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Robinson v. Pacificorp9/15/2000
Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County The Honorable Jere Ryckman, Judge
Appellant Linda Robinson, individually and as the personal representative of the Estate of Michael Paul Robinson, appeals from an order which dismissed her wrongful death action against Appellees Pacificorp, Olin Corp., Bayer Corp., LeRoy Rufinni, William Rossetti, Steve Wotruba, Greg Heger, Rick Wooley, Don Vincent, Bill Bolinder, Ladd Poor, and Jeff Walsh under W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6).
We affirm.
ISSUES
Robinson presents three issues to this Court:
ISSUE ONE:
Whether the district court erred in holding that Plaintiff's cause of action is barred by W.S. § 1-38-102(d)'s two-year statute of repose or condition precedent in that, as applied herein, the said statute is unconstitutional as violating Article I, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.
ISSUE TWO:
Whether the district court erred in dismissing this case where the Plaintiff's pleadings allege concealment of the cause of Plaintiff's husband's death by Defendants, sufficient to toll even an absolute two-year statute of repose.
ISSUE THREE:
Whether the District Court erred in failing to apply the four-year discovery statute of limitations from W.S. § 1-3-105 applicable to a survival cause of action under W.S. § 1-4-101.
FACTS
Robinson's husband, Michael Paul Robinson, was employed by Pacific Power and Light from 1982 to 1987 at the Jim Bridger Power Plant in Sweetwater County. Robinson alleges that, during the course of his employment, her husband was exposed to lethal levels of hydrazine. She contends that he began experiencing pain and suffering in July of 1987 and ultimately died on November 20, 1987, as a result of his exposure to this chemical.
Robinson filed a complaint against the appellees on November 21, 1997. She filed an amended complaint on January 9, 1998, wherein she asserted that she did not discover the cause of her husband's death until December of 1995.
The appellees filed motions to dismiss, asserting that Robinson's wrongful death claim was time barred. In her response to these motions, Robinson maintained that the allegations in her complaints gave rise to an action arising under the wrongful death statutes, Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 1-38-101 and 1-38-102 (LEXIS 1999), or alternatively to a negligence claim. She contended that the negligence claim survived her husband's death under the survival statute, Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-4-101 (LEXIS 1999).
Before the hearing was held on the appellees' motions, the Wyoming Supreme Court issued its decision in Corkill v. Knowles, 955 P.2d 438 (Wyo. 1998), wherein it held that the two-year limitation period contained within the wrongful death statutes is a condition precedent as opposed to a statute of limitation which can be tolled by the discovery rule. 955 P.2d at 443. Because the decision in Corkill precluded a wrongful death claim, Robinson argued that her claim could still be brought under the survival statute.
A hearing was held, and the district court granted the appellees' motions to dismiss, finding that "a personal injury action which subsequently resulted in death could only be maintained as a wrongful death action" and that this Court's Corkill decision precluded recovery by Robinson. Robinson appeals to this Court.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
When reviewing a W.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) dismissal, this Court accepts all facts stated in the complaint as being true and views them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Bird v. Rozier, 948 P.2d 888, 892 (Wyo. 1997). Dismissal is a dra
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