Opinion ID: 1276685
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Majority Opinion was Legally Wrong in Relying upon Dicta from the Case of Collins v. Dravo Contracting Company

Text: The facts of this case show that Ms. Savilla was the sister of the decedent. She brought this action as the administratrix for the estate of the decedent. Ms. Savilla filed the cause of action against Speedway, the employer of the decedent, based upon W. Va. Code § 23-4-2(c) (2005) (Repl.Vol.2005), which provides that [i]f injury or death result to any employee from the deliberate intention of his or her employer . . ., the employee, the widow, widower, child or dependent of the employee . . . has a cause of action against an employer[.] Ms. Savilla sought damages under W. Va.Code § 55-7-6(b) (1992) (Repl.Vol.2000), which allows a jury to award damages to a decedent's spouse and children . . . brothers, sisters, parents and any persons who were financially dependent upon the decedent[.] Insofar as Ms. Savilla did not qualify as the widow, child or dependent of Ms. Kannaird, the circuit court found that she could not maintain a deliberate intent cause of action against Speedway. The majority opinion has agreed with the circuit court that Ms. Savilla cannot personally recover any money from a deliberate intent cause of action against Speedway under our wrongful death statute. Even so, the majority opinion has determined that Ms. Savilla can maintain her lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Kannaird's adult daughter, Eugenia Moschgat. [1] In order to keep Ms. Savilla in this case as a nominal plaintiff, the majority decision relied upon dicta in the 1933 decision of Collins v. Dravo Contracting Co., 114 W.Va. 229, 171 S.E. 757 (1933). As I will demonstrate below, the dicta asserted in Collins was legally incorrect. Collins involved an appeal by the administratrix of the estate of a decedent who was killed during the course of his employment with the defendant. [2] The plaintiff brought a cause of action against the employer alleging negligence and deliberate intent as theories of liability. A jury returned a defense verdict, and the plaintiff appealed. The only issue raised by the plaintiff in the appeal was that the trial court erred in ruling that compliance with the workers' compensation statute, by the employer, was a complete defense to both of her theories of liability. In Collins, this Court held that compliance with the workers' compensation statute was a defense to a negligence action, but not to a deliberate intent cause of action. This holding was set out in the sole syllabus point created by the opinion. [3] In passing, the opinion in Collins commented upon the authority of the plaintiff to bring a cause of action against the employer in her capacity as administratrix of the decedent's estate. The sum total of the discussion on that specific issue was as follows: The question is raised that no recovery can be had in this action by the administratrix because Code, 23-4-2, gives the right of action to the widow, widower, child or dependent of the employee. We do not think this contention well founded. The statute in question gives the right of action as if this chapter had not been enacted. If it had not been enacted, then for death by wrongful act the personal representative sues under Code, 55-7-6, and that section, including its limitation of recovery, would apply to the extent not inconsistent with Code, 23-4-2. Since Code, 23-4-2, names the beneficiaries who take, the recovery under its terms would be distributed to the widow, widower, child or dependent and not in accordance with Code, 55-7-6. But it is the personal representative who sues subject to the difference in distribution of any recovery. Collins, 114 W.Va. at 235-36, 171 S.E. at 759. In the instant proceeding, the majority opinion relied upon the above dicta in Collins to permit Ms. Savilla to maintain the cause of action against Speedway on behalf of Ms. Moschgat. I strongly assert that the majority opinion committed an error of law in relying on the Collins' dicta. Collins indicated that the passage as if this chapter had not been enacted was intended to mean that a deliberate intent cause of action, on behalf of a widow/widower, child or dependent, could be instituted in the name of a decedent's estate, as permitted under our wrongful death statute. This is simply a legally wrong interpretation of the passage. The correct meaning of this passage was stated in the case of Weis v. Allen, 147 Or. 670, 35 P.2d 478 (1934). In Weis, the plaintiff filed a deliberate intent cause of action against his employer after he was shot by a spring gun while on the employer's property. A jury returned a verdict awarding the plaintiff general and punitive damages. The employer appealed. One of the issues raised by the employer was that the plaintiff could not recover punitive damages under the state's workers' compensation statute. The statute authorizing a deliberate intent cause of action stated the following: If injury or death results to a workman from the deliberate intention of his employer to produce such injury or death, the workman . . . shall have the privilege to take, under this act, and also have cause for, action against the employer, as if this act had not been passed, for damages over the amount payable hereunder. Weis, 147 Or. at 672, 35 P.2d at 479 (quoting Or.Code § 49-1828) (emphasis added). The opinion in Weis found that the language under the statute, as if this act had not been passed, permitted a recovery of punitive damages. The opinion explained this passage as follows: Were it not for the special provision of our Code, the employee probably would have to elect whether to pursue his remedy under the Workmen's Compensation Act or sue at common law. Instead of compelling the injured workman to elect at his peril which course to pursue, section 49-1828, Oregon Code 1930, assures him at least the compensation which he would be entitled to receive in any event for the injuries suffered, and in addition grants him the right to avail himself of his common-law remedy. . . . . The wording of the statute . . . is that if the injury results from the deliberate intention of the employer, the employee shall have cause of action against his employer, as if this act had not been passed, for the recovery of damages in a sum over and above that to which he is entitled as an award under the act. The defendant does not dispute that at common law it would have been proper to submit to the jury the question of punitive damages, in the light of the facts in this case. The section of the act in question does not limit the amount of recovery on the part of the injured employee, but creates an additional fund for the payment of a part of the damages for injuries sustained. Weis, 147 Or. at 683-84, 35 P.2d at 483. Weis is instructive in explaining that the phrase, as if this act had not been passed, means that for the cause of action authorized by the workers' compensation statute, a plaintiff is entitled to all remedies afforded by the law for injury or death. The phrase means nothing more. [4] In this case, our workers' compensation statute provides that if an employee is killed, a deliberate intent cause of action against the employer may be brought as if this [statute] had not been enacted. W. Va.Code § 23-4-2(c). The quoted phrase does not mean that in order for a widow/widower, child or dependent to bring a cause of action, it must be done in the name of a decedent's estate as provided by our wrongful death statute. The rationale for this is that our workers' compensation statute establishes the right to a cause of action in specifically named plaintiffs, as discussed further below, such that no other authority is required for bringing an action. Therefore, to the extent Collins may be read as requiring a widow/widower, child or dependent to bring a cause of action in the name of a decedent's estate, it was legally wrong. By adopting the Collins dicta, the majority opinion has perpetuated this legal error. To accept the logic of Collins and the majority opinion, I would also have to conclude that persons who may recover under a deliberate intent cause of action are those who may recover under our wrongful death statute. Under the present wording of our wrongful death statute, persons who may recover include a decedent's spouse and children . . . brothers, sisters, parents and any persons who were financially dependent upon the decedent[.] W. Va.Code § 55-7-6(b). Ms. Savilla argued that she was a beneficiary in this case because of our wrongful death statute and therefore sought damages under that statute. The majority opinion, like Collins, has selectively prohibited use of the provision of our wrongful death statute that permits recovery by those not mentioned in our workers' compensation statute. This is disingenuous. Either the wrongful death statute has no application to a deliberate intent cause of action, as I contend, or all of its provisions must apply. The issue cannot legally be piece-mealed as the majority opinion has done in its reliance upon Collins' ill-conceived dicta. In essence, the ultimate point I make is that under W. Va.Code § 23-4-2(c), a representative of the estate of a decedent is not authorized to bring a cause of action for a widow/widower, child or dependent. Collins was wrong in suggesting this by way of dicta, and the majority opinion is wrong in making this dicta the law in our State.