Court Opinion

ID: 9546175
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:25:50.042585+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:16:05.899824
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
I must dissent from the decision of the majority of the court in this instance. In Turner v. Turner, Wyo., 582 P.2d 600 (1978), this court dealt with the question of estoppel to assert the bar of the statute of limitations. That case did not involve a claim for worker’s compensation, but my examination of the law in this area does not disclose any distinction between worker’s compensation cases and other cases with respect to the application of equitable es-toppel.
It appears that Ann White’s role at the time that she spoke with the appellant may have been equivocal. Even assuming that she was acting as an agent of the Town of Saratoga, the strongest interpretation that can be given to the stipulated information is that she stated there was no coverage. I am satisfied that the better reasoned opinions, which I believe represent a majority rule, dealing with the denial of coverage or liability hold that the employer is not es-topped from asserting the defense of the statute of limitations. Lee v. Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Ala.Civ.App., 418 So.2d 164 (1982); Joyce v. Paul Hayes Amoco Service Station, 161 Ga.App. 373, 288 S.E.2d 266 (1982); Miller v. Olinkraft, Inc., La.App., 395 So.2d 902 (1981); Drane v. City of New Orleans, La.App., 328 So.2d 752 (1976); Kohlbeck v. City of Omaha, 211 Neb. 372, 318 N.W.2d 742 (1982); Kushner v. Strick Trailer Co., 10 Pa.Cmwlth. 518, 312 A.2d 471 (1973); and Trzoniec v. General Controls Co., 100 R.I. 448, 216 A.2d 886 (1966). These cases distinguish between the denial of liability and conduct which lulls the employee into a false sense of security or causes him to believe he will be taken care of without filing a claim.
With respect to the authorities relied upon by the majority opinion, my reading of several of those cases persuades me that a strict application of the concept of ratio decidendi results in a conclusion that they do not all stand for the propositions for which they are cited, although there is broad language included which could lead one to the interpretation placed upon them by the majority. In Taglianetti v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 63 Pa.Cmwlth. 456, 439 A.2d 844 (1981), for example, the court held that estoppel did not prevent the assertion of the statute, because while the employee was confused, the employee was not lulled by the employer’s conduct.
The decisions in those cases which have limited estoppel to instances in which the employee was lulled in such a way that the claim was not asserted, but do not permit estoppel where the employee was informed that there was no coverage, are consistent with what we said in Turner v. Turner, supra. The statement by White that there was no worker’s compensation coverage would not be conduct which would justify *1054an estoppel against the town to raise the statute of limitations.
For these reasons I would affirm the judgment of the trial court.