Court Opinion

ID: 9705733
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:18:23.808947+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:14.482713
License: Public Domain

JON P. WILCOX, J.
¶ 22. (concurring). While I agree with, the result, I disagree with the majority's *299statement in paragraph 12 that Wis. Stat. § 893.80(1m) (1995-96) is a procedural statute. Majority op. at 295. Rather, I believe this court's decision in Colby v. Columbia County, 202 Wis. 2d 342, 349, 550 N.W.2d 124 (1996), dictates that the 180-day waiting period in § 893.80(lm), the notice of claim statute at issue in this case, is effectively a statute of limitations.
¶ 23. The general rule of statutory construction is that statutes are to be construed as relating to future and not past acts. Gutter v. Seamandel, 103 Wis. 2d 1, 17, 308 N.W.2d 403 (1981). However, if a statute is procedural or remedial, rather than substantive, the statute is generally given retroactive application, as long as the retroactive application does not disturb contracts or vested rights. Id.
¶ 24. The distinction between substantive and procedural laws is well established. If a statute prescribes the method, i.e., the legal machinery, used in enforcing a right or remedy, it is procedural. City of Madison v. Town of Madison, 127 Wis. 2d 96, 102, 377 N.W.2d 221 (Ct. App. 1985); see also Steffen v. Little, 2 Wis. 2d 350, 357, 358, 86 N.W.2d 622 (1957) (setting forth the rule, its exception and its qualification). A remedial statute relates to remedies or modes of procedure which do not create new or take away vested rights, but only operate in furtherance of a remedy or confirmation of rights already existing. City of Madison, 127 Wis. 2d at 102. However, if the law creates, defines or regulates rights or obligations, it is substantive. Id.
f 25. This court recently considered the relationship between Wis. Stat. §§ 893.80 (1993-94), 893.13 (1993-94) and 893.23 (1993-94), statutes governing notice of claims, tolling of statutes of limitation and the tolling provision for statutory stays, respectively. *300Colby, 202 Wis. 2d at 342. In Colby, the issue was whether the premature filing of a summons and complaint which was subsequently dismissed because of the failure to comply with the provisions of § 893.80(1)(b) was sufficient to toll the statute of limitations. Colby, 202 Wis. 2d at 346. In reaching its decision, the court looked to a virtually identical tolling provision in the statutory framework of the state of New York. The Colby court noted that New York's statute tolled the statute of limitations when the commencement of an action was to be stayed by statutory prohibition, thereby extending the period of limitations. Id. at 354. For example, in New York, a plaintiff who wanted to file suit against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had up to 1 year and 30 days from the accrual of the cause of action, which included the 30-day waiting period, to commence the suit. Id. at 354-55.
¶ 26. In response to the inconsistent tolls resulting from the various waiting periods, the New York legislature enacted a statute in an attempt to achieve uniformity. Id. at 355-56, 357 n.8. The statute specifically eliminated any tolls for waiting periods between the service of a notice of claim and the commencement of the action and it lengthened the statute of limitations to 1 year and 90 days for all such actions. Id. at 356, 357 n.8.
¶ 27. Without similar legislative action, the Colby court concluded that the interplay between Wis. Stat. § 893.23 (1993-93), the tolling provision for statutory waiting periods, and Wis. Stat. § 893.80(1993-94), in effect, created a statute of limitations equal to 3 years and 120 days when filing a claim under § 893.80(1)(b). Colby, 202 Wis. 2d at 357-58. By virtue of the statutory stay under § 893.23, the court deter*301mined that the 120-day waiting period, which is required prior to the commencement of an action against the county, must be added to the statutory limitation of 3 years in order to obtain the time within which the action may be brought. Colby, 202 Wis. 2d at 357-58. The court stated that § 893.80(1)(b) requires the plaintiff to first provide the county with a notice of claim, followed by either a denial of the claim, or the expiration of the 120-day disallowance period, prior to the filing of a summons and complaint, all of which must be completed within the 3-year and 120-day period of limitations. Colby, 202 Wis. 2d at 357-58.
¶ 28. At first glance, one might question the applicability of Colby. That Colby looked at the notice of claim provision, paragraph (b) of Wis. Stat. § 893.80(1) (1993-94), rather than the notice of injury provision, paragraph (a), or subsection (1m) is insignificant. Colby, 202 Wis. 2d at 347. Subsection (1m) merely extends the time period under subsection (1)(a) from 120 days to 180 days for medical malpractice claims. The notice of injury and notice of claim provisions of § 893.80(1) are unambiguously stated in the conjunctive; therefore, both provisions must be satisfied before the claimant may commence an action against a governmental agency. Vanstone v. Town of Delafield, 191 Wis. 2d 586, 593, 530 N.W.2d 16 (Ct. App. 1995). Accordingly, Colby speaks to § 893.80(1) as a whole, rather than one provision or the other.
¶ 29. Colby dictates that the waiting periods contained in Wis. Stat. § 893.80 (1993-94) are, in effect, statutes of limitations. Statutes of limitations are substantive, not procedural, statutes because they create and destroy rights, Betthauser v. Medical Protective Co., 172 Wis. 2d 141, 149, 493 N.W.2d 40 (1992), and therefore, can only be applied to causes of action accru*302ing on or after the statute's effective date. Because § 893.80(1m) is a substantive statute which did not become effective until June 14, 1986, I also conclude that it can not be applied retroactively to the 1979 alleged malpractice.
¶ 30. For the foregoing reasons, I concur.
¶ 31. I am authorized to state that Justice David T. Prosser joins in this concurring opinion.