Turner v. Staggs

• Decision Date: 06 June 1973
• Docket Number: No. 6770,6770
• Citation: 89 Nev. 230,510 P.2d 879
• Parties: , 59 A.L.R.3d 81 Margaret TURNER, as Legal Guardian of Lionel Eugene Hollins et al., Appellants, v. Jack STAGGS et al., Respondents. Supreme, Court of Nevada
• Court: Nevada Supreme Court

Page 879

510 P.2d 879

89 Nev. 230, 59 A.L.R.3d 81

Margaret TURNER, as Legal Guardian of Lionel Eugene Hollins et al., Appellants, v. Jack STAGGS et al., Respondents.

No. 6770.

Supreme, Court of Nevada.

June 6, 1973.

Rehearing Denied June 25, 1973.

Charles L. Kellar, Las Vegas, for appellants.

Beckley, DeLanoy & Jemison, Las Vegas, for respondents Jack Staggs and Clark County.

James F. Pico, Las Vegas, for respondent Dr. H. Q. Adams.

OPINION

BATJER, Justice:

On October 1, 1966, Barbara Adams was admitted to the Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital with a chronic kidney infection and hypertensive cardiovascular disease, and she was discharged on October 14, 1966. She was readmitted and again discharged November 14, 1966, with the understanding that she would be transferred to Los Angeles, California, for further treatment. Three days later she became ill and died while being transported by ambulance to the hospital. James Y. Clarke, M.D., who performed the postmortem examination, diagnosed the immediate cause of death to be pulmonary edema and congestion due to probable acute renal insufficiency with uremia and electrolyte imbalance.

A claim was filed on behalf of the minor children of Barbara Adams with the Board of County Commissioners of Clark County, Nevada, on November 2, 1967. After rejection of the claim a complaint was filed on December 21, 1967, by Margaret Turner, as legal guardian for the minors ¹ against the Clark County Board of Commissioners, Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital ², Jack Staggs, Administrator thereof, Clark County and Dr. H. Q. Adams, for the wrongful death of Barbara Adams.

The cause of action against the board of county commissioners in their individual capacity was dismissed by summary judgment dated January 13, 1970, and no appeal has been taken from that judgment. The complaint against Clark County was dismissed on motion for summary judgment on August 6, 1971, for failure to present a timely claim pursuant to NRS 244.245 and NRS 244.250. ³ See also, NRS 41.031 and NRS 41.036. On August 25, 1971, the complaint against Jack Staggs was dismissed pursuant to NRCP 41(b). A trial was held on the alleged malpractice of Dr. H. Q. Adams and the jury returned a defense verdict.

In this appeal it is contended that the district court erred (1) in granting summary judgment in favor of Clark County and its hospital; (2) in dismissing the complaint against jack Staggs as administrator of Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital; ⁴ and (3) in giving certain instructions to the jury.

1. We cannot consider issues 2 and 3 because we have not been favored with a transcript of the proceedings in the district court, nor has the appellant submitted a settled and approved statement of the evidence or proceedings. NRCP 75(n).

2. We direct our attention to the summary judgment. The claim against Clark County was not filed until 13 months had elapsed after the death of Barbara Adams. NRS 244.250 requires that a claim against a county must be filed within 6 months after a cause of action arises.

In Barney v. County of Clark, 80 Nev. 104, 389 P.2d 392 (1964), this court held that the timely filing of a claim was a condition precedent to the commencement of an action against a county. Barney relied upon the reasoning in Artukovich v. Astendorf, 21 Cal.2d 329, 131 P.2d 831 (1942). Artukovich in turn relied in part on the principle that neither the state nor any of its political subdivisions may be sued in the absence of specific statutory permission. In 1965 the state of Nevada, acting through its legislature, waived its immunity from liability and action and consented to have its liability determined in accordance with the same rules of law as are applied to civil actions against individuals and corporations. Stats. of Nev., 1965, ch. 505, p. 1413, codified as NRS 41.031. Furthermore the enactment placed all political subdivisions in a similar position. NRS 41.031. ⁵

The requirement of giving notice presupposes the existence of an individual capable of giving it. McCrary v. City of Odessa, 482 S.W.2d 151 (Tax.1972). To hold otherwise would be to disregard reality. Cf. Walgreen Co. v. Industrial Commission, 323 Ill. 194, 153 N.E. 831 (1926); Lineberry v. Town of Mebane, 219 N.C. 257, 13 S.E.2d 429 (1941). NRS 244.245 contains no provision for the filing of a claim by anyone other than the claimant. At the time of their mother's death the minor children were between the ages of 5 and 13 years. In many jurisdictions children of tender years, because they are powerless to act, have been excused from compliance with notice provisions. Simpson v. City of Abilene, 388 S.W.2d 760 (Tex.Civ.App.1965), (7 years old). See also, City of Barnesville v. Powell, 124 Ga.App. 132, 183 S.E.2d 55 (1971), (4 years old); McDonald v. City of Spring Valley, 285 Ill. 52, 120 N.E. 476 (1918), (7 years old); Lazich v. Belanger, 111 Mont. 48, 105 P.2d 738 (1940), (7 years old); Murphy v. Village of Ft. Edward, 213 N.Y. 397, 107 N.E. 716 (1915), (5 years old); Webster v. City of Charlotte, 222 N.C. 321, 22 S.E.2d 900 (1942), (8 years old); 18 E McQuillin, The Law of Municipal Corporations § 53.159 (3rd rev.ed.1963).

We could conclude that minority alone will excuse compliance with the notice requirements of NRS 244.245 and NRS 244.250 (City of Houston v. Bergstrom, 468 S.W.2d 588 (Tex.Civ.App.1971); McCrary v. City of Odessa, supra; Grubaugh v. City of St. Johns, 384 Mich. 165, 180 N.W.2d 778 (1970)) and dispose of this case upon the ground that the notice requirements of our claim statutes violate the rights of these minors to the process guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. However, we believe that the notice of claim requirements found in NRS 244.245 and NRS 244.250 as applied to governmental torts deny equal protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution. ⁶

Within our present scheme of government, claim statutes serve no real beneficial use (Grubaugh v. City of St. Johns, supra) but they are indeed a trap for the unwary. NRS 41.038(1). If we follow Barney, they minor's cause of action will be barred. They will be precluded from enforcing a liability created by statute for their benefit. Such construction of NRS 244.245 creates invidious discrimination and amounts to a denial of due process and equal protection of the law.

The court in Artukovich claims to have been following the 'great weight of authority,' and that may have been true in 1942, but since then, many jurisdictions have limited or abandoned the doctrine of sovereign immunity, either by legislative enactments or judicial decisions. Likewise, claim statutes have been found to violate the equal protection provision of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and have been declared unconstitutional. Reich v. State Highway Department, 386 Mich. 617, 194 N.W.2d 700 (1972); Friedman v. Farmington Township School District, 40 Mich.App. 197, 198 N.W.2d 785 (1972); Crook v. Patterson, 42 Mich.App. 241, 201 N.W.2d 676 (1972).

The stated object of NRS 41.031 is to waive the immunity of governmental units and agencies from liability for injuries caused by their negligent conduct, thus putting them on an equal footing with private tort-feasors. However, the notice provisions of NRS 244.245 and NRS 244.250 have the effect of arbitrarily dividing all tort-feasors into classes of tort-feasors: (1) private tort-feasors to whom no notice of claim is owed and (2) governmental tort-feasors to whom notice is owed.

In Reich v. State Highway Dept., supra, the Michigan Supreme Court said: 'This diverse treatment of members of a class along the lines of governmental or private tort-feasors bears no reasonable relationship under today's circumstances to the recognized purpose of the act. It constitutes an arbitrary and unreasonable variance in the treatment of both portions of one natural class and is, therefore, barred by the constitutional guarantees of equal protection.

'Just as the notice requirement by its operation divides the natural class of negligent tort-feasors, so too the natural class of victims of negligent conduct is also arbitrarily split into two subclasses; victims of governmental negligence who must meet the requirement, and victims of private negligence who are subject to no such requirement.' 194 N.W.2d at 702.

Contrary to the mandate of Art. 8, § 5 of the Nevada Constitution ⁷ and the intention of the legislature to place victims of negligent conduct on equal footing (NRS 41.031), failure to give the 6 month statutory notice arbitrarily bars the victims of governmental tort while the victims of private tort suffer no such bar.

Such arbitrary treatment clearly violates the equal protection guarantees of the United States Constitution. See Art. 1, § 2, Nevada Constitution.

The statutory provisions of this state which provide that no person shall sue a governmental entity of this state for a demand arising out of governmental tort unless he first presents a claim within 6 months from the time such tort occurred are void and of no effect.

The judgment of the district court dismissing the complaint against Clark County is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings.

The judgment dismissing the complaint against Jack Staggs and the judgment entered in favor of Dr. H. Q. Adams, pursuant to a jury verdict, are affirmed.

GUNDERSON, J., concurs.

ZENOFF, Justice (concurring):

I agree with Justices Batjer and Gunderson that the questioned statute is unconstitutional. I add, however, my additional thoughts for I belive that we can consider this case and reach the same result for the further reasons stated. For the purpose of these stated reasons I respectfully recite the facts in my own manner in order to provide the posture which will be explained.

A complaint was filed December 21, 1967 against the Clark County Commissioners, Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital, Jack Staggs,...