Title: Haugen v. Town of Waltham

State: minnesota

Issuer: Minnesota Supreme Court

Document:

292 N.W.2d 737 (1980) Patrick A. HAUGEN, Appellant, v. TOWN OF WALTHAM, Respondent. No. 49964. Supreme Court of Minnesota. March 28, 1980. Rehearing Denied June 11, 1980. *738 Krofchalk, Steward & Perry and M. John Steward, Rochester, for appellant. Baudler, Baudler & Maus and William J. Baudler, Austin, for respondent. Heard before PETERSON, TODD, and WAHL, JJ., and considered and decided by the court en banc. TODD, Justice. Patrick Haugen recovered a judgment against the Town of Waltham in a negligence action. As part of its special verdict, the jury found that Haugen would sustain $3,000 in future medical expenses. After making certain other deductions, the trial court deducted the $3,000 future damages from the verdict, and Haugen appealed. We reverse. The facts in this matter have been stipulated. The stipulated facts provide: The issue for consideration is whether the deduction of an award of future dental expenses from the verdict, pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 65B.51, subd. 1 (1978), was proper. The Minnesota No-Fault Automobile Insurance Act, Minn.Stat. § 65B.41, et seq. (1978), is a "modified" no-fault act which allows a person injured through the use of a motor vehicle to maintain a tort action in certain specified instances. See Minn.Stat. § 65B.51 (1978). However, the damages which are recoverable in such an action are limited by Minn.Stat. § 65B.51 (1978), as amended by 1977 Minn.Laws, ch. 266, § 4, which provides: Prior to the 1977 amendment, this statutory section provided for the deduction of economic loss benefits which were "paid or payable" and did not explicitly refer to benefits payable in the future. 1974 Minn. Laws, ch. 408, § 11. Although the cause of action in this case arose prior to the promulgation of the 1977 amendment, the amended section applies to this case because the amendment merely clarified the statute and did not change the meaning of § 65B.51, subd. 1. The title to the chapter containing the amendment reads: 1977 Minn.Laws, ch. 266. Furthermore, this court recently determined in Gudvangen v. Austin Mut. Ins. Co., 284 N.W.2d 813 (Minn.1979), that the 1977 amendments to the no-fault statute were merely clarifying amendments which "added nothing to change the law."[1] 284 N.W.2d at 817. *740 Although no Minnesota cases have interpreted § 65B.51, subd. 1, it is apparent that the language of the statute clearly and unambiguously requires the deduction of no-fault economic loss benefits which will be payable in the future from a tort recovery. This requirement is in furtherance of the stated purpose of our no-fault act to prevent double recovery in cases of injury arising out of the use of a motor vehicle. Minn.Stat. § 65B.42, subd. 5 (1978). See also M. Steenson, No-Fault In A Fault Context, 2 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 109, 133 (1976). It is also consistent with the general rationale of the act that economic loss should primarily be the burden of the no-fault carrier. Minn.Stat. § 65B.42, subd. 1 (1978). Although this provision may clearly be consistent with the purposes of the act, its application poses numerous problems.[2] The statute is silent as to how future loss benefits to be payable in the future may be determined with any reasonable degree of accuracy. This case presents the issue in a very narrow context since the jury has specifically determined the monetary amount attributable to future medical damages.[3] However, the no-fault carrier of the successful plaintiff in this case is not a party to the action. Thus, the plaintiff has no assurance that his insurance carrier will accept the amount of damages awarded, let alone that it will accept responsibilty for such damages. If the no-fault carrier contests these matters, then the successful plaintiff must relitigate his claim under the arbitration provisions of his policy. Such a requirement faces a difficult constitutional barrier in Minnesota since Minn.Const. art. 1, § 8, provides: We particularly note that the constitution refers to "a certain remedy in the laws" which shall "completely" allow such person to obtain justice. Here, the successful litigant obtains an incomplete remedy which lacks certainty. Further, the constitution seems to contemplate a single remedy and not a series of remedies. Other fact situations will produce more complex and unanswerable questions in attempting to apply the provisions of the statute. Thus, we conclude that while the language of the statute comports with the stated legislative purposes of preventing double recovery, the lack of feasible, constitutionally permissible legislative enactments establishing guidelines for the effective administration of the proposed deduction preclude the courts from the literal enforcement of the statute. Further, the lack of guidelines makes the application of the deduction inequitable and unjust upon successful litigants. The provisions of Minn.Stat. § 65B.51 as to the deduction of future economic loss benefits shall be unenforceable *741 pending further legislative enactments relating to this subject matter.[4] Reversed and remanded with instructions to enter judgment consistent with this opinion. [1] One commentator has stated that, prior to the 1977 amendments, most trial courts had interpreted Minn.Stat. § 65B.51, subd. 1, as requiring only the deduction of no-fault benefits which had been paid or were presently owing in a tort action. J. Schwebel, Minnesota No-Fault Update (CLE article) 41. However, at least one other commentator has argued that the statute as originally written required the deduction of no-fault benefits which were payable in the future even though there was no specific language to that effect. M. Steenson, No-Fault In A Fault Context, 2 Wm. Mitchell L.Rev. 109, 125-127 (1976). [2] One author contends that there are no apparent equitable, workable, or constitutional methods by which no-fault benefits payable in the future can be deducted from a recovery. J. Schwebel, Minnesota No-Fault Update (CLE article) 41-45. [3] In his CLE article Schwebel discusses the case of Cook v. Schrader, Goodhue County File No. 28068, presently pending before this court under the title Niehues v. Weckerling, No. 49456 (Minn., filed October 20, 1978), which presents a more difficult issue in that the verdict did not identify what amount was attributable to future medical expenses even though evidence was introduced as to the amount of such expenses. J. Schwebel, Minnesota No-Fault Update (CLE article) 42-44. Undoubtedly, other cases will pose equally difficult problems relating to the disposition of claims for future loss of income. In any case courts will also have to deal with the problem of reducing awards to present value. [4] It has been suggested that the problem of double recovery could be met by amending the statute to provide that the no-fault carrier be given a credit against future obligations as is done in the case of workers' compensation claimants who receive a third-party recovery. J. Schwebel, Minnesota No-Fault Update (CLE article) 41-45.