Opinion ID: 2318796
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Convert the Motion to Dismiss to a Summary Judgment Motion

Text: We next examine Martin's contention that the motion justice committed reversible error in dismissing all counts of her amended complaint under Rule 12 (b)(6) without converting the motion to one for summary judgment under Rule 56 of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure. In the past, we have permitted a statute-of-limitations defense to be raised by a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6)  providing the alleged timing defect appears on the face of the complaint. Boghossian v. Ferland Corp., 600 A.2d 288, 290 (R.I.1991); McDonald v. Rhode Island General Counsel, 505 A.2d 1176, 1178 (R.I.1986); see also 1 Kent, R.I. Civ. Prac. § 12.10 at 116 (1969). This is so because the sole function of a motion to dismiss is to test the sufficiency of the complaint. Rhode Island Affiliate, ACLU, Inc. v. Bernasconi, 557 A.2d 1232, 1232 (R.I.1989) (citing Ryan v. State Department of Transportation, 420 A.2d 841, 842 (R.I.1980)). In reviewing a trial justice's grant of a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), this Court assumes the allegations contained in the complaint to be true and views the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs. St. James Condominium Association v. Lokey, 676 A.2d 1343, 1346 (R.I.1996) (citing Builders Specialty Co. v. Goulet, 639 A.2d 59, 60 (R.I.1994)). This Court has cautioned that such a motion should not be granted `unless it appears to a certainty that [the plaintiffs] will not be entitled to relief under any set of facts which might be proved in support of [their] claim.' Id. (citing Bragg v. Warwick Shoppers World, Inc., 102 R.I. 8, 12, 227 A.2d 582, 584 (1967)). In this case, Martin argues that the motion justice erred by making findings of fact beyond the allegations of her complaint. She contends that the motion justice found that the conduct plaintiff alleged to have caused her injuries occurred on or before February 1995. She argues that the date of her injury is a question of fact and that she did not immediately discover either the full extent of her injuries or their cause because of the severe emotional problems she experienced as a result of her affair with Howard. In her decision, the motion justice concluded that the tortious conduct alleged happened as of February, '95. A fair reading of the complaint shows that this is the only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the sexual-misconduct allegations. The complaint asserted that, during their sexual relationship, which began in 1994 and ended in February 1995, Howard exploited the power of his position to mislead Martin into performing lewd and lascivious acts with him. She further alleged, however, that [t]he sexual component of Defendant Howard and Plaintiff's relationship ended in February 1995, and that her injuries were a direct and proximate result of Howard's sexual abuse and exploitation of his position. Given these assertions, it is apparent, therefore, on the face of the complaint, that Howard's conduct that allegedly led to these injuries occurred more than three years before Martin filed her complaint on January 16, 1999. And even though Martin may not have appreciated or discovered the full extent of her injuries by the time her relationship with Howard had ended, she certainly knew what had happened to her, who was responsible, and that she had suffered some form of resultant injury, albeit the full extent of her alleged injuries was supposedly as yet unknown. This was enough, we hold, to trigger the accrual of her personal-injury claims for the purpose of the statute of limitations. Because a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is directed solely to the sufficiency of the complaint itself, when the motion justice receives evidentiary matters outside the complaint and does not expressly exclude them in passing on the motion, then Rule 12 (b)(6) specifically requires the motion to be considered as one for summary judgment. See Rule 56. Here, however, when the parties argued the motion to the court, they alluded to some factual matters that did not appear on the face of the complaint. If these factual matters had been properly presented to the court by affidavit or by other methods that would enable the court to take cognizance of them, and if the court did not exclude them from its consideration, then defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) motion should have been converted to one for summary judgment after giving reasonable notice to the parties that the court was doing so. Palazzo v. Big G. Supermarkets, Inc., 110 R.I. 242, 292 A.2d 235 (1972). Here, however, the court did not err in failing to convert the motion to one for summary judgment because the factual matters extraneous to the complaint were not presented in proper form for the court to consider. Arguments of counsel are not evidence. See State v. Tevay, 707 A.2d 700 (R.I. 1998); and State v. Desroches, 110 R.I. 497, 293 A.2d 913 (1972). Moreover, looking solely at the facts alleged within the four corners of the complaint, the court's dismissal ruling was not in error. Martin's inclusion of dates in the complaint showing the action to be untimely render[ed] the complaint subject to dismissal upon [a Rule 12(b)(6)] motion. Young v. Park, 116 R.I. 568, 574, 359 A.2d 697, 700 (1976) (quoting Kincheloe v. Farmer, 214 F.2d 604 (7th Cir.1954), cert. denied, 348 U.S. 920, 75 S.Ct. 306, 99 L.Ed. 721 (1955)). The complaint revealed that Martin's alleged injury occurred between the summer of 1994 and February of 1995, when she and Howard engaged in their sexual relationship. Moreover, the church defendants allegedly told her about the result of the church mediation in May 1995, when they advised her that Howard had been placed on an unpaid leave of absence for six months and that he had been told to take certain other steps to address his misconduct. Consistent with what the church defendants had communicated to Martin in 1995, Howard later resumed his duties as church pastor in January 1996. In sum, during 1995, Martin knew that the mediation process had not resulted in the termination of Howard's employment with the church or in any other significant disciplinary measure. She also knew that, contrary to what the church defendants had told her, she had been excluded from any participation in the mediation process and that her exclusion led to what she considered to be unacceptable results. Thus, to the extent Martin alleged that these later mediation-related events had caused her independent personal injuries, she was bound to file her personal-injury claims arising therefrom within three years after these events occurred. Because she failed to do so, her claims were all time-barred.