Kossak v. Stalling
| Decision Date | 02 March 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 48648.,48648. |
| Citation | 277 NW 2d 30 |
| Parties | Stanley KOSSAK, Appellant, v. Charles M. STALLING and the City of Duluth, Respondents. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Courtney, Gruesen & Petersen and James J. Courtney, III, Duluth, for appellant.
William P. Dinan, City Atty., and Bryan F. Brown, Asst. City Atty., Duluth, for respondent.
Daniel B. O'Leary, St. Paul, for Minnesota Trial Lawyers Assn.
Robert J. Alfton, City Atty., Minneapolis, for City of Minneapolis.
Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.
This appeal involves a claim for damages by plaintiff Stanley Kossak, a resident of Wisconsin, against defendant City of Duluth for injuries plaintiff suffered in an automobile accident allegedly caused by the negligence of defendant Charles Stalling, a Duluth employee. In an order dated February 27, 1978, the St. Louis County District Court granted Duluth's motion for dismissal on the ground that plaintiff failed to comply with the provisions of Minn.St.1971, § 466.05. Plaintiff appeals from the district court's order.1 We reverse.
Plaintiff alleges in his complaint that on or about March 3, 1972, a vehicle he was driving was struck from behind by a vehicle owned by Duluth and operated by Stalling. Legislation in effect at that time, Minn.St. 1971, § 466.05,2 which has since been amended, provided that no action for damages could be maintained against a municipality unless (1) notice of the claim was given within 30 days of the alleged loss, and (2) suit was commenced within 1 year after such notice.3 No notice of claim was given by plaintiff to Duluth, and suit was not commenced against Duluth until March 9, 1976, about 4 years after the accident. On February 3, 1978, at a pretrial conference, Duluth made an oral motion to dismiss the complaint against it on the ground that plaintiff had not complied with the provisions of Minn.St.1971, § 466.05. At that time, the district court orally granted Duluth's motion and on February 27, 1978, issued a written order to that effect.
In his complaint, plaintiff alleged that the statute in question was constitutionally infirm. Accordingly, on appeal plaintiff claims that the trial court erred by dismissing the complaint against Duluth because the notice of claim and commencement of suit provisions of Minn.St.1971, § 466.05, are unconstitutional. The Attorney General was notified of the constitutional challenge to the statute and has waived his right to intervene in this appeal. Amicus curiae briefs have been filed with the court by the Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association and the City of Minneapolis.
This case presents the following issues:
(1) Was there substantial compliance with the notice requirement of Minn.St. 1971, § 466.05, alleviating the necessity of reaching the constitutional issue?
(2) Is the commencement of suit provision of Minn.St.1971, § 466.05, as applied to a victim of an automobile accident, unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution?
1. It is undisputed by the parties that plaintiff did not comply with the express terms of the notice provision contained in Minn.St.1971, § 466.05. This, however, is not fatal to plaintiff's cause. If substantial compliance can be shown, the notice requirement of the statute will be satisfied. Kelly v. City of Rochester, 304 Minn. 328, 231 N.W.2d 275 (1975); Jenkins v. Board of Education of Minneapolis Special School Dist. No. 1, 303 Minn. 437, 228 N.W.2d 265 (1975); Seifert v. City of Minneapolis, 298 Minn. 35, 213 N.W.2d 605 (1973). This court recently held, in Kelly v. City of Rochester, supra, that a municipality's actual notice of a possible claim will constitute substantial compliance with the notice provision. As we stated there:
304 Minn. 333, 231 N.W.2d 278.
See, also, Ebel v. Village of South International Falls, 309 Minn. 580, 244 N.W.2d 496 (1976).
In this case, Stalling submitted a "vehicle collision report" to Duluth about two weeks after the accident, noting that plaintiff was apparently injured. Moreover, in automobile accident situations it is reasonable to assume that a municipality will receive actual notice of the incident from the employee involved in the accident. Indeed, the legislature has recognized this fact by no longer requiring notice of claims arising from motor vehicle collisions. Minn.St. 466.05, subd. 2. Accordingly, since Duluth had actual notice of a possible claim by plaintiff, we find that the notice requirement of Minn.St.1971, § 466.05, was satisfied and therefore we need not decide the constitutional validity of that portion of the statute. See, Housing and Redevelopment Authority of St. Paul v. Greenman, 255 Minn. 396, 96 N.W.2d 673 (1959).
2. It is clear, however, that plaintiff did not commence suit within 1 year of notice as required by the statute. We are, therefore, confronted with the constitutionality of this part of the statute.
Although never ruling directly on the question, in recent years this court has expressed great concern over the constitutionality of the provisions contained in Minn.St. 466.05. See, e. g., Olander v. Sperry & Hutchinson Co., 293 Minn. 162, 197 N.W.2d 438 (1972); Altendorfer v. Jandric, Inc., 294 Minn. 475, 199 N.W.2d 812 (1972); Jenkins v. Board of Education, 303 Minn. 437, 228 N.W.2d 265 (1975); Ebel v. Village of South International Falls, 309 Minn. 580, 244 N.W.2d 496 (1976); Kelly v. City of Rochester, 304 Minn. 328, 231 N.W.2d 275 (1975). For example, the Olander case, supra, was decided on statutory grounds, but we nevertheless noted that "* * * judicial patience should not be confused with judicial impotence, especially where constitutional rights may be concerned." 293 Minn. 164, 197 N.W.2d 440. Similarly, in Altendorfer, supra, without deciding the constitutional issue, this court recommended that the legislature give consideration to the situations in which the application of § 466.05 produces inequitable results, and we noted that "unlike an issue of purely statutory construction, judicial resolution of which becomes engrafted upon the statute by subsequent inaction of the legislature, the issue of the constitutionality of a statute is not so circumscribed." 294 Minn. 481, 199 N.W.2d 816. In the Jenkins decision, supra, three members of the court, by way of concurring opinions, went so far as to find the provisions of the statute unconstitutional. 303 Minn. 442, 228 N.W.2d 269.
In contrast to the judicial restraint exercised by this court, a growing number of courts have declared legislation similar in scope to that in consideration here to be constitutionally invalid under the Equal Protection Clause. See, Reich v. State Highway Department, 386 Mich. 617, 194 N.W.2d 700 (1972); Turner v. Staggs, 89 Nev. 230, 510 P.2d 879, certiorari denied 414 U.S. 1079, 94 S.Ct. 598, 38 L.Ed.2d 486 (1973); Hunter v. North Mason High School, 85 Wash.2d 810, 539 P.2d 845 (1975); O'Neil v. City of Parkersburg, W.Va., 237 S.E.2d 504 (1977). In addition, various commentators have persuasively reasoned that legislation analogous to that involved here constitutes a denial of equal protection of the laws. See, Note, 4 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 93, 113 (1978); Note, 60 Cornell L.Rev. 417 (1975); Comment, The Constitutionality of California's Public Entity Tort Claim Statutes, 6 Pac.L.J. 30 (1975).
U.S.Const. Amend. XIV, § 1, provides that no statute shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The purpose of this constitutional provision is to "* * * secure to every person the right to be free from arbitrary and intentional discrimination." Price v. Amdal, 256 N.W.2d 461, 468 (Minn.1977). Accordingly, the Equal Protection Clause requires that a legislative classification apply uniformly to all those similarly situated; that the distinctions separating those who are included within the classification from those who are excluded are not arbitrary or capricious, but instead are real and substantial; and that the classification is consonant with a lawful purpose. Schwartz v. Talmo, 295 Minn. 356, 205 N.W.2d 318, appeal dismissed 414 U.S. 803, 94 S.Ct. 130, 38 L.Ed.2d 39 (1973). See, also, State v. Knox, 311 Minn. 314, 250 N.W.2d 147 (1976).
The commencement of suit requirement of Minn.St.1971, § 466.05, in effect draws a distinction between municipal and private tortfeasors and consequently distinguishes between victims of governmental and nongovernmental wrongdoers. See, Reich v. State Highway Department, supra. For this legislative classification to be constitutionally valid, it must be rationally4 related to a legitimate governmental purpose. See, Davis v. Davis, 297 Minn. 187, 210 N.W.2d 221 (1973).
The claimed justifications for this commencement of suit provision are: (1) To provide the municipality with an early opportunity to investigate claims; (2) to facilitate settlement; (3) to correct any defects revealed by the occurrence; (4) to prevent stale and fraudulent claims; and (5) to aid in budget planning. See, Hirth v. Village of Long Prairie, 274 Minn. 76, 143 N.W.2d 205 (1966).
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