Wilson v. Krasnoff

• Decision Date: 20 June 1989
• Docket Number: No. 88-81-A,88-81-A
• Citation: 560 A.2d 335
• Parties: Susan J. WILSON et al., v. Charles J. KRASNOFF d/b/a Slade Real Estate and Development Co. v. Edwin G. SINGSEN et al. ppeal.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

Page 335

560 A.2d 335

Susan J. WILSON et al., v. Charles J. KRASNOFF d/b/a Slade Real Estate and Development Co. v. Edwin G. SINGSEN et al.

No. 88-81-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

June 20, 1989.

Joseph V. Cavanagh, Jr., Blish & Cavanagh, Gerald C. DeMaria and James A. Ruggieri, Higgins, Cavanagh & Cooney, Providence, for plaintiff.

Thomas D. Gidley, Gidley, Lovegreen & Sarli, Joseph A. Kelly, Carroll, Kelly & Murphy, Berndt W. Anderson, Roberts, Carroll, Feldstein & Tucker, Inc., Providence, for defendants.

OPINION

MURRAY, Justice.

This case is an appeal from a Superior Court judgment by the third-party plaintiff, Charles J. Krasnoff. In the original action, Susan Wilson fell and injured her back and leg on the stairway of a building owned by Krasnoff. Wilson and her husband sued Krasnoff. They later brought a second action against three doctors who treated Wilson for her leg and back injuries. These three physicians are the third-party defendants in the present action, Dr. Edwin G. Singsen, Dr. Touissant A. LeClercq, and Dr. Elie J. Cohen. In the first action, Krasnoff filed a third-party complaint against the doctors. The Wilsons settled their claims against Krasnoff and the three doctors. Thus the Wilsons are not parties in the present case. The third-party action, however, went to trial and is the case presently before us.

In the third-party action, Krasnoff claimed a right to statutory contribution and/or indemnity under the Uniform Contribution among Tortfeasors Act, G.L.1956 (1985 Reenactment) §§ 10-6-1 to 10-6-11. At the close of third-party plaintiff's case, four motions were made. First, Krasnoff made a motion to amend the complaint to add a claim for common-law indemnity. This motion to amend was denied. The other three motions were for a directed verdict made by each of the physicians. All of these motions were granted. The third-party plaintiff appeals, claiming that the rulings on the four motions were error. We affirm the judgment below in its entirety.

The following facts are found in the record. The first event was Susan Wilson's fall. Susan Wilson worked for the Office of Hearings and Appeals for the Social Security Administration. The office was located in the Slade Building, which was undergoing extensive renovations. A coworker of Wilson's testified that at the time of the accident the back stairs of the building were in disrepair. He stated that he had reported the dangerous condition of the stairs and that the lip of one of the stairs had cracked completely off and was missing. Wilson also testified that the stairs were in disrepair, and that she had a vivid memory of her fall. She recounted that on June 5, 1981, she fell when she placed her foot on the step that was missing the lip and her foot flew out from under her. Wilson injured her back and leg in the fall.

The second relevant occurrence was Dr. Singsen's and Dr. Cohen's treatment of Wilson. On June 7, 1981, Wilson was admitted to Newport Hospital in Newport, Rhode Island, as a patient of Singsen. Wilson was suffering from severe back and leg pain. For her pain, Wilson was given morphine or Demerol, and probably Valium. She was given this medication up until the time of surgery. On the morning of June 13, 1981, Singsen visited Wilson in her hospital room. According to Wilson, he did not inform her at that time or any time previously that he was contemplating surgery. At approximately 4 p.m., Dr. Cohen came in and examined Wilson for about forty minutes. After the examination, Cohen recommended to Singsen that Wilson undergo surgery. At about 4:45 p.m., Wilson's dinner was served to her on a tray. Wilson testified that after she had taken a couple of bites of food, a nurse came into the room and grabbed the tray away from Wilson. The nurse told Wilson not to eat because she was going to surgery that evening, and took a fork with food on it out of Wilson's hand. Wilson testified that the nurse's statements were the first information she had received about the possibility of surgery. Singsen telephoned Wilson and said that surgery would have to be done that evening. At approximately 9 p.m., Singsen came to visit Wilson with papers for her to sign authorizing the operation. He told Wilson that a disk would have to be removed in her back or she could be permanently paralyzed. Wilson testified that she told Singsen that she did not want surgery, and questioned him as to whether there wasn't some alternative. Singsen replied that surgery was necessary or she would be permanently paralyzed. Wilson acquiesced, signed the papers, and the surgery began at 10:30 p.m. Singsen, with Cohen assisting, performed a laminectomy and diskectomy. A laminectomy is the removal of the lamina, one of the bones of the spine. A diskectomy is the removal of a cartilage disk from the spine.

When Singsen testified in regard to Wilson's surgery, he stated that he had discussed the possibility of surgery with Wilson prior to the evening it was done. Singsen disputed whether by 8 a.m. on June 13, 1981, he had ordered Wilson scrubbed for surgery. Counsel for the third-party plaintiff asked Singsen if he had decided to operate before bringing in Cohen as a consultant, and whether the purpose of the consultation was to bolster the medical records in case Singsen's judgment was questioned. Singsen denied these assertions. Counsel then read into the record the following colloquy from a deposition of Singsen:

"Q: [I]s the purpose of the consultant to * * * determine whether to do the disk operation?

"A: It's often just to further document the seriousness of the problem.

"Q: Why do you have to document it * * * ?

"A: It's so that * * * there is more than one opinion on the chart, so in the future * * * somebody can't say, 'Well, that was just your opinion, Doctor.' "

After reading from the deposition, counsel asked Singsen whether it had been read correctly. Singsen acknowledged that it had been. The third-party plaintiff's counsel made an offer of proof of expert testimony. The expert testimony would have been based upon x-rays, medical reports, hospital records, depositions, and other documents. The expert would have opined that when Susan Wilson fell she merely strained her back, that this strain was not a permanent injury, and that the surgery performed was unnecessary.

The third event occurred in November of 1981 when Wilson either reinjured her back getting off the toilet in the bathroom of her home or had a relapse of her previous condition. She suffered from constant and excruciating back and leg pain. In December of 1981 she was again hospitalized under Singsen's care, but after her discharge her pain persisted. Wilson stated that the pain became so severe that it was difficult for her to function. Since her fall, Wilson had not returned to work and was unable to do household chores in a normal manner. She stated that she was unable to concentrate sufficiently to read or even to watch television. Wilson testified:

"I remember having to strain to even listen to someone because I was hurting so much; it would just take my concentration away."

Wilson later sought treatment from Dr. Touissant LeClercq.

The fourth occurrence was LeClercq's treatment of Wilson. The Pain Clinic, Ltd., specialized in treating individuals with severe, chronic, back pain and was headed by LeClercq. Wilson first visited the clinic on January 29, 1982. LeClercq believed that Wilson's pain was caused by a herniated disk Wilson suffered after the bathroom incident in November. He performed further surgery and a spinal fusion. A spinal fusion is an operation in which vertebrae in the spine that were previously separate are fused. The third-party plaintiff's counsel made an offer of proof of expert testimony regarding LeClercq's treatment of Wilson. The expert would have opined that the November bathroom incident was also a strain and that, among other items of malpractice, the spinal fusion was unnecessary. Wilson testified that following the surgery, she complained to LeClercq from her hospital bed of numbness in her legs. LeClercq responded by looking up at the ceiling and stating "will whoever is holding Susan Wilson's legs please let them go." At trial, LeClercq denied having made this statement. Susan Wilson's hospital roommate, however, testified that she was present when LeClercq made the statement and her account was the same as Wilson's. Since this surgery, Wilson primarily has been confined to a wheelchair.

Wilson and her husband sued the owner of the building and three doctors who treated Wilson in two separate actions. After negotiations, the Wilsons settled their lawsuits, and released all four defendants (Krasnoff, Singsen, Cohen, and LeClercq) for one lump sum. This lump sum was paid by Krasnoff's liability-insurance carrier. Krasnoff then proceeded with his third-party action against the three physicians. The case was tried as an action for statutory contribution and/or indemnity under the Uniform Contribution among Tortfeasors Act §§ 10-6-1 to 10-6-11. At the close of his case, third-party plaintiff moved to amend his complaint to add a claim for common-law indemnity. The trial justice denied the motion. At this time, each of the doctors made a motion for a directed verdict. The trial justice granted each of these motions on the grounds that plaintiff had failed to establish a prima facie case of either contribution or indemnity under §§ 10-6-1 to 10-6-11.

There are five issues presented by this appeal. These are, first, what is the definition of a joint tortfeasor under the Uniform Contribution among Tortfeasors Act (the act), and second, whether third-party plaintiff placed sufficient evidence in the record to make a prima facie case of common-law indemnity. The third issue is whether the act creates a statutory right of indemnity and the fourth is whether the trial justice erred by denying third-party plaintiff's motion to amend his complaint...