Justia Idaho Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

This is an appeal from a judgment dismissing the plaintiff’s claims seeking to recover damages resulting from being bitten by a police dog when she was mistaken for a burglar. On appeal, Plaintiff argued that “[t]he district court was critical of [the Plaintiff] for failing to articulate a narrowly and clearly defined constitutional right of which objectively reasonable police officers would be aware.” According to the Plaintiff, “That, of course, is a self-defeating proposition for any litigant, plaintiff or defendant, because it forces the litigant to guess what the court deems specifically narrow enough to fit whatever undefined parameter it will ultimately use.” Thus, she asserted that the clearly established right at issue should be that she “had the basic and fundamental right not to be attacked by a police dog simply because she was mistaken for a burglar by overzealous police officers.” The Supreme Court found plaintiff's formulation of the issue as "clearly wrong;" "[i]t assumes that the Police knew that the Plaintiff was 'mistaken for a burglar.' [. . .] There is no constitutional right not to be mistaken for a criminal." Finding no reason to disturb the district court's judgment, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "James v. City of Boise" on Justia Law

Plaintiff-appellant Gary Holdaway filed suit against Broulim’s Supermarket, alleging that a titanium screw implanted in his leg was fractured when an automatic door at Broulim’s malfunctioned and closed on the leg. Broulim’s filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Holdaway failed to provide admissible evidence that the malfunctioning door fractured the screw and caused the resulting medical complications. The district court agreed, granted the motion, and Holdaway appealed. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Holdaway v. Broulim's Supermarket" on Justia Law

This appeal stems from an arbitration decision regarding Peggy Cedillo's underinsured motorist insurance policy with Farmers Insurance Company of Idaho, and damages for injuries she suffered in a motorcycle accident. After the arbitrator issued his final award, Farmers provided the arbitrator evidence that Farmers had already paid Cedillo the total amount of remaining damages. The arbitrator adjusted the award by subtracting Farmers' payment from the prejudgment interest Farmers owed Cedillo. The district court confirmed the arbitrator's amended award and awarded Cedillo attorney fees. On appeal, Farmers argued the district court should have modified the award because the arbitrator miscalculated prejudgment interest by applying Farmers' payment to the interest award. Farmers also argued numerous grounds that Cedillo was not entitled to attorney fees. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Cedillo v. Farmers Insurance Co of Idaho" on Justia Law

LuAnn Shubert fell and injured her lower back while working at a Macy’s store. She appealed the Idaho Industrial Commission’s order holding that she was: (1) medically stable on November 21, 2007; (2) not entitled to medical benefits beyond that date; (3) not entitled to temporary disability benefits; (4) entitled to a permanent partial impairment rating of 5% of the whole person; and (5) entitled to a 10% permanent partial disability rating. Shubert argued that she was entitled to ongoing medical care, temporary disability benefits, and total permanent disability benefits over 10%. Macy’s West (Macy’s) and Liberty Insurance Corporation argued that Shubert was rearguing the facts. Finding no reversible error in the Commission's decision, the Idaho Supreme Court affirmed. View "Shubert v. Macy's West, Inc." on Justia Law

Claimant Newman K. ("Kal") Giles was involved in a one-vehicle accident during the course of his employment. The evidence was undisputed that Kal was driving at approximately 123 mph in a 50 mph zone at the time of the accident, that he was legally intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .11%, that he was very familiar with the road and the particular curve where the accident happened, and that he was not wearing a seatbelt. Kal also claimed to have been texting in the time leading up to the accident, though evidence of the alleged texting was not raised until opening argument at the evidentiary hearing nearly four years after the accident. The Idaho Industrial Commission conducted the hearing on the sole issue of whether Kal was barred from receiving income benefits by Idaho Code section 72-208. The referee found intoxication was a reasonable and substantial cause of the accident and injuries and concluded that Kal was barred from receiving income benefits under Idaho Code section 72-208. The Commission adopted the referee’s findings as its own. Kal appealed and finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Giles v. Eagle Farms, Inc." on Justia Law

Claimant-appellant Trudy Deon brought worker compensation claims against her employer, H&J, Inc., and its surety, Liberty Northwest, (Employer/Surety) and the Idaho Special Indemnity Fund (ISIF). Deon eventually settled with ISIF but the claim against Employer/Surety went to a hearing that resulted in the Idaho Industrial Commission finding Employer/Surety 100% liable for her total and permanent disability (TPD). The Commission decided sua sponte to reconsider its decision and invited the parties to brief the issue of whether Deon was estopped from arguing Employer/Surety was 100% liable, given her settlement with ISIF. In an order on reconsideration, the Commission held that Deon was so estopped and apportioned 23.92% of her TPD to Employer/Surety. Deon appealed. Upon review, the Supreme Court determined the Commission erred by sua sponte raising the issue of collateral estoppel. The Commission and Employer/Surety knew about the ISIF settlement agreement for months before a decision was rendered and never raised the estoppel issue. Deon filed complaints against both her Employer/Surety and the ISIF. As a result of mediation, she reached a tentative settlement agreement with ISIF on October 5, 2012. The agreement was reduced to writing, signed by the parties on October 19, 2012, and approved by the Commission on November 8, 2012. When the Commission issued its Decision, it determined that Deon was totally and permanently disabled and that Employer/Surety was 100% liable under the odd-lot doctrine as Deon had argued. After considering all the hearing evidence and the parties’ briefing, the Commission found apportionment between the ISIF and Employer/Surety “is not appropriate” because “[t]he record does not establish that Claimant’s pre-existing leg condition combined with her 2008 industrial accident to render her totally and permanently disabled. However, on the same day the Commission issued its Decision, it also issued a notice of reconsideration pursuant to Idaho Code section 72-718, which raised for the first time the collateral estoppel. Specifically, the Commission wanted to know whether Deon’s stipulation to ISIF’s partial liability for her TPD estopped her from then arguing that Employer/Surety was 100% liable. After the parties briefed the issue, the Commission issued a new order holding that Deon was estopped from asserting a position inconsistent with her stipulation that ISIF was partially liable for her TPD. It then apportioned TPD liability according to the "Carey" formula, changing Employer/Surety’s liability from 100% to 23.92%. The Supreme Court concluded the revised findings were hinged solely on the Commission’s erroneous view of the law, and were without any support in the hearing record. Therefore, the Court reversed the Order on Reconsideration. Because the Commission did, in fact, hear Deon’s claim against Employer/Surety on the merits and determined Employer/Surety was 100% liable, Deon was entitled to 100% of her benefits from Employer/Surety. View "Deon v. H &J, Inc." on Justia Law

Christian Westby, James Westby, and Kristina Westby appealed the district court’s denial of their motion to reconsider the court’s protective order granted to Mercy Medical Center and Dr. Gregory Schaefer. This case arose from the Westbys’ claim that Dr. Schaefer’s and Mercy Medical’s negligence resulted in lifelong brain damage to Christian Westby. Near the end of discovery, the district court granted Mercy Medical and Dr. Schaefer’s protective order motion to prohibit the Westbys from deposing Mercy Medical and Dr. Schaefer’s expert witnesses. The district court later denied the Westbys’ motion to reconsider that protective order. The Westbys argued on appeal to the Supreme Court that the district court abused its discretion by not requiring any showing of good cause or unreasonable delay and basing its decision on a mistaken belief that the Westbys were dilatory. The Supreme Court agreed that the trial court erred, vacated the order and remanded the case for further proceedings. View "Westby, et al v. Schaefer, M.D." on Justia Law

Claimant-appellant Su Warren sought worker’s compensation benefits from her employer, Williams & Parsons, PC, CPAS, and Idaho State Insurance Fund (ISIF), for injuries received in 2007, during the course of her employment. The Idaho Industrial Commission concluded that Warren had a permanent partial impairment (PPI) of five percent of the whole person and was entitled to temporary total disability and temporary partial disability during the period of recovery through December 23, 2008, the date of maximum medical improvement. The Commission also concluded that Warren failed to establish entitlement to medical care in the form of a pain management program, permanent disability in excess of PPI, retraining benefits, or attorney fees. The Commission denied Warren’s motion for reconsideration. Warren appealed the Commission's decision, but finding no error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Su Warren v. Williams & Parsons PC" on Justia Law

This was a medical malpractice case arising out of the treatment of Rosamond Mattox at Life Care of Lewiston (LCL). The plaintiff-appellant, Rosamond's son Gene Mattox, claimed that LCL's sub-standard care caused his mother's death. The district court excluded Gene's experts' affidavits after concluding that they failed to demonstrate actual knowledge of the applicable standard of health care practice. The district court then granted summary judgment in favor of LCL. Upon review, the Supreme Court concluded the district court erred in granting summary judgment: "[t]he affidavits here were clearly admissible. Both affidavits establish actual knowledge of the applicable standard of health care practice and the means by which [the experts] became familiar with that standard. The affidavits should have been admitted and, had they been, they present[ed] genuine issues of material fact that would preclude summary judgment." View "Mattox v. Life Care Centers of America" on Justia Law

This case was brought under the Idaho Tort Claims Act asserting negligence by a public university in allowing a student-athlete to return to competition after sustaining a head injury. Plaintiff Samuel Zylstra was a student and wrestler at Boise State University (BSU). Zylstra brought suit against BSU and the State of Idaho alleging BSU employees negligently allowed him to continue wrestling after he was injured during a tournament. On motion by BSU, the district court granted summary judgment on the issue of causation, but denied summary judgment as to BSU's statute of limitations arguments. Notwithstanding the denial in part, the partial grant of summary judgment provided adequate grounds to dismiss Zylstra's action. Zylstra appealed the district court's decision to strike two expert affidavits offered in opposition to BSU's summary judgment motion and also alleged judicial bias. BSU cross-appealed the district court's denial of summary judgment on the statute of limitations issue. Finding no reversible error, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Zylstra v. Boise State University" on Justia Law