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Nickels v. Napolilli8/17/2001
o used a time clock to record hours worked on farm activities.
While living at Isabella Creek Farm, Nickels worked for other employers three to five days per week as a retail clerk or security guard. She also cared for her own animals on the farm, including dogs, calves, a horse, goats, and a lamb.
In June 1990 Nickels was instructed by Noel Napolilli to nail a board to the side of a shed. Since a fence paralleled the shed's wall, Nickels stood on an inverted bucket to reach over the fence and place the nails. Standing tip-toe on the bucket, Nickels slipped while starting to hammer a nail. She fell and a piece of wire from the fence impaled the back of her arm. This resulted in a puncture wound at the bottom of the triceps muscle of her right arm.
Noel Napolilli assisted Nickels in cleaning and bandaging the wound immediately after the injury and over the course of the next few days. Nickels did not seek medical treatment until approximately six days after the injury, by which time her arm had become infected. At that time, Nancy Napolilli's father, a visitor on the farm, encouraged Nickels to go to the emergency room. The injury did not heal and Nickels's right arm was eventually amputated at the shoulder.
In October 1992, two years after the fall which injured Nickels's arm, Nickels injured her back. According to Nickels, the injury occurred when she lifted a bale of hay over a fence. However, she told the Napolillis and her doctor that she suddenly developed back pain when standing in her kitchen.
The Napolillis did not carry workers' compensation insurance for Nickels. In September 1992, after the arm injury but before the back injury, Nickels signed an agreement to release the Napolillis from any liability for her arm injury. On October 3, 1992, the date of her back injury, she signed an agreement to release the Napolillis from any liability for that injury, too.
In October 1992 Nickels and the Napolillis ended the cabin- for-chores arrangement. Nickels continued to live in the cabin, paying $400 per month to the Napolillis for rent. In May 1994 the Napolillis ended the rental relationship and filed an eviction action against Nickels.
B. Proceedings in the Trial Court
Nickels filed suit against the Napolillis on September 27, 1994. The complaint included tort claims for hindering appropriate medical treatment and misrepresenting Nickels's rights to workers' compensation , and breach of contract claims for failing to provide workers' compensation benefits and medical care. Nickels sought compensatory and punitive damages.
The Napolillis sought summary judgment on the 1990 arm injury, claiming that the two-year tort statute of limitations and the release signed by Nickels barred the claim. Nickels responded that a six-year statute of limitations should apply because the action arose out of a breach of the employment contract's implied clause requiring workers' compensation coverage. Nickels also asserted that the factual circumstances surrounding her signing of the release made it legally deficient. Superior Court Judge Niesje J. Steinkruger denied summary judgment on these issues, finding genuine issues of material fact as to whether Nickels's claim was barred by either the statute of limitations or the release.
The superior court held a bench trial to determine whether Nickels was an employee for the purposes of the Alaska Workers' Compensation Act. The superior court recognized that evidence pointed in both directions, but ultimately found that Nickels was an employee under the Act. The superior court also determined in pre-trial proceedings that both of Nickels's injuries arose
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