particular facts are sufficient to constitute duress is a question of law. See Blubaugh v. Turner, 842 P.2d 1072, 1074 (Wyo. 1992).

Gibson contends that she signed the Agreement because she understood that she would not be reimbursed for her medical bills if she failed to do so. In essence, Gibson is raising an economic duress claim, i.e., Wal-Mart threatened not to cover her medical expenses and she had no economically viable choice other than to sign the Agreement in light of that threat. Wyoming courts have recognized economic duress and held that "economic duress occurs when (1) a party involuntarily accepts the...