Williams v. Meeker N. Dawson Nursing, LLC

• Decision Date: 17 December 2019
• Docket Number: No. 115,360,115,360
• Citation: 455 P.3d 908
• Parties: Ryan WILLIAMS, individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Lorri Williams Plaintiff/Appellant, v. MEEKER NORTH DAWSON NURSING, LLC, d/b/a Meeker Nursing Center, Defendant/Appellee.
• Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court

455 P.3d 908

Ryan WILLIAMS, individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Lorri Williams Plaintiff/Appellant,

v.MEEKER NORTH DAWSON NURSING, LLC, d/b/a Meeker Nursing Center, Defendant/Appellee.

No. 115,360

Supreme Court of Oklahoma.

FILED December 17, 2019

Deligans, R. Ryan (Bar # 19793), Gerald E. Durbin II (Bar # 2552), Lane R. Neal (Bar # 22246), DURBIN, LARIMORE & BIALICK, 920 North Harvey, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, for Plaintiff/Appellant

Craig L. Box (Bar # 10212), P.O. Box 1549, Enid, OK 73702, for Defendant/Appellee

Michael E. Smith (Bar # 8391), Money, Eric (Bar # 22654), GUNGOLL & JACKSON, 101 Park Ave Suite 1400, Oklahoma City, OK 73102, for Defendant/Appellee

COLBERT, J.

¶1 This is an interlocutory appeal arising from a wrongful death action over the decision to vacate a default judgment. Plaintiff/Appellant, Ryan Williams, individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Lorri Williams (Williams), appeals from the decision below to grant a Petition to Vacate Judgment of default judgments placed against Defendant/Appellee, Meeker North Dawson Nursing, LLC (Meeker). Both lower courts agreed with Meeker's contentions that Meeker correctly filed the Petition to Vacate Judgment, never had "actual knowledge" of the litigation that led to the default judgment, and that the damages awarded after the default judgment were in excess of damages allowed by statute.¹ Williams contends that the Petition to Vacate Judgment should be denied, as Meeker failed to provide evidence of an unavoidable casualty or misfortune as required by statute to justify the vacation of a default judgment under Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1031.² Having retained the appeal, this Court now considers the validity of the decision to vacate the default judgment by examining the trial court proceedings below. The COCA opinion is vacated, and the trial court's opinion is reversed in part and remanded for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

¶2 Williams is the son of Lorri Williams (Decedent). Prior to her death, Decedent was an elderly and disabled patient at the Meeker Nursing Center. The Meeker Nursing Center is located in Meeker, Oklahoma, and is operated by Meeker North Dawson Nursing, LLC, an entity domiciled in the State of Georgia. Meeker Nursing Center is the principal place of business of Meeker North Dawson Nursing, LLC. Meeker's registered agent, the Corporation Company, is listed with the Oklahoma Secretary of State.

¶3 On November 1, 2013, while under the care of Meeker, Decedent was wheeled outside of the nursing facility for fresh air by a Meeker employee and left unattended. Meeker's employees failed to check on or retrieve her from outside. Decedent, blind and wheelchair bound, got cold and tried to push herself back inside the center. In doing so, she fell out of her wheelchair onto the concrete and was injured. Eventually, an individual passing by in a vehicle saw Decedent lying on the ground, got out of his vehicle, and helped her into her chair and back into the facility, at which point she was transported by ambulance to the hospital.

¶4 Following the incident, Decedent allegedly began to have health issues relating to a leg injury that resulted from the incident, including her leg becoming infected and developing sepsis, which eventually caused Decedent's organs to shut down, thereby causing her death on March 9, 2015. Prior to Decedent's death and the commencement of this lawsuit, Decedent's former counsel sent a letter directly to the Meeker Nursing Center in September of 2014, communicating the intent to file a suit for the negligent care received by Decedent, asking Meeker to contact their insurance company, and requesting a response from Meeker. Neither Decedent nor her attorney received a response from Meeker.

¶5 On October 27, 2015, following the death of Decedent, Williams filed suit in Lincoln County against Meeker, claiming that Decedent suffered an injury to her left leg while under the care of Meeker in November 2013. Williams alleged that this injury ultimately led, in part, to Decedent's death. Williams contended that Meeker violated the Federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, the Oklahoma Nursing Home Care Act, Okla. Stat. tit. 63, §§ 1-1901 et seq., and 48 C.F.R. § 3. Williams finally alleged that Meeker was negligent in its care of Decedent, and that Meeker was negligent in the hiring, training, and supervision of its employees. Williams served the Petition and Summons on Meeker's registered agent, the Corporation Company,³ on November 3, 2015, by certified mail in accordance with service of process on an Oklahoma corporation. Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 2004(C)(1)(c)(3).⁴

¶6 After Meeker failed to respond to the Petition and Summons, Williams filed a motion for default judgment on December 21, 2015. The trial judge denied the motion, ordering Williams to serve Meeker again. On January 5, 2016, Williams hired a process server who successfully served Meeker's registered agent by delivering a copy of the Summons, Petition, and Entry of Appearance to the registered agent at the Corporation Company. After failing a second time to make an appearance or file a response to service of process, on January 26, 2016, the trial court granted Williams' second motion for default judgment.

¶7 On January 28, 2016, following an order for default judgment, Williams next proceeded to file for a hearing on damages. Williams properly served Meeker by certified mail to Meeker's registered agent, the Corporation Company, but again received no response from Meeker or their registered agent. On March 9, 2016, the hearing on damages was held, where Meeker failed to appear, although being properly served. The trial court allowed Williams to present evidence of both the Proof of Service and damages. The trial court awarded Williams damages in the amount of $3,020,055.42.

¶8 In total, Meeker failed to respond to Decedent's former attorney's notification of imminent lawsuit while Decedent was still living in September 2014, the initial Petition and Summons from Williams on November 3, 2015, the second service of process from Williams on January 5, 2016, the service of process for the hearing on damages on January 28, 2016, and finally did not appear at the hearing on damages on March 9, 2016.

¶9 On June 30, 2016, the trial court issued an Order to Appear and Answer as to Assets and Forbidding Transfer or Other Disposition of Property to the Defendant. Williams served a copy of the Order to Appear to multiple addresses of Meeker between July 8, 2016, and July 11, 2016. An attorney for Meeker finally responded by personal email on July 13, 2016, 253 days after the initial service of process, asking for a copy of the Petition. On August 2, 2016, 280 days after the initial service of process, the attorney for Meeker filed an Entry of Appearance and Verified Petition to Vacate Judgment and for Temporary Restraining Order and Temporary Injunction. On August 17, 2016, the trial court granted Meeker's Petition to Vacate Judgment over Williams's objection. Thereafter, Williams appealed. The COCA affirmed the trial court's ruling on July 14, 2017. Plaintiff then filed a Petition for Certiorari, which was granted by this Court on November 6, 2017.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶10 A trial court's decision to vacate a judgment is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Ferguson Enters., Inc. v. H. Webb Enters., Inc., 2000 OK 78, ¶ 5, 13 P.3d 480, 482. An abuse of discretion occurs "when the decision is based on an erroneous interpretation of the law, on factual findings that are unsupported by proof, or represents an unreasonable judgment in weighing relevant factors." Okla. City Zoological Tr. v. State ex rel. Pub. Emps. Relations Bd., 2007 OK 21, ¶ 5, 158 P.3d 461, 464. An order vacating a default judgment will not be disturbed on appeal unless it clearly appears that the trial court has abused its sound legal discretion. Midkiff v. Luckey, 1966 OK 49, ¶ 6, 412 P.2d 175, 176 (quoting State Life Ins. Co. v. Liddell et al., 1936 OK 662, ¶ 14, 178 Okla. 114, 61 P.2d 1075, 1078 ). A much stronger showing of abuse of discretion must be made where a judgment has been set aside than where it has been refused. Id.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Petition to Vacate Judgment

¶11 Title 12 of the Oklahoma Statutes clearly specifies the procedure for a trial court to vacate or modify judgments. If more than thirty (30) days have passed since the filing of a judgment, proceedings to vacate or modify a judgment must be done in conformance with Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1033,⁵ unless all parties approve the proceedings. See, Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1031.1. Under § 1033, proceedings to vacate judgments pursuant to situations listed in § 1031 must be made by verified petition, setting forth a defense to the action, and served with duly issued summons. Meeker's Petition to Vacate Judgment adheres to the statutory provisions provided by § 1033.

B. Vacation of Judgment

¶12 This Court has consistently viewed default judgments with disfavor, preferring, "whenever possible, that litigating parties be allowed their day in court so that a decision on the merits may be reached." Feely v. Davis, 1989 OK 163, ¶ 16, 784 P.2d 1066, 1070. However, this general disfavor of default judgments does not eliminate default judgments altogether, as a party petitioning for a vacation of judgment must prove more than just a general disfavor of default judgments. By statute, default judgments may be vacated or modified in nine circumstances, as listed in Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 1031. To vacate a default judgment, the petitioning party must present evidence to prove the elements of the § 1031 subsection, rather than testifying to the merits of the case itself. In the Petition to Vacate Judgment, Meeker claimed only two of the nine circumstances. In support of the Petition to Vacate Judgment, Meeker presented testimony of a registered nurse and Meeker's in-house counsel. After hearing the...