Vaughn v. Northwest Airlines, Inc.

• Decision Date: 16 April 1996
• Docket Number: No. C7-95-2459,C7-95-2459
• Citation: 546 N.W.2d 43
• Parties: , 8 NDLR P 29 Sadie Pearl VAUGHN, Appellant, v. NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC., Respondent.
• Court: Minnesota Court of Appeals

Page 43

546 N.W.2d 43

16 A.D.D. 733, 8 NDLR P 29

Sadie Pearl VAUGHN, Appellant, v. NORTHWEST AIRLINES, INC., Respondent.

No. C7-95-2459.

Court of Appeals of Minnesota.

April 16, 1996.

Review Granted June 11, 1996.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Discrimination claims brought under the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 U.S.C.A § 41705 (West Supp.1995), and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (1988), are limited by Minnesota's six-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, Minn.Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(5) (1992), and not by the one-year statute of limitations provided in the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

2. A district court may, in the exercise of discretion, dismiss a plaintiff's motion to compel discovery and grant summary judgment to the defendant where a plaintiff has had sufficient time and opportunity to conduct discovery, but has failed to produce evidence essential to her claim for relief at the time the motion for summary judgment is heard.

3. An action for common law negligence is not preempted by the Minnesota Human Rights Act even where a parallel claim, arising out of the same set of facts, exists under the Act.

Appeal from District Court, Hennepin County; Bruce Hartigan, Judge. No. 9415995.

Michael C. Hager, Larry Leventhal & Associates, Minneapolis, for Appellant.

Donald C. Mark, Jr., Brian R. Sattler, Richard L. Pemberton, Jr., Meagher & Geer, P.L.L.P., Minneapolis, for Respondent.

Considered and decided by DAVIES, P.J., and PARKER and SCHUMACHER, JJ.

OPINION

PARKER, Judge.

Appellant Sadie Vaughn argues that the district court erred by: (1) borrowing a one-year state statute of limitations and applying it to her federal claims under the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 U.S.C.A. § 41705, and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794; (2) granting summary judgment to respondent Northwest Airlines on the Rehabilitation Act claim due to her failure to present sufficient evidence of a federally funded program; and (3) dismissing her negligence claim on the ground that it was identical to a Minnesota Human Rights Act claim that was barred by the Act's one-year statute of limitations. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

FACTS

In October 1992, appellant Sadie Vaughn allegedly sustained a permanent and debilitating injury to her left shoulder while boarding a Northwest Airlines (NWA) flight. Vaughn claims that she was at that time "disabled" under both the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 U.S.C.A. § 41705 (ACAA), and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794.

Vaughn alleges that on the day of her injury she arrived at the airport and presented five items of luggage to an agent at NWA's baggage check-in counter. She claims that the NWA agent erroneously informed her that she could check only two items without paying a significant penalty and that she disagreed with the agent, informed her that she was disabled, and asked if she could speak to someone else. The agent declined further assistance, and because Vaughn could not produce the penalty fee, she was required to carry one of her heavy pieces of luggage in addition to her two lighter pieces of carry-on luggage.

Vaughn arrived at her gate by motorized transport. She requested assistance from three NWA employees who were servicing her flight, but she was unable to obtain any help in carrying her bags onto the plane. She claims that she was declined assistance by the motorized cart operator, the agent at the gate, and the flight attendant at the front of the cabin.

By lifting, carrying, and stowing her own luggage, Vaughn has allegedly incurred a permanent left shoulder injury, diagnosed by her physician as a frozen shoulder. Her injury has caused her extreme pain and has required extensive medical treatment. She is unable to perform many daily routine tasks and has had to obtain assistance from others. In addition, Vaughn claims that due to her injury, she has been unable to work, and it appears that she may never be able to work again.

ISSUES

I. Did the district court apply the correct statute of limitations in finding that Vaughn's federal claims were time-barred?

II. Did Vaughn provide sufficient evidence on the issue of federal funding to avoid summary judgment on her Rehabilitation Act claim?

III. Is Vaughn's common law negligence claim preempted by the Minnesota Human Rights Act and thus barred by the Act's one-year statute of limitations?

DISCUSSION

I.

Vaughn commenced her suit against NWA two years from the date of her injury. She brought claims under both the Air Carrier Access Act, 49 U.S.C.A. § 41705 (West Supp.1995), and the Rehabilitation Act, 29 U.S.C. § 794 (1988), in addition to a common law negligence claim. Neither federal statute, however, provides a limitations period for such claims. The district court dismissed both of her federal claims, primarily on the ground that they were untimely under a one-year statute of limitations, which the district court borrowed from the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Vaughn argues that the district court erred by applying the one-year statute of limitations from the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minn.Stat. § 363.06, subd. 3 (1992), instead of Minnesota's six-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions, Minn. Stat. § 541.05, subd. 1(5) (1992), which she argues is the applicable statute of limitations under current federal case law.

A reviewing court is not bound by and need not give deference to a trial court's decision on a purely legal issue. Frost-Benco Elec. Ass'n v. Minnesota Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 358 N.W.2d 639, 642 (Minn.1984). Accordingly, this court reviews the present statute of limitations question de novo.

When state statutes of limitations are borrowed and applied to federal claims, "the problem of characterization 'is ultimately a question of federal law.' " Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 269-70, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 1943, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985) (quoting Auto Workers v. Hoosier Cardinal Corp., 383 U.S. 696, 706, 86 S.Ct. 1107, 1113, 16 L.Ed.2d 192 (1966)).

Only the length of the limitations period, and closely related questions of tolling and application are to be governed by state law.

* * *

Congress surely did not intend to assign to state courts and legislatures a conclusive role in the formative function of defining and characterizing the essential elements of a federal cause of action.

Wilson, 471 U.S. at 269, 105 S.Ct. at 1943.

In this case, the principal authorities relied on by the district court were Board of Regents v. Tomanio, 446 U.S. 478, 100 S.Ct. 1790, 64 L.Ed.2d 440 (1980), and Wilson v. Garcia, 471 U.S. 261, 105 S.Ct. 1938, 85 L.Ed.2d 254 (1985). Tomanio involved an action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, a federal statute that has no accompanying statute of limitations. Tomanio, 446 U.S. at 483, 100 S.Ct. at 1794. In that case, the United States Supreme Court noted that "[w]hen such a void occurs, this Court has repeatedly 'borrowed' the state law of limitations governing an analogous cause of action." Id. at 483-84, 100 S.Ct. at 1795. The Court noted:

In 42 U.S.C. § 1988, Congress "quite clearly instructs [federal courts] to refer to state statutes" when federal law provides no rule of decision for actions brought under § 1983.

Id. (quoting Robertson v. Wegmann, 436 U.S. 584, 98 S.Ct. 1991, 56 L.Ed.2d 554 (1978)) (alteration in original).

The Tomanio Court also re-affirmed

the general principle that [when] there [is] no specifically stated or otherwise relevant federal statute of limitations for the federal substantive claim created by Congress * * *, "the controlling period * * * ordinarily [is] the most appropriate one provided by state law."

Id. (quoting Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 421 U.S. 454, 462, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 1721, 44 L.Ed.2d 295 (1975)). The Tomanio court ultimately held that the district court was obligated to apply not only the analogous state statute of limitations, but also the state rule for tolling that statute of limitations. Id. at 491-92, 100 S.Ct. at 1798-99.

In Wilson v. Garcia, the Supreme Court held that claims brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 were most appropriately characterized as personal injury claims, and thus New Mexico's three-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims was applicable to such actions. 471 U.S. at 280, 105 S.Ct. at 1949. Recognizing the broad range of actions that can be brought under section 1983, ranging from desegregation to allegations of police brutality, Justice O'Connor severely criticized the majority, who she believed "perceived a need for uniformity and has simply seized the opportunity to legislate it" by holding that one state statute in each state shall control all section 1983 claims. Id. at 284, 105 S.Ct. at 1951 (O'Connor, J., dissenting). She noted the history of federal courts of appeal and state court decisions that "have continued the settled practice of seeking appropriate factual analogies for each genus of § 1983 claim." Id. at 282, 105 S.Ct. at 1950 (citations omitted) (emphasis added). Despite this history of precedent, she wrote,

the Court suddenly discovers that § 1988 "is fairly construed as a directive to select, in each State, the one most appropriate statute of limitations for all § 1983 claims."

Id. at 284, 105 S.Ct. at 1951 (quoting the majority 471 U.S. at 275, 105 S.Ct. at 1947). Justice O'Connor concluded her dissent by writing:

I would reverse the Court of Appeals' scholarly but ultimately flawed attempt to impose a single state limitations period for all § 1983 claims. Because I would apply the statute of limitations New Mexico applies to state claims directly analogous to the operative facts of this case, I respectfully dissent.

Id. at 287, 105 S.Ct. at 1953 (emphasis added).

In the present case, the court took a common sense approach to "borrowing" and applied the limitations period that Minnesota applies to claims directly analogous to the operative facts of this case. The district court borrowed the one-year statute of...