Summary 2014 WY 20

Summary of Decision February 11, 2014

Chief Justice Kite delivered the opinion of the Court. Reversed and Remanded.

Case Name: MARGARET REYNOLDS and DAVID REYNOLDS v. JEAN B. MOORE, JUDITH JAEGER and WILFORD JAEGER

Docket Number: S-13-0087

URL: http://www.courts.state.wy.us/Opinions.aspx

Appeal from the District Court of Teton County, the Honorable Timothy C. Day and the Honorable Marvin L. Tyler, Judges

Representing Appellants: Alan C. Stephens of Thomsen Stephens Law Offices, Idaho Falls, Idaho; John D. Bowers of the Bowers Law Firm, Afton, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Stephens.

Representing Appellee Jean B. Moore: Julie Nye Tiedeken and Sean W. Scoggin of McKellar, Tiedeken & Scoggin, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Scoggin.

Representing Appellees Judith Jaeger and Wilford Jaeger: Scott Paul Landry of Pratt & Landry, LLP, Lone Tree, Colorado.

Date of Decision: February 11, 2014

Facts: The district court dismissed Margaret and David Reynolds’ negligence claims against Ms. Moore and their respondeat superior claims against her employers, Judith and Wilford Jaeger.

Issues: 1) Did the district court err when it found that Defendant Moore was not sufficiently served for the court to obtain jurisdiction? 2) Did the district court err when it held that Moore sufficiently plead[ed] the affirmative defenses of insufficiency of process and insufficiency of service under Wyo. R. Civ.P. 12(b)(4) and (b)(5)? 3) Did the district court err when it dismissed Plaintiffs’ complaint against the Jaegers because Plaintiffs’ claims against the Jaegers were derivative of the claims asserted against Moore?

Holdings/Conclusion: We conclude the district court erred by dismissing the Reynolds’ complaint. The mistake in the original summons served upon Ms. Moore was not fatal, and the district court obtained jurisdiction over her prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. Given the action against Ms. Moore was valid, the district court erred in dismissing the Reynolds’ claims against the Jaegers because they were derivative and could not be maintained in their employee’s absence. We reverse and remand.

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

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