Court Opinion

ID: 9754341
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 19:55:50.177877+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:27:52.377666
License: Public Domain

WAGNER, Associate Judge,
dissenting:
Primarily because I believe that WMATA did not meet its initial burden of production under Super.Ct.Civ.R. 56, I reach a different result. Rule 56 places upon the moving party the initial responsibility of demonstrating the absence of a genuine issue of material fact in dispute and that he or she is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. New Places, Inc. v. Communications Workers of America, Inc., 619 A.2d 73, 75 (D.C.1993); Graff v. Malawer, 592 A.2d 1038, 1040 (D.C.1991); Beard v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 587 A.2d 195, 198 (D.C.1991); Nader v. de Toledano, 408 A.2d 31, 42 (D.C.1979). Only if the movant makes that initial showing will the burden of production shift to the nonmoving party, requiring that party to show “by affidavits or as otherwise provided in [Rule 56], ... specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Super.Ct.Civ.R. 56(e); see also New Places, 619 A.2d at 75; Beard, 587 A.2d at 198. The moving party may discharge that initial burden by demonstrating that the opposing party lacks evidence to support the claim. Smith v. Union Labor Life Ins. Co., 620 A.2d 265, 267 (D.C.1993); Graff, 592 A.2d at 1040; Beard, 587 A.2d at 198.1 WMATA at*393tempted, but in my view, failed to do so in this ease.
In order to maintain this action under the Compulsory/No-Fault Motor Vehicle Insurance Act, D.C.Code §§ 35-2101 to -2114 (1988), appellant must show that she meets one of the exceptions set forth in D.C.Code § 35-2105(b). WMATA argued in the trial court that appellant met none of the exceptions. The only exception at issue here is the one requiring a showing of “a medically demonstrable impairment that prevents the victim from performing all or substantially all of the material acts and duties that constitute his or her usual and customary daily activities for more than 180 continuous days.” D.C.Code § 35-2105(b)(l). In support of its motion on this issue, WMATA simply asserted that “[p]laintiff had provided no documentation [so] indicating.” The record does not support that WMATA ever demanded through the discovery process such proof of that element of her claim. WMATA did request, and appellant provided, “names and addresses of all doctors [she] consulted or who examined or treated [her] since the time of the accident, giving the date of each examination, consultation or treatment.” WMATA took no discovery of the witnesses disclosed. Although WMATA inquired about the name and author of any written reports prepared by physicians, it did not request copies of the reports. Appellant apparently voluntarily attached copies of two unsigned reports to her answers to interrogatories 2 which, in fact, do provide some indication that appellant has a “demonstrable medical impairment.”3 Therefore, it does not aid WMATA in meeting its initial burden of production on summary judgment to show that appellant can produce no evidence that she falls within that part of the exception set forth in D.C.Code § 35-2105(b)(1), upon which she relies. Accordingly, the burden never shifted to appellant to disclose further proof of her claim on that issue. See New Places, supra, 619 A.2d at 75.
The record also contains some evidence, by way of interrogatory responses, that appellant’s injuries precluded her from performing “all or substantially all of the material acts and duties that constitute [ ] her usual and customary daily activities for more than 180 continuous days,” the second requirement of the exception appellant had to meet. According to those responses, prior to the accident, appellant worked five or six days for an average of eight hours per day. They show that she could not work at all the first two weeks after the accident and that she could work only part time (for about three hours per day) for the next seven months. She also stated that for those seven months “I went to work part time, and I completely curtailed all of my normal activities, and stayed at home and in bed a lot because of the strain of working.” She described her pain and poor condition during this period. Thus, the evidence provided through appellant’s interrogatory responses not only does not show that appellant had no evidence to support her case, it shows that she had a plausible basis to maintain her claim. For these reasons, it is my opinion that WMA-TA failed to satisfy its initial burden of *394production in moving for summary judgment.

. Exactly what is required to make that showing is the subject of much debate, particularly since the Supreme Court's decision in Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Justice Rehnquist, writing the plurality opinion, explains the burden as one requiring the movant to "identify! 1 those portions of ‘the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,’ which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2553. In a concurring opinion, Justice White indicated that "[i]t is not enough to move for summary judgment without supporting the motion in any way or with a conclusory assertion that the plaintiff has no evidence to prove his case [,] ... [i]t is the defendant’s task to negate, if he can, the claimed basis for the suit.” Id. at 328, 106 S.Ct. at 2555. Justice Brennan, who was joined by Chief Justice Burger and Justice Blackmun in dissenting, expressed the view that if the burden of persuasion at trial is on the nonmoving party, then to meet the required burden of production, the moving party must: (1) "submit affirmative evidence that negates an essential element of the nonmoving party’s claimf;]” and (2) "demonstrate to the court that the nonmoving party’s evidence is insufficient to establish an essential element of the nonmoving party’s claim." Id. at 331, 106 S.Ct. at 2557. Justice White, who provided the critical fifth vote for remand, noted that Celotex did not dispute that had respondent named a witness to support her claim, then Celotex would have to show that the potential witness’ testimony raised no genuine issue of material fact. This approach appears to be consistent with prior cases and practice in this jurisdiction which entailed the moving party ascertaining through pretrial discovery that the *393witnesses identified by the opposing party could not support the claim before filing a summary judgment motion. Under any of the three burdens identified in Celotex, in my view, summary judgment should have been denied in the case before the court.

. The interrogatories also requested the name and address of appellant’s family physician and. the date and reason for her last visit to him, which appellant provided. Appellant included a request for the names and addresses of all witnesses and the subject matter about which they would testify, including any experts. Appellant stated that the answers would be supplemented prior to trial. The record reflects no motions to compel the answers prior to disposition by summary judgment.

. The report states, in part, that appellant had “closed head trauma, as well as trauma to the neck, back, right hip, right leg and right femur” when she was seen originally, one month after the accident. It describes the result of an MRI scan of the lumbosacral spine performed less than a year later, when appellant remained symptomatic with mild to moderate bulging discs at various levels. It references a neurological consultation seven months after the MRI scan. The report reflects that appellant’s prognosis was fairly poor and that her condition was permanent.