Scheideler v. Elias

• Decision Date: 07 August 1981
• Docket Number: No. 43316,43316
• Citation: 309 N.W.2d 67,209 Neb. 601
• Parties: Claire SCHEIDELER, Appellant, v. H. F. ELIAS and The Lutheran Hospital Society, Inc., of Beatrice, Nebraska, Appellees.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Page 67

309 N.W.2d 67

209 Neb. 601

Claire SCHEIDELER, Appellant, v. H. F. ELIAS and The Lutheran Hospital Society, Inc., of Beatrice, Nebraska, Appellees.

No. 43316.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

Aug. 7, 1981.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Summary Judgment. The issue on a motion for summary judgment is whether or not there is a genuine issue as to any material fact, and not how that issue should be determined. In considering such a motion, the trial court must take that view of the evidence most favorable to the party against whom summary judgment is directed, giving to that party the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be reasonably drawn from the evidence. Summary judgment is an extreme remedy and should be awarded only when the issue is clear beyond all doubt.

2. Releases: Tort-feasors. A release by an injured party of the tort-feasor responsible for the original injury does not, in the absence of language indicative of such an intention on the part of the parties, preclude an action by the injured party against a physician or hospital for negligent treatment of the original injury.

3. Releases: Tort-feasors. Two factors are controlling in determining the effect of an agreement purporting to operate as a release: (1) Whether the injured party has received full satisfaction; and (2) Whether the parties intended that the release be in full satisfaction of the injured party's claim, thus releasing all successive tort-feasors from liability. Such questions are for the trier of fact to decide.

Galloway, Wiegers, Sprouse & Heeney, Marysville, Kan., and K. E. Mahlin, Beatrice, for appellant.

Knudsen, Berkheimer, Beam, Richardson & Endacott, Lincoln, for appellees.

Heard before KRIVOSHA, C. J., and BOSLAUGH, McCOWN, CLINTON, BRODKEY, WHITE, and HASTINGS, JJ.

BRODKEY, Justice.

Claire Scheideler, the plaintiff and appellant herein, appeals to this court from a judgment entered by the District Court of Gage County, Nebraska, sustaining the joint motion of the defendants, H. F. Elias, M.D., and The Lutheran Hospital Society, Inc., of Beatrice, Nebraska, for summary judgment. We reverse and remand.

The factual background of this appeal is as follows. On June 17, 1974, the appellant was injured when the motorcycle he was riding collided with an automobile driven by Mrs. Lois Saathoff. The appellant received numerous lacerations and abrasions to his body and suffered a severe compound fracture of the right fibula. Scheideler was subsequently transported by ambulance to the Lutheran Hospital in Beatrice, Nebraska. Upon admission to the hospital, the appellant was treated by Dr. H. F. Elias.

Scheideler was hospitalized at Beatrice from June 17, 1974, through July 26, 1974, when he was dismissed to go home for a 2-day weekend. The appellant returned to the hospital on July 29, 1974, and remained under the care of Dr. Elias until he was finally discharged on August 26, 1974. Thereafter, the appellant was referred to a physical therapist for outpatient treatment. According to Scheideler, the physical therapist discovered that the appellant's right leg was an inch shorter than his left leg, and referred him back to Dr. Elias. On September 23, 1974, it was discovered that the appellant's right hip was dislocated. Dr. Elias referred Scheideler to an orthopedic surgeon in Lincoln, Nebraska, Dr. Gene Lewallen.

Scheideler was hospitalized at Bryan Memorial Hospital in Lincoln on October 4, 1974, where he was put into traction prior to surgery on his hip. On October 9, 1974, the appellant underwent a Charnley-Mueller total hip replacement in which his hip was reduced and replaced by a prosthesis. Scheideler was discharged from the hospital on October 21, 1974, and subsequently released by his surgeon, Dr. Lewallen, on September 9, 1975.

During the first week of his hospitalization at Lutheran Hospital in Beatrice following the June 17, 1974, accident, Scheideler was contacted by Rodney Arnett, a representative of the liability insurance carrier which insured Lois Saathoff, the driver of the vehicle which collided with the appellant's motorcycle. From that date until June 24, 1975, Scheideler and Arnett had continuing negotiations regarding the appellant's personal injury claim against the Saathoffs. On June 24, 1975, Scheideler signed a release in settlement of his claim against the Saathoffs and all others who "are or might be liable," for a consideration of $46,600.

This action commenced on June 11, 1976, when the appellant filed his petition alleging negligence on the part of the appellees in treating his injuries and in failing to diagnose the dislocated hip. Also named as a defendant to this action was Dr. Patrick Gillespie, a radiologist in Beatrice. Dr. Gillespie was subsequently dismissed as a party defendant upon oral application of the appellant. In their amended answer, Dr. Elias and the Lutheran Hospital alleged that the settlement and release executed by the appellant constituted a release of all claims asserted by Scheideler, thereby barring his claims against them as a matter of law.

Dr. Elias and the Lutheran Hospital filed a joint motion for summary judgment with the trial court; and on December 7, 1979, at the hearing on the motion, the court file containing all pleadings and discovery documents, the deposition of Claire Scheideler taken on August 2, 1977, and an affidavit of Claire Scheideler was received into evidence by the District Court. At the conclusion of the hearing, all parties stipulated on the record that judgment could be entered at chambers without further notification to the parties. On December 13, 1979, the District Court entered judgment granting the motion for summary judgment and dismissing the petition against both defendants. A subsequent motion for new trial was overruled by the trial court, and the appellant now appeals to this court.

In his brief on appeal, the appellant makes the following assignments of error: (1) The court erred in adopting as a rule of law that the defendant health care providers were not liable to the appellant because of his release of the original tort-feasor; (2) The court erred in not finding that the acts or failure to act on the part of the defendants represented a separate cause of action from any which the appellant had against the Saathoffs; (3) The court erred in finding that the release acknowledged full payment of all special and general damages sustained by the appellant; (4) The court erred in finding that there was no issue of material fact as to the release signed by appellant; (5) The court erred in finding there was no failure of meeting of the minds as to the nature and purpose of the release; (6) The court erred in applying the theory of law that contribution between joint tort-feasors should release all wrongdoers; and (7) The court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants as a matter of law.

The well-established rule governing the scope of review by this court of a summary judgment has been stated as follows: " 'The issue on a motion for summary judgment is whether or not there is a genuine issue as to any material fact, and not how that issue should be determined. In considering such a motion, the trial court must take that view of the evidence most favorable to the party against whom summary judgment is directed, giving to that party the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be reasonably drawn from the evidence.' " McDowell v. Rural Water Dist. No. 2, 204 Neb. 401, 410, 282 N.W.2d 594, 599 (1979). This court has also held that summary judgment is not appropriate, even where there are no conflicting evidentiary facts, if the ultimate inferences to be drawn from those facts are not clear. Metro. Tech. Community College v. South Omaha Industrial Park, 207 Neb. 472, 299 N.W.2d 535 (1980). Summary judgment is an extreme remedy and should be awarded only when the issue is clear beyond all doubt. Barnes v. Milligan, 196 Neb. 50, 241 N.W.2d 508 (1976); Farro v. Rubottom, 202 Neb. 120, 274 N.W.2d 149 (1979).

The primary issue raised on appeal is whether the complete release of an original tort-feasor bars an injured person from subsequently recovering from a treating physician for alleged acts of malpractice or negligent hospital treatment. The general release signed by Scheideler was a preprinted form containing blank spaces only for the amount of the consideration paid for the settlement, the names of the parties, the dates of the accident or occurrence for which the release was given, the location of the accident in question, and the date of the release, in addition to blank spaces for the signatures of the parties executing the release. The release in question, signed on June 24, 1975, by Scheideler, provided in pertinent part as follows: "RELEASE IN FULL FOR THE SOLE AND ONLY CONSIDERATION OF FORTY SIX THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED and no/100 (Dollars) ($46,600.00) to me/us paid, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, I/we hereby release and discharge William A. Saathoff and Lois Saathoff his successors and assigns, and all other persons, firms or corporations who are or might be liable, from all claims of any kind or character which I/we have or might have against him or them, and especially because of all damages, losses or injuries to person or property, or both, whether developed or undeveloped, known or unknown, resulting or to result from accident on or about the 17th day of June, 1974, at 1 mile west Highway 77 on State Line County road, Kansas-Nebraska line, and I/we hereby acknowledge full settlement and satisfaction of all claims of whatever kind or character which I/we may have against him or them by reason of the above mentioned damages, losses or injuries." (Emphasis supplied.)

In its judgment entered in this matter, the trial court, citing an annotation in 39 A.L.R.3d 26 (actually 39 A.L.R.3d 260, 263 (1971)), adopted and quoted the following: "As a general rule, it has been...