Morgan County Hosp. v. Upham

• Decision Date: 11 April 2008
• Docket Number: No. 55A04-0706-CV-316.,55A04-0706-CV-316.
• Citation: 884 N.E.2d 275
• Parties: MORGAN COUNTY HOSPITAL, Richard J. Eisenhut, M.D., Unity Physicians, Kendrick Family Practice, and Donald Baird, D.O., Appellants, v. Maria UPHAM, as Surviving Spouse and Personal Representative of the Estate of Wilbur A. Upham, Deceased, Appellee.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

884 N.E.2d 275

MORGAN COUNTY HOSPITAL, Richard J. Eisenhut, M.D., Unity Physicians, Kendrick Family Practice, and Donald Baird, D.O., Appellants, v. Maria UPHAM, as Surviving Spouse and Personal Representative of the Estate of Wilbur A. Upham, Deceased, Appellee.

No. 55A04-0706-CV-316.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

April 11, 2008.

Robert Ziegler, Edna M. Koch, Ziegler Cohen & Koch, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellants Morgan County Hospital, Richard J. Eisenhut, M.D., and Unity Physicians.

Peter H. Pogue, Catherine L. Kyle, Schultz & Pogue, LLP, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellant Kendrick Family Practice and Donald Baird, D.O.

Karen Neiswinger, Indianapolis, IN, Attorney for Appellee.

OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

Morgan County Hospital, Dr. Richard J. Eisenhut, Unity Physicians, Kendrick Family Practice, and Dr. Donald Baird (collectively Appellants) appeal the trial court's denial of their motions for summary judgment on Maria Upham's claims relating to the death of her husband Wilbur A. Upham. Appellants raise the following restated issue: Did the trial court properly deny Appellants' motions for summary judgment?

We affirm.

In April 1997, Upham's husband Wilbur died from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Upham was appointed as the personal representative of Wilbur's estate and filed a complaint with the Indiana Department of Insurance against Appellants, Wilbur's healthcare providers, alleging a claim for wrongful death on June 2, 1998. Thereafter, Appellants served interrogatories upon Upham. In her interrogatory answers, provided to Appellants on November 4, 1998, Upham stated that she had never filed for bankruptcy. A Department of Insurance medical review panel issued an opinion in favor of Appellants on December 21, 2001, finding that the evidence did not support the conclusion that Appellants failed to meet the applicable standard of care.

On June 14, 2002, Upham, who was represented by counsel, filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana. As part of her petition, Upham completed a Statement of Financial Affairs and various schedules that asked for information about her property, income, and creditors. Upham signed the petition, schedules, and Statement of Financial Affairs under penalty of perjury averring that the information she provided in these documents was true and correct.

In the Statement of Financial Affairs, Upham was asked to "[l]ist all lawsuits & administrative proceedings you were a party to within 1 year of today, whether as a plaintiff or defendant or other party: include divorces, injury claims, employment claims and all others." Appellant's Appendix, Vol. 1 at 37. Upham listed two actions. The first was a collection claim filed by Plainfield Tire Center against Upham in Hendricks Superior Court 3. The second was a mortgage foreclosure action filed against Upham in the Morgan Circuit Court. Upham did not list her claims against Appellants.

Under schedule B of the bankruptcy petition, Upham was asked to disclose all "[c]ontingent and [n]on-contingent interests in estate of decedent...." Id. at 43. Upham responded, "None". Id. Schedule B also asked Upham to list any "[o]ther contingent and unliquidated claims of every nature...." Id. Upham did not identify any other claims.

Upham filed the instant action against Appellants on November 15, 2002. Thereafter, on January 21, 2005, Upham filed an Amended Declaration with the bankruptcy court. Upham did not disclose in her Amended Declaration her action against Appellants.

Appellants deposed Upham on September 13, 2006. During the deposition, Upham testified that she filed for bankruptcy in 2002. At that time, Upham had not amended her 1998 interrogatory answers to reflect that she had filed for bankruptcy.

As of September 2006, Upham's bankruptcy action remained open. After her deposition, Upham filed a motion with the bankruptcy court informing it of her action against Appellants. On October 24, 2006, the bankruptcy court issued an order specifying that any sums recovered from Upham's action against Appellants must be reported to the court and the trustee and would be distributed to Upham's creditors.

The Appellants filed motions for summary judgment in the fall of 2006. Each of the Appellants argued they were entitled to summary judgment because (1) Upham did not have standing to bring her claims;¹ and (2) judicial estoppel barred Upham's claims because she failed to disclose her action against the Appellants to the bankruptcy court. In responding to Appellants' motions for summary judgment, Upham submitted her affidavit, which states as follows:

I did not list [the instant] case as an asset when I filed bankruptcy. This was a mistake on my part, but I did not intend to mislead the bankruptcy court or my creditors that I had a possible asset available to satisfy my debts. When the attorney for Dr. Eisenhut asked me about bankruptcy, I admitted that I had filed bankruptcy. After my deposition, my attorney promptly contacted the bankruptcy trustee and notified the bankruptcy court. We requested the bankruptcy court to approve this lawsuit continuing with the understanding that my attorney will turn over any money I might receive to the bankruptcy trustee after payment of attorney fees and expenses. In my bankruptcy, I did list lawsuits in which I was being sued or there was a judgment against me, because I understood that the purpose of bankruptcy was to protect me from judgment and garnishments and to make payments as ordered. I did not fully understand that a malpractice claim that had been on file for many years, and for which there was no guarantee that I would win or it would ever produce money, is still considered to be an asset. I am sorry for this mistake, which was the result of a misunderstanding on my part, and have taken steps to correct my error.

Appellant's Appendix, Vol. 1 at 199-200.

The trial court held a hearing on Appellants' motions for summary judgment on December 15, 2006. It then issued an order on January 4, 2007 that provides as follows:

The Court finds the Robson v. Texas Eastern Corp., 883 N.E.2d [sic] (Ind. App.2005[)] opinion is on point.

* * *

The Court now because of all it's [sic] statements on record, and its interpretation of Robson grants summary judgment on all motions that apply to the issue of failure to disclose in the filing of the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and finds that "judicial estoppel applies to plaintiff's claims," and that the plaintiff is estopped from pursuing her claim against [Appellants].

Id. at 21. On January 16, 2007, Upham filed a motion to correct error/motion to reconsider asking the trial court to reconsider its January 4, 2007 ruling. The trial court held a hearing on Upham's motion on March 14, 2007, and on April 9, 2007 issued an order granting Upham's motion to correct error/motion to reconsider and denied Appellants' motions for summary judgment. The trial court certified the case for interlocutory appeal, we accepted jurisdiction, and this appeal ensued.

Our standard of review for a summary judgment order is well settled. Summary judgment is appropriate if the "designated evidentiary matter shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Ind. Trial Rule 56(C). The moving party bears the burden of making a prima facie showing that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Huntington v. Riggs, 862 N.E.2d 1263 (Ind.Ct.App.2007), trans. denied. If the moving party meets these two requirements, the burden shifts to the nonmovant to set forth specifically designated facts showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. Id. "A genuine issue of material fact exists where facts concerning an issue which would dispose of the litigation are in dispute or where the undisputed material facts are capable of supporting conflicting inferences on such an issue." Huntington v. Riggs, 862 N.E.2d at 1266.

"On appeal, we are bound by the same standard as the trial court, and we consider only those matters which were designated at the summary judgment stage." Id. We do not reweigh the evidence, and we will liberally construe all designated evidentiary material in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial. Huntington v. Riggs, 862 N.E.2d 1263.

Appellants argue that the trial court erred in denying their motions for summary judgment. Appellants specifically contend that Upham's action against them is subject to judicial estoppel because Upham did not disclose this action as an asset in her bankruptcy proceeding.

Judicial estoppel is a judicially created doctrine that seeks to prevent a litigant from asserting a position that is inconsistent with one asserted in the same or a previous proceeding. Robson v. Texas E. Corp., 833 N.E.2d 461 (Ind.Ct.App. 2005), trans. denied. "Judicial estoppel is not intended to eliminate all inconsistencies; rather, it is designed to prevent litigants from playing `fast and loose' with the courts. The primary purpose of judicial estoppel is not to protect litigants but to protect the integrity of the judiciary." Id. at 466 (citations omitted). "The basic principle of judicial estoppel is that, absent a good explanation, a party should not be permitted to gain an advantage by litigating on one theory and then pursue an incompatible theory in subsequent litigation." Id. "Judicial estoppel only applies to intentional misrepresentation, so the dispositive issue supporting the application of judicial estoppel is the bad-faith intent of the litigant subject to estoppel." Id.

"Judicial estoppel is applicable when a bankrupt debtor fails to disclose a cause of action as an asset in bankruptcy proceedings and then pursues the omitted cause...