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Hagen v. Faherty2/18/2003
the Tort Claims Act for minors who are incapable of satisfying the requirement, even if the minor has a competent guardian who could satisfy the requirements of the Act. See Tafoya v. Doe, 100 N.M. 328, 332, 670 P.2d 582, 586 (Ct. App. 1983) (holding that the notice requirement of the Tort Claims Act is unreasonable and violates due process as applied to infants who are incapable of giving notice, so the requirement may not be applied to infants); see also Rider v. Albuquerque Pub. Schs., 1996-NMCA-090, 1, 122 N.M. 237, 923 P.2d 604 (reaffirming Tafoya and holding that parents do not have a duty to provide notice under the Act for a minor if the minor is incapable of giving notice).
Even though our courts have been willing to equitably toll notice and limitations requirements under certain circumstances, we do not interpret the district court's conclusion of law and dismissal of Faherty's affirmative defense to be a tolling of the statute of limitations, although the district court's decision may have had the same effect. Rather, the district court concluded that Faherty was equitably estopped from asserting the affirmative defense of the statute of limitations because right and justice demanded it. Applying the reasoning in Lopez, 1996-NMSC-071, 20, and the principle of equitable estoppel, as the district court did, we determine that the district court was correct in estopping Faherty from asserting the statute of limitations defense.
Reasoning of Lopez
In Lopez, the plaintiff was injured after she tripped and fell at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. Id. 1. Ms. Lopez filed suit against Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, but did not provide the Risk Management Division of the state with written notice of her claim within 90 days of her accident as required by NMSA 1978, § 41-4-16(A) (1977). Lopez, 1996-NMSC-071, 1. She did not know, and it was not apparent to her, that the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court was actually maintained by the state and was subject to the Tort Claims Act. Id. 17. She argued that the state should be estopped from asserting a defense of failure to provide timely notice of her claim because the name of the court would lead a reasonable person to conclude that it was a county, rather than a state, facility. Id. Our Supreme Court agreed, stating:
By choosing to do business as the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, the tate was representing to all persons who might wish to assert claims that Bernalillo County was the entity responsible for the maintenance of the courthouse. Although counsel for plaintiff could have discovered that the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court was an agency of the state by reference to the statutes, see NMSA 1978, § 34-8A-8 (Repl. Pamp.1996), the fact that such inquiry was necessary was not apparent because of the name of the courthouse. Id. 21.
The facts of the case at bar parallel the facts in Lopez. The district court found that all appearances indicated that Faherty was an employee of the ICC on October 20 and 21, 1998, and concluded that no reasonable person would have concluded that he was an employee of UNMH on those days. Although, as Faherty argues, the Hagens could have determined that Faherty was a public employee if they had inquired, they had no apparent reason to do so. By choosing to place its physician Faherty at ICC, a private institution, and not identify him as a public employee working in a public capacity, the state engaged in conduct that conveyed the indisputable impression to persons wishing to assert a claim that Faherty was an employee of the private institution. Under these circumstances, the claim against Faherty, who appeared to all to be empl
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