Summary 2014 WY 17

Summary of Decision February 4, 2014

Chief Justice Kite delivered the opinion for the Court. Affirmed.

Case Name: TERRY MINER and COLLEEN MINER, Husband and Wife v. JESSE & GRACE, LLC, a Wyoming Close Limited Liability Company, and SNOWY RANGE HOUSING, LLC, f/k/a ZHAO & ZHOU, LLC, a Wyoming Close Limited Liability Company

Docket Number: S-13-0094

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

Appeal from the District Court of Albany County the Honorable Jeffrey A. Donnell, Judge

Representing Appellant: Dennis C. Cook and Craig C. Cook of Cook and Associates, P.C., Laramie, Wyoming. Argument by Mr. Dennis C. Cook.

Representing Appellee: Kelly Neville Heck and Elisa M. Butler of Brown & Hiser, LLC, Laramie, Wyoming. Argument by Ms. Heck.

Date of Decision: February 4, 2014

Facts: Appellants Terry and Colleen Miner purchased vacant property in Laramie, Wyoming. Shortly thereafter, they discovered that the back of a four-plex apartment building on an adjacent property encroached five feet onto their property, along the length of the apartment building. The Miners brought an action seeking a declaration that they own the encroaching portion of the apartment building and an order requiring that the building be partitioned and that Appellees Jesse & Grace, LLC and Snowy Range Housing, LLC (collectively the LLCs) be ejected from the encroaching portion of the building, or that the encroaching portion of the building be removed. The Miners also requested damages for trespass and an apportionment of rental income earned from the apartment building.

The district court entered partial summary judgment against the Miners on their claim to an ownership interest in the apartment building. Having concluded that the Miners had no ownership interest in the apartment building, the district court denied the Miners’ requests to eject the LLCs from the building, their request to partition the building, and their demand for a proportional share of the apartment building’s rental income. A bench trial was held on the remaining issues, and following that trial, the court ruled that the LLCs were entitled to an implied easement on the Miners’ property to accommodate the apartment building. The court then entered an order granting the LLCs an implied easement on the Miners’ property and enjoining the Miners from interfering with the LLCs’ use of that easement.

Issues: The Miners present the following issues on appeal: I. Whether the district court erred by denying [the Miners’] ejectment and trespass claims to assert ownership of the property underlying 20% of 388 Buchanan and the improvements thereon? II. Whether the district court erred when it interpreted the clear and unambiguous language of [the Miners’] deed to their property and found as a predicate to its determination of an implied easement that the 20% of 388 Buchanan that is located on [the Miners’] property is not an improvement to that property? III. Whether the district court erred by finding that [the LLCs] have an implied easement to occupy [the Miners’] property with their encroaching building and then by enjoining [the Miners’] access to that implied easement on their property? IV. Whether partition of the co-owned building known as 388 Buchanan or whether an injunction to remove the encroaching part of that building from [the Miners’] property is the appropriate remedy in this case?

The LLCs phrase the issues on appeal as: I. The District Court correctly decided that the physical structure of 388 Buchanan belongs to [the LLCs] and as such, [the Miners] are not entitled to recover under their claims for partition and ejectment. II. The District Court correctly decided that [the LLCs] have an implied easement over the portion of [the Miners’] property underlying 388 Buchanan and the requisite setback area.

Holdings/Conclusion: We affirm the district court’s order, and we order a limited remand for the purpose of considering whether a correction is needed, and if so, to make the clerical correction.

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

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Summary 2007 WY 31

Summary of Decision issued February 22, 2007

[SPECIAL NOTE: This opinion uses the "Universal Citation." It was given an "official" citation when it was issued. You should use this citation whenever you cite the opinion, with a P.3d parallel citation. Please note when you look at the opinion that all of the paragraphs are numbered. When you pinpoint cite to a quote, you should cite to this paragraph number rather than to any page number. If you need assistance with a citation using the Universal Citation form, please contact the Wyoming State Law Library.]

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

Case Name: State, ex rel., Wyoming Workers’ Safety and Compensation Division; and FMC Corp. v. Faulkner

Citation: 2007 WY 31

Docket Number: 06-22

Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County, the Honorable Nena James, Judge

Representing Appellants (Petitioner/Employer): Patrick J. Crank, Attorney General; John W. Renneisen, Deputy Attorney General; Steven Czoschke, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Brandon W. Snyder and Thomas A. Thompson, of MacPherson, Kelly & Thompson, LLC, Rawlins, Wyoming; George Lemich of Lemich Law Center, Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee (Respondent): Michael D. Newman, Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Issues: Whether the Medical Commission erred as a matter of law in failing to allow apportionment of the employee-claimant’s impairment award between his non-work related condition and his compensable work related injury.

Facts/Discussion: The Wyoming Workers’ Compensation Division (Division) and FMC Corporation (FMC) challenge the Medical Commission’s permanent partial impairment rating awarded to Faulkner.
Standard of Review: The Court is limited to a determination of the factors specified in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 16-3-114(c). The interpretation and correct application of the provisions of the Wyoming Worker’s Compensation Act are questions of law over which the Court’s review authority is plenary. The Court reviews the case as if it had come directly to the Court from the agency and do not afford any deference to the district corut’s decision.
It was undisputed that Faulkner was injured in the course of his employment and that the injury materially aggravated a pre-existing condition. Although Faulkner had prior surgery involving his lower back, at the time of the incident he was employed on a full-time basis with no medical or physical restriction impacting his employment. He had previously received worker’s compensation benefits for injuries involving his lower back but there was no indication in the record that he had received an impairment rating or a permanent disability award. The Division and FMC contended that Faulkner’s impairment rating should be reduced by the percentage of impairment attributable to his pre-existing back condition. The Division declined to reduce the impairment rating.
The instant case is one of first impression for the Court. The general consensus from other state courts that have addressed the issue is that the employer becomes liable for the entire disability resulting from a compensable accident unless statutory authority exists to the contrary (the full-responsibility rule.) States wishing to combat any perceived inequities in application of the general rule have either enacted apportionment statutes or statutorily created second injury funds.
The Division and FMC claim apportionment is proper under Wyoming law because of the language contained in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 27-14-405(g). Appellants state the statutory language requires use of the AMA Guides and that the guides provide for apportionment. The Court disagreed and stated that apportionment is not required by the AMA Guides. There was nothing in the language cited by Appellants that would lead the Court to the conclusion that apportionment was mandated by the Guides. Other provisions of the Guides make it clear that the decision to require or allow apportionment must be made by each state.
The Division and FMC claimed that even if apportionment is not expressly authorized by the statute, the Court must permit apportionment to give effect to the intent of the Act, which allows compensation solely for work-related injuries. Appellants cited Haynes v. State ex rel. Wyoming Workers’ Compensation Div. and Taylor v. State ex rel. Wyo. Workers’ Safety & Comp. Div. as support. The Court distinguished the Haynes case from the instant case stating the Division specifically found that Faulkner’s back condition and impairment were aggravated by the work injury. The Court distinguished the instant case from Taylor. Faulkner had not received an impairment rating prior to the December 2000 work-related injury. There was no evidence that Faulkner was receiving a double recovery.

Holding: The Court found no error in the Division’s decision. The Wyoming legislature has not enacted a statute that requires apportionment of an impairment rating due to a pre-existing condition. The Court’s decision is consistent with the case law recognizing that material aggravation of a pre-existing condition is a compensable injury and is also in accord with the general rule disallowing apportionment in the absence of a specific statute requiring apportionment.

Affirmed.

J. Burke delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/34jvgv .