Troxell v. RAINIER PUBLIC SCHOOL DIST.# 307

• Decision Date: 26 May 2005
• Docket Number: No. 74986-8.,74986-8.
• Citation: 154 Wn.2d 345,154 Wash.2d 345,111 P.3d 1173
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: Rebecca L. TROXELL, Respondent, v. The RAINIER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT # 307, Petitioner.

111 P.3d 1173

154 Wn.2d 345

154 Wash.2d 345

Rebecca L. TROXELL, Respondent, v. The RAINIER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT # 307, Petitioner.

No. 74986-8.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

Argued November 10, 2004.

Decided May 26, 2005.

Henry Andrew Saller, Tacoma, Neli Tzankova Espe, Anacortes, for Petitioner.

Mary Elizabeth Van Gemert, Seattle, Michael L. Ritchey, Thompson & Ritchey LLP, Robert E. Sabido, Thomas M. Christ, Cosgrave, Vergeer, Kester LLP, Portland, for Respondent.

OWENS, J.

¶ 1 RCW 4.96.020(4) forbids the commencement of a tort action against a local government defendant "until sixty days have elapsed after" the plaintiff files a claim notice with the local government entity. We must determine whether a plaintiff strictly complies with the statutorily prescribed "sixty-day period" if only 59 full calendar days intervene between the day the notice is filed and the day the legal action is commenced. Consistent with the general rule applicable to the computation of waiting periods, we hold that, by its plain language, RCW 4.96.020(4) requires that 60 calendar days must intercede between the dates on which a plaintiff files a tort claim notice and commences a lawsuit. Because the Court of Appeals erred in concluding that a complaint could be filed on the 60th day after the filing of the notice of claim, we reverse the Court of Appeals and affirm the trial court's summary dismissal of plaintiff Rebecca Troxell's suit against the Rainier Public School District # 307 (the District).

FACTS

¶ 2 At 3:35 p.m. on Monday, December 10, 2001, Troxell served on the District a tort claim notice pursuant to RCW 4.96.020. Troxell alleged in the notice that, on December 17, 1998, she fell in the unlighted parking lot at Rainier High School, injuring her left leg. The statute prescribes a waiting period between the filing of a notice of claim and the commencement of a lawsuit: "No action shall be commenced against any local governmental entity for damages arising out of tortious conduct until sixty days have elapsed after the claim has first been presented to and filed with the governing body thereof. The applicable period of limitations within which an action must be commenced shall be tolled during the sixty-day period." RCW 4.96.020(4) (emphasis added). Troxell commenced her action against the District on Friday, February 8, 2002, by filing a complaint at 11:29 a.m. in Thurston County Superior Court.¹

¶ 3 The District moved for summary judgment in April 2002, arguing that Troxell had commenced her action against the District prior to the expiration of the statutorily imposed 60-day waiting period. The trial court granted the District's motion on June 6, 2002. The court determined that there was "no genuine issue as to the material fact that Plaintiff commenced this lawsuit on the 60th day after the filing of the Tort Claim Notice and ... that because Plaintiff did not comply with RCW 4.96.020 the Defendant [was] entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Clerk's Papers at 68-69. Because the statute of limitations had run,² the trial court dismissed Troxell's complaint with prejudice.

¶ 4 Troxell appealed, but Court of Appeals Commissioner Eric B. Schmidt affirmed the trial court's summary dismissal of the suit, stating that "[t]he first day occurring after 60 days have elapsed is the sixty-first day, not the sixtieth day, following the filing of the tort claim notice." Ruling Affirming J. (Mar. 3, 2003) at 5. The Court of Appeals, however, granted Troxell's motion to modify Commissioner Schmidt's ruling and, in a published opinion, reversed the decisions of the trial court and Commissioner Schmidt. Troxell v. Rainier Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 307, 119 Wash.App. 361, 366, 80 P.3d 623 (2003). Although the Court of Appeals acknowledged that strict compliance with "the sixty-day period" of RCW 4.96.020(4) was required, the court concluded that the mandatory 60-day waiting period was satisfied by the passage of 59 calendar days between the filing dates of Troxell's claim notice and complaint. In holding that suit could be commenced at any time on the 60th calendar day after the filing date of the claim notice, the Court of Appeals necessarily determined that strict compliance required neither the passage of 60 calendar days nor the passage of 60 24-hour periods.

¶ 5 We granted the District's petition for review.

ISSUE

¶ 6 Under RCW 4.96.020(4), which forbids the commencement of a tort action "until sixty days have elapsed after" the filing of the notice of claim with the "local governmental entity," does a plaintiff strictly comply with the required "sixty-day period," where only 59 full calendar days intervene between the day notice is filed and the day suit is commenced?

ANALYSIS

¶ 7 Standard of Review. Appellate review of a trial court's decision on summary judgment is de novo. Castro v. Stanwood Sch. Dist. No. 401, 151 Wash.2d 221, 224, 86 P.3d 1166 (2004). A motion for summary judgment is properly granted where "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." CR 56(c). Because the material facts in this case—the dates on which Troxell filed her notice and her complaint—have never been disputed, our review of the trial court's summary dismissal of Troxell's complaint turns solely on the proper interpretation of RCW 4.96.020(4). As with all questions of law, the interpretation of a statute is reviewed de novo. Castro, 151 Wash.2d at 224, 86 P.3d 1166. When asked to resolve a question of statutory interpretation, this court's duty is "to discern and implement the intent of the legislature." State v. J.P., 149 Wash.2d 444, 450, 69 P.3d 318 (2003). The court must take as its "starting point . . . `the statute's plain language and ordinary meaning.'" Id. (quoting Nat'l Elec. Contractors Ass'n v. Riveland, 138 Wash.2d 9, 19, 978 P.2d 481 (1999)). An interpretation that produces "absurd consequences" must be rejected, since such results would belie legislative intent. State v. Vela, 100 Wash.2d 636, 641, 673 P.2d 185 (1983).

¶ 8 Computation of the Waiting Period Required under RCW 4.96.020(4). RCW 4.96.020(4) forbids the commencement of a tort action "until sixty days have elapsed after" the filing of the notice of claim with the "local governmental entity." As we observed in Medina v. Public Utility District No. 1 of Benton County, 147 Wash.2d 303, 53 P.3d 993 (2002), "[t]he purpose of RCW 4.96.020(4) is to establish a period of time for government defendants to investigate claims and settle those claims where possible." Id. at 317, 53 P.3d 993. In Medina, we held that, because "the legislature adopted a 60-day waiting period" to effect that purpose, plaintiffs must strictly comply with the statutory time requirement. Id. at 316-18, 53 P.3d 993.

¶ 9 Troxell contends that by filing her complaint on February 8, 2002, she strictly complied with the 60-day requirement. Troxell maintains that the "60-day clock" started ticking when she filed her tort claim notice (at 3:35 p.m. on December 10, 2001), that the first day of the waiting period was December 10 to 11, and that the 60th day was therefore February 7 to 8, 2002. Suppl. Br. of Resp't at 4. Troxell claims that, even though the clock started ticking when she served her notice at 3:35 p.m. on December 11, day 1 of the waiting period elapsed, not at 3:35 p.m., 24 hours later, but at 12:00 a.m. on December 12; in fact, by Troxell's reckoning, one day elapses in the period of time from 11:59:59 p.m. until 12:00:00 a.m. Asserting that day 60 elapses the moment day 60 arrives, Troxell essentially argues that strict compliance with the statutory 60-day waiting period requires the passage of 59 calendar days and any portion of day 60.

¶ 10 The Court of Appeals agreed with Troxell that "[s]ixty days elapsed on the 60th day, which [was] February 8, 2002," but the court and Troxell offered conflicting explanations of their counting methods. 119 Wash. App. at 366, 80 P.3d 623. Troxell stated "that 60 days ... elapsed on the 60th day, not counting the starting date." Suppl. Br. of Resp't at 1 (emphasis added). While Troxell thus excluded the starting date and counted the date on which suit was commenced, the Court of Appeals purported to "calculate the time elapsed to include the date of the filing of the notice and exclude the last date."³ Although Troxell and the Court of Appeals do not clearly agree on which filing date is to be included, they do have in common the need to count at least one of the two dates toward the 60-day waiting period, for if neither date were counted, they would be left with no more than the 59 intervening days.

¶ 11 In contrast, the District interprets the statute as mandating that a waiting period of 60 full calendar days must intervene between the filing of the tort claim notice and the commencement of suit; in other words, neither the filing date of the claim notice nor the date on which suit is commenced may be counted toward the 60-day period. Specifically, the District asserts that December 10, 2001, was excluded, contributing no time to the waiting period; that the 60 days in the waiting period included December 11, 2001, and ran through February 8, 2002; and that strict compliance with the statute thus precluded Troxell from filing suit prior to February 9, 2002.

¶ 12 At issue, then, is whether the statute imposes a waiting period of 60 full days, as the District contends, or may be satisfied by 59 days and some fraction of a 60th day, as Troxell maintains. We hold that the plain language of RCW 4.96.020(4) requires a waiting period of 60 full calendar days between the filing of the claim notice and the commencement of legal action. A day is commonly defined as the 24-hour period beginning at midnight. See WEBSTER'S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 578 (2002) (defining "day" as a "CIVIL DAY," "among most modern nations: the mean solar...