Case Title: Andrews v. City of Lincoln

Citation: 224 Neb. 748, 401 N.W.2d 467

Docket Number: 

State: nebraska

Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Date: 1987-02-20T00:00:00Z

Document:
401 N.W.2d 467 (1987) 224 Neb. 748 Richard ANDREWS, Appellee, v. CITY OF LINCOLN, Nebraska, a Municipal Corporation, Appellant. No. 85-351. Supreme Court of Nebraska. February 20, 1987. James D. Faimon, Asst. Lincoln City Atty., for appellant. Robert R. Gibson, Lincoln, for appellee. KRIVOSHA, C.J., and BOSLAUGH, WHITE, HASTINGS, CAPORALE, SHANAHAN, and GRANT, JJ. *468 SHANAHAN, Justice. From the judgment of the district court for Lancaster County, awarding Richard Andrews $11,856 and an attorney fee for Andrews' counsel, the City of Lincoln, a city of the primary class, see Neb.Rev.Stat. § 15-101 (Reissue 1983), has appealed. We reverse and remand with direction. Andrews, a city employee, filed his petition in the district court, seeking judgment against the city for "loss of employment, loss of wages, and humiliation and embarrassment" because the city had failed to perform its contract of employment with Andrews. In his petition, Andrews did not allege that he had filed a claim with the city regarding any amount sought to be recovered by his suit. Among its defenses, the city asserted that Andrews had failed to comply with the filing requirement of Neb.Rev.Stat. § 15-840 (Reissue 1983) concerning liquidated or unliquidated contract claims against a city of the primary class. After a trial on the merits, and notwithstanding absence of proof that Andrews had filed his claim with the city, the district court concluded that Andrews'"petition alleges a cause of action for an unliquidated claim in contract," and then awarded Andrews judgment for $11,856 and an attorney fee. Concerning claims against a city of the primary class, § 15-840 provides: Neb.Rev.Stat. § 15-841 (Reissue 1983) states in part: Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 15-1201 to 15-1205 (Reissue 1983) express the statutory provisions for an appeal to and hearing in the district court. The city assigns 20 errors regarding the district court's judgment, including the district court's failure to find that Andrews had not complied with § 15-840the requirement that all liquidated and unliquidated claims be filed in the office of the city clerk. Andrews responds that his Brief for Appellee at 16. There is no evidence, and Andrews does not contend, that any claim was filed by Andrews before he commenced the action in the district court. A contract claim against a city of the metropolitan class was involved in Bolan v. Boyle, 222 Neb. 826, 387 N.W.2d 690 (1986), when the plaintiffs, without first filing their claim with the appropriate municipal officer, brought an original action in *469 the district court to collect wages for overtime. In Bolan we stated: Id. at 827-28, 387 N.W.2d at 691-92. In Bolan we concluded that "[t]he district court was correct in finding that it lacked jurisdiction, and its dismissal of [plaintiffs'] petition is affirmed." Id. at 828, 387 N.W.2d at 692. Shortly after Bolan v. Boyle, supra, this court decided Coffelt v. City of Omaha, 223 Neb. 108, 388 N.W.2d 467 (1986), which involved a city employee's original action in the district court, a suit based on the city's breach of contract regarding failure to pay disability benefits accruing as the result of the plaintiff's employment with the city. Coffelt had failed to file his contract claim with the city of Omaha, a city of the metropolitan class. Referring to Neb.Rev.Stat. § 14-804 (Reissue 1983) and Bolan, supra, we reasoned: 223 Neb. at 110-11, 388 N.W.2d at 469-70. Section 15-840 prescribes a procedural prerequisite concerning contract claims, liquidated or unliquidated, against a city of the primary class: "In order to maintain an action for a claim ... it shall be necessary, as a condition precedent, that the claimant file such claim ... in the office of the city clerk...." Andrews did not file his claim with the city and, therefore, has not complied with § 15-840. Concerning a contract claim against a city of the primary class, § 15-840 requires that such claim be filed with the city clerk and disallowed before a claimant, pursuant to § 15-841, may timely appeal from the city's disallowance and thereby become entitled to invoke a district court's power to adjudicate the merit of the disallowed claim. Without the prerequisite filing of Andrews' contract claim in compliance with § 15-840, and appeal after disallowance, the district court lacked power to decide whether Andrews' contract claim was meritorious. If the district court lacked such power, the Supreme Court also lacks the power to determine the merits of Andrews' claim. However, because the district court lacked jurisdiction, that is, power to adjudicate the merit of Andrews' claim, the district court improperly entered judgment in favor of Andrews. "Jurisdiction is the inherent power or authority to decide a case...." State ex rel. Bauersachs v. Williams, 215 Neb. 757, 759, 340 N.W.2d 431, 433 (1983). Therefore, we reverse the judgment of the district court and remand this matter with the direction to dismiss Andrews' petition. REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTION.