Holdredge v. Missouri Dental Bd.

• Decision Date: 12 August 2008
• Docket Number: No. WD 68836.,WD 68836.
• Parties: Daryl G. HOLDREDGE, D.D.S., Appellant, v. MISSOURI DENTAL BOARD, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

261 S.W.3d 690

Daryl G. HOLDREDGE, D.D.S., Appellant, v. MISSOURI DENTAL BOARD, Respondent.

No. WD 68836.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

August 12, 2008.

Samantha A. Harris, Jefferson City, MO, for Appellant.

Kevin R. Hall, Jefferson City, MO, for Respondent.

Before JAMES M. SMART, JR., P.J., Lisa White Hardwick, and JAMES EDWARD WELSH, JJ.

JAMES EDWARD WELSH, Judge.

Daryl G. Holdredge, D.D.S., appeals the circuit court's judgment affirming the Administrative Hearing Commission's decision that grounds existed for the Missouri Dental Board (Dental Board) to discipline Holdredge's license to practice dentistry. Holdredge contends that the Commission's decision violated due process, was in excess of the Commission's statutory authority and jurisdiction, and was otherwise unsupported by competent and substantial evidence because the decision was based upon a purported stipulation of facts submitted by the Dental Board which was not signed by or agreed upon by either Holdredge or his counsel. Holdredge also asserts that the Commission erred in authorizing the Board to discipline Holdredge's dental license based upon an order issued by the Wisconsin Dentistry Examining Board (Wisconsin Board). Holdredge contends that the Wisconsin Order was not a disciplinary action which would provide a statutory basis for disciplining his dental license in Missouri and that the Wisconsin Order was not based upon grounds for which discipline would be authorized in Missouri. We disagree and affirm the circuit court's judgment affirming the Commission's decision.

Holdredge holds licenses to practice dentistry in Missouri and Wisconsin. On November 5, 2004, the Dental Board filed a complaint with the Commission alleging that Holdredge's license to practice dentistry in Missouri was subject to discipline pursuant to section 332.321.2(8), RSMo Supp.2002, because the Wisconsin Board had issued an order disciplining Holdredge's Wisconsin dental license. In particular, the Dental Board alleged:

4. On or about July 2, 2003, the Wisconsin Dentistry Examining Board issued a Final Decision and Order ("Wisconsin Order") wherein it found that [Holdredge] had engaged in inappropriate and unprofessional conduct towards female patients, staff and coworkers. The Wisconsin Order is attached hereto as Exhibit A and is incorporated into this Complaint as though fully set forth herein.

In his answer to the Dental Board's complaint, Holdredge admitted the allegations contained in paragraph 4. Holdredge denied, however, that the Wisconsin Order constituted a disciplinary action or that grounds existed to discipline his license in Missouri based upon the Wisconsin Order.

In the Wisconsin Order, the Wisconsin Board found that during Holdredge's service in the Navy, Holdredge worked at the Branch Dental Clinic in Kansas City. While Holdredge was working at the Branch Dental Clinic, several female patients and staff members alleged that Holdredge had engaged in behavior which they considered to be inappropriate, offensive, and of a sexually suggestive nature. As a result of the allegations, a Navy peer review panel conducted a hearing to determine if Holdredge should lose his clinical privileges. According to the Wisconsin Order, the peer review panel found that Holdredge had:

a. Made inappropriate and unprofessional comments to female patients, staff and coworkers that negatively and substantially impacted [Holdredge's] ability to provide dental care to patients.

b. Inappropriately attempted to establish personal relationships with female patients, staff and coworkers.

c. Placed his hand on one patient's knee for no therapeutic reason and left his hand there until she physically removed it.

d. Made female patients feel uncomfortable during treatment and made female staff feel uncomfortable in the workplace.

Based upon these findings, the peer review panel recommended revocation of Holdredge's clinical privileges. The Commanding Officer of the Naval Dental Center thereafter found the allegations to be substantiated, revoked Holdredge's clinical privileges, and terminated Holdredge's professional staff appointment at the Naval Dental Center. Holdredge then resigned from the Navy.

While practicing dentistry in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Board instituted an investigation and disciplinary proceedings against Holdredge based upon the Navy's findings. Holdredge entered into a stipulation with the Wisconsin Board, wherein Holdredge neither admitted nor denied the allegations but agreed that the Wisconsin Board could make the findings of fact and conclusions of law set out in the Wisconsin Board's final decision and order. Holdredge also agreed to the adoption of the final decision and order by the Wisconsin Board and waived his rights to appeal the order.

The Wisconsin Board found that it had jurisdiction over the matter pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes section 447.07, which is the statute that allows the Wisconsin Board to reprimand, deny, limit, suspend, or revoke an individual's license to practice dentistry upon the establishment of certain grounds. In its final decision and order, the Wisconsin Board did not designate under which subsection of section 447.07 it was finding grounds to reprimand or limit Holdredge's dental license. The Wisconsin Board merely ordered:

1. [Holdredge] shall not engage in sexual harassment of any patient, employee or co-worker.

2. [Holdredge] having completed the continuing education on sexual harassment in the work place, ... no further education is ordered.

3. If [Holdredge] violates the terms of this Order, [Holdredge] shall immediately submit written notification of that violation to the Board.

4. Within 30 days of the date of this Order, [Holdredge] shall pay costs of this proceeding in the amount of $1,875.00 to the Department of Regulation and Licenscing.

....

6. Violation of any term or condition of this Order may constitute grounds for revocation of [Holdredge's] license as a dentist in Wisconsin. Should the Board determine that there is probable cause to believe that [Holdredge] has violated the terms of this Order, the Board may order that [Holdredge's] license be summarily suspended pending investigation of and hearing on the alleged violation.

After the Dental Board filed its complaint with the Commission seeking to discipline Holdredge's license to practice dentistry in Missouri based upon the Wisconsin Board's action against Holdredge's Wisconsin license, Holdredge agreed to submit the case to the Commission upon exhibits and briefs. On August 26, 2005, the Dental Board filed a "Joint Stipulation of Facts and Waiver of Hearing" with the Commission. The joint stipulation was signed by the attorney for the Dental Board, and a signature of Holdredge's attorney, "Samuel E. Trapp," appears with the notation "via telephone consent." The Commission found that Holdredge's license to practice dentistry in Missouri was subject to discipline pursuant to section 332.321.2(8). Holdredge filed a petition for review with the Cole County Circuit Court, and the circuit court affirmed the Commission's decision. Holdredge appeals.

In considering Holdredge's appeal, we review the Commission's decision and not the circuit court's judgment. We review the Commission's findings of fact and conclusions of law by determining whether or not substantial and competent evidence supported the decision, whether or not the decision was arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, and whether or not the Commission abused its discretion. Dep't of Soc. Servs., Div. of Med. Servs. v. Little Hills Healthcare, L.L.C., 236 S.W.3d 637, 641 (Mo. banc 2007). "We will not substitute our judgment for that of the Commission on factual matters, but questions of law are matters for the independent judgment of this court." Moheet v. State Bd. of Registration for the Healing Arts, 154 S.W.3d 393, 398 (Mo.App.2004).

In his first point on appeal, Holdredge asserts that the Commission's decision violated due process, was in excess of the Commission's statutory authority and jurisdiction, and was otherwise unsupported by competent and substantial evidence because the decision was based upon a purported stipulation of facts submitted by the Dental Board which was not signed by or agreed upon by either Holdredge or his counsel. Holdredge contends that, although the Commission may issue a decision without a hearing if any party establishes facts that entitle any party to a favorable decision, the Commission may do so only if no party raises a genuine issue as to such facts. § 536.073.3, RSMo 2000, 1 CSR 15-3.440(3)(B)3.A. Holdredge claims that he disputed the facts. His answer to the Dental Board's complaint, however, establishes otherwise.

In his answer, Holdredge admitted that the Wisconsin Board found that he had engaged in inappropriate and unprofessional conduct toward female patients, staff, and coworkers.¹ Holdredge also did not object to the Dental Board's incorporation of the Wisconsin Order into its complaint or deny the substance of the Wisconsin Order. "Allegations in a petition which are admitted in an answer constitute a judicial admission[, and a] judicial admission `waives or dispenses with the production of evidence and concedes for the purpose of the litigation that a certain proposition is true.'" Bachman v. City of St. Louis, 868 S.W.2d 199, 201 (Mo.App. 1994) (citation omitted). Therefore, even without the joint stipulation, the Commission had sufficient evidence to render its decision. The Dental Board's complaint, Holdredge's answer to the complaint, and the Wisconsin Order...