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Meyer Land & Cattle Co. v. Lincoln County Conservation Dist.9/14/2001
n, nor does the petition contain any notation that this is a claim for a denial of equal protection. Even the prayer of the petition fails to mention any claim for a denial of equal protection. The prayer only asks for damages for failure to act in good faith and failure to carry out its duties in a reasonable manner. Further, although not absolutely required--but notable by its absence--in this particular case, nothing presented in the body of the petition, the prayer of the petition, or in Meyer's brief, even mentions an action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. ยง 1983 (1994).
The petition at hand is fatally flawed, even under notice pleading requirements, as a claim for a violation of equal protection in that it fails to allege anyone similarly situated was treated differently. The petition only claimed that Meyer was treated differently, which is not in and of itself a violation of equal protection. The statement that Meyer was treated differently is almost surplusage and somewhat inexplicable given the fact that no other elements of a cause of action for violation of equal protection was stated. In essence, this count is clearly an allegation designed either to enforce Meyer's theory of defamation to bolster its claim that defendants knew the statements in the letter were false or to re-plead its previous allegation of breach of duty. If Meyer intended to allege a claim for denial of equal protection, it should have done so and done so understandably.
K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 60-208(a)(1) requires a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. However, traditional causes of action and rules for pleading causes of action still occupy an important position in law. Notice pleading did not do away with the traditional causes of action or the need to at least present the "bare bones" of the cause of action in the petition in a concise and understandable manner. The claim is to be provided by the petitioner and not by the supposition of the court.
While it is true that this court will not dismiss a pleading when any cause of action, mentioned specifically or not, is present in the allegations of the pleading, this court cannot supply a cause of action when it is clear from reading the entire pleading that it was not meant to be pleaded and it is not contained in the pleading in any understandable form. The petition and the appellant's brief set forth the gravamen of this count as being that Lincoln had a duty to investigate and "prevent the wrongs" which, in turn, it claims was caused by a false letter. This is not an equal protection cause of action.
As noted earlier, the trial court dismissed all plaintiff's claims solely on its finding that they were all barred by the 1-year statute of limitations for libel. This finding also applies to what Meyer proposes is an equal protection claim.
Affirmed.
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