Kawaauhau v. Geiger

• Citation: 523 U.S. 57,118 S.Ct. 974,140 L.Ed.2d 90
• Decision Date: 03 March 1998
• Docket Number: 97115
• Parties: Margaret KAWAAUHAU, et vir., Petitioners, v. Paul W. GEIGER
• Court: United States Supreme Court

523 U.S. 57

118 S.Ct. 974

140 L.Ed.2d 90

Margaret KAWAAUHAU, et vir., Petitioners,

v Paul W. GEIGER.

No. 97-115.

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued Jan. 21, 1998.

Decided March 3, 1998.

Syllabus^*

When petitioner Kawaauhau sought treatment for her injured foot, respondent Dr. Geiger examined and hospitalized her to attend to the risk of infection. Although Geiger knew that intravenous penicillin would have been more effective, he prescribed oral penicillin, explaining in his testimony that he understood his patient wished to minimize treatment costs. Geiger then departed on a business trip, leaving Kawaauhau in the care of other physicians, who decided she should be transferred to an infectious disease specialist. When Geiger returned, he canceled the transfer and discontinued all antibiotics because he believed the infection had subsided. Kawaauhau's condition deteriorated, requiring amputation of her leg below the knee. After trial in the malpractice suit brought by Kawaauhau and her husband, the jury found Geiger liable and awarded the Kawaauhaus approximately $355,000 in damages. Geiger, who carried no malpractice insurance, moved to Missouri, where his wages were garnished by the Kawaauhaus. Geiger then petitioned for bankruptcy. The Kawaauhaus requested the Bankruptcy Court to hold the malpractice judgment nondischargeable under 11 U.S.C. §523(a)(6), which provides that a "discharge [in bankruptcy] . . . does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt . . . for willful and malicious injury . . . to another.'' Concluding that Geiger's treatment fell far below the appropriate standard of care and therefore ranked as "willful and malicious,'' that court held the debt nondischargeable. The District Court affirmed, but the Eighth Circuit reversed, holding that §523(a)(6)'s exemption from discharge is confined to debts for an intentional tort, so that a debt for malpractice remains dischargeable because it is based on negligent or reckless conduct.

Held: Because a debt arising from a medical malpractice judgment attributable to negligent or reckless conduct does not fall within the §523(a)(6) exception, the debt is dischargeable in bankruptcy. Section 523(a)(6)'s words strongly support the Eighth Circuit's reading that only acts done with the actual intent to cause injury fall within the exception's scope. The section's word "willful'' modifies the word "injury,'' indicating that nondischargeability takes a deliberate or intentional injury, not merely, as the Kawaauhaus urge, a deliberate or intentional act that leads to injury. Had Congress meant to exempt debts resulting from unintentionally inflicted injuries, it might have described instead "willful acts that cause injury'' or selected an additional word or words, i.e., "reckless'' or "negligent,'' to modify "injury.'' Moreover, §523(a)(6)'s formulation triggers in the lawyer's mind the category "intentional torts,'' which generally require that the actor intend the consequences of an act, not simply the act itself. The Kawaauhaus' more encompassing interpretation could place within the excepted category a wide range of situations in which an act is intentional, but injury is unintended, i.e., neither desired nor in fact anticipated by the debtor. A construction so broad would be incompatible with the well-known guide that exceptions to discharge should be confined to those plainly expressed, and would render superfluous the exemptions from discharge set forth in §§523(a)(9) and 523(a)(12). The Kawaauhaus rely on Tinker v. Colwell, 193 U.S. 473, 24 S.Ct. 505, 48 L.Ed. 754, which held that a damages award for the tort of "criminal conversation'' survived bankruptcy under the 1898 Bankruptcy Act's exception from discharge for judgments in civil actions for ""willful and malicious injuries.''' The Tinker opinion repeatedly recognized that at common law the tort in question ranked as trespass vi et armis, akin to a master's ""action of trespass and assault . . . for the battery of his servant.''' Tinker placed criminal conversation solidly within the traditional intentional tort category, and this Court so confines its holding; that decision provides no warrant for departure from the current statutory instruction that, to be nondischargeable, the judgment debt must be "for willful and malicious injury. '' See, e.g., Davis v. Aetna Acceptance Co., 293 U.S. 328, 332, 55 S.Ct. 151, 153, 79 L.Ed. 393. The Kawaauhaus' argument that, as a policy matter, malpractice judgments should be excepted from discharge, at least when the debtor acted recklessly or carried no malpractice insurance, should be addressed to Congress. Debts arising from reckless or negligently inflicted injuries do not fall within §523(a)(6)'s compass. Pp. ___-___.

113 F.3d 848 (C.A.8 1997), affirmed.

GINSBURG, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.

Norman W. Pressman, St. Louis, MO, for petitioners.

Laura K. Grandy, Belleville, IL, for respondent.

Justice GINSBURG delivered the opinion of the Court.

Section 523(a)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code provides that a debt "for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another'' is not dischargeable. 11 U.S.C. §523(a)(6). The question before us is whether a debt arising from a medical malpractice judgment, attributable to negligent or reckless conduct, falls within this statutory exception. We hold that it does not and that the debt is dischargeable.

I

In January 1983, petitioner Margaret Kawaauhau sought treatment from respondent Dr. Paul Geiger for a foot injury. Geiger examined Kawaauhau and admitted her to the hospital to attend to the risk of infection resulting from the injury. Although Geiger knew that intravenous penicillin would have been more effective, he prescribed oral penicillin, explaining in his testimony that he understood his patient wished to minimize the cost of her treatment.

Geiger then departed on a business trip, leaving Kawaauhau in the care of other physicians, who decided she should be transferred to an infectious disease specialist. When Geiger returned, he canceled the transfer and discontinued all antibiotics because he believed the infection had subsided. Kawaauhau's condition deteriorated over the next few days, requiring the amputation of her right leg below the knee.

Kawaauhau, joined by her husband Solomon, sued Geiger for malpractice. After a trial, the jury found Geiger liable and awarded the Kawaauhaus approximately $355,000 in damages. ¹ Geiger, who carried no malpractice insurance, ² moved to Missouri, where his wages were garnished by the Kawaauhaus. Geiger then petitioned for bankruptcy. The Kawaauhaus requested the Bankruptcy Court to hold the malpractice judgment nondischargeable on the ground that it was a debt "for willful and malicious injury'' excepted from discharge by 11 U.S.C. §523(a)(6). The Bankruptcy Court concluded that Geiger's treatment fell far below the appropriate standard of care and therefore ranked as "willful and malicious.'' Accordingly, the Bankruptcy Court held the debt nondischargeable. In re Geiger, 172 B.R. 916, 922-923 (Bkrtcy.Ct.E.D.Mo.1994). In an unpublished order, the District Court affirmed. App. to Pet. for Cert. A-18 to A-22.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed, 93 F.3d 443 (1996), and a divided en banc court adhered to the panel's position, 113 F.3d 848 (1997) (en banc). Section 523(a)(6)'s exemption from discharge, the en banc court held, is confined to debts "based on what the law has for generations called an intentional tort.'' Id., at 852. On this view, a debt for malpractice, because it is based on conduct that is negligent or reckless, rather than intentional, remains dischargeable.

The Eighth Circuit acknowledged that its interpretation of §523(a)(6) diverged from previous holdings of the Sixth and Tenth Circuits. See id., at 853 (citing Perkins v. Scharffe, 817 F.2d 392, 394(CA6), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 853, 108 S.Ct. 156, 98 L.Ed.2d 112 (1987), and In re Franklin, 726 F.2d 606, 610 (C.A.10 1984)). We granted certiorari to resolve this conflict, 521 U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 31, 138 L.Ed.2d 1061 (1997), and now affirm the Eighth Circuit's judgment.

II

Section 523(a)(6) of the Bankruptcy Code provides:

" (a) A discharge under Section 727, 1141, 1228(a), 1228(b), or 1328(b) of this title does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt-

.....

" (6) for willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity or to the property of another entity.''

The Kawaauhaus urge that the malpractice award fits within this exception because Dr. Geiger intentionally rendered inadequate medical care to Margaret Kawaauhau that necessarily led to her injury. According to the Kawaauhaus, Geiger deliberately chose less effective treatment because he wanted to cut costs, all the while knowing that he was providing substandard care. Such conduct, the Kawaauhaus assert, meets the "willful and malicious'' specification of §523(a)(6).

We confront this pivotal question concerning the scope of the "willful and malicious injury'' exception: Does §523(a)(6)'s compass cover acts, done intentionally, ³ that cause injury (as the Kawaauhaus urge), or only acts done with the actual intent to cause injury (as the Eighth Circuit ruled)? The words of the statute strongly support the Eighth Circuit's reading.

The word "willful'' in (a)(6) modifies the word "injury,'' indicating that nondischargeability takes a deliberate or intentional injury, not merely a deliberate or intentional act that leads to injury. Had Congress meant to exempt debts resulting from unintentionally inflicted injuries, it might have described instead "willful acts that cause injury.'' Or, Congress might have selected an additional word or words, i.e., "reckless'' or "negligent,'' to modify "injury.'' Moreover, as the Eighth Circuit observed, the (a)(6) formulation triggers in the lawyer's mind the category "intentional torts,'' as distinguished...