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Meyer Land & Cattle Co. v. Lincoln County Conservation Dist.9/14/2001
Appeal from Lincoln District Court; THOMAS M. TUGGLE, judge.
Affirmed.
Meyer Land & Cattle Company (Meyer) appeals from the trial court's dismissal of its action for failure to state an actionable claim against the Lincoln County Conservation District (Lincoln) and its directors in their individual and supervisory capacities and the Kansas State Conservation Commission (Commission). We affirm.
Meyer built a lagoon on a plot of land contemplated for use as a cattle yard. On October 2, 1998, the Lincoln board of directors sent a letter to the Kansas Department of Health and Education (KDHE) expressing a suspicion that the lagoon was leaking water. They were concerned that cattle waste could contaminate the local groundwater. Lincoln requested that the KDHE conduct its own percolation test before Meyer was cleared to use the land for cattle.
Lincoln, for reasons not given, sent copies of the letter to every conservation district in Kansas, to assorted State administrative agencies, and to various elected representatives, including Kansas' United States Senators and Representatives. Meyer proffers that a total of 122 persons or agencies received copies of the letter.
On December 16, 1999, Meyer filed a petition, listing the following nine counts:
I. Action outside the scope of statutory duties;
II. Abuse of power;
III. Misstatement of fact;
IV. Misrepresentation;
V. Interference with business;
VI. False light;
VII. Defamation;
VIII. Failure to carry out duties in a reasonable manner and in good faith; and
IX. Failure to comply with statutory, regulatory, and constitutional duties.
Imbedded in the claim of failure to carry out its duties were an allegation of civil conspiracy and an alleged equal protection violation.
On May 17, 2000, the trial court dismissed all counts. The court found the essence of the action was libel, as all claims stemmed from a single written communication. Because a 1-year statute of limitations applies to libel, K.S.A. 60-514(a), the court concluded all claims were time barred. Meyer appeals, essentially claiming the court dismissed the case without allowing meaningful discovery which would have allowed it to show why the statute of limitations did not apply.
In reviewing a trial court's decision to dismiss a petition for failure to state a claim, an appellate court scrutinizes the petition itself to determine whether, in the light most favorable to plaintiff, the petition states any valid claim for relief. Dismissal is justified only when the allegations of the petition clearly demonstrate plaintiff does not have a claim. Colombel v. Milan, 24 Kan. App. 2d 728, 729, 952 P.2d 941 (1998).
However, when a complaint establishes on its face that the applicable statute of limitations has run on one or more claims, those claims are subject to dismissal. See Turner and Boisseau v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 944 F. Supp. 842, 844 (D. Kan. 1996) (construing Fed. R. Civ. Proc. 12 ). In determining whether a plaintiff timely raised his or her claims, the court will look through the form to the substance of each cause of action. Taylor v. International Union of Electronic Workers, et al., 25 Kan. App. 2d 671, 678, 968 P.2d 685 (1998), rev. denied 267 Kan. 889 (1999).
Contrary to Lincoln's arguments on appeal, it is not strictly germane whether Meyer pleads torts unrecognized in Kansas. If, on the facts pled in the petition, Meyer is entitled to relief under any valid legal theory, the action may proceed. Jack v. City of Wichita, 23 K
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