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Broadway v. Peak Medical Oklahoma No. 56/24/2005
Mandate Issued: 09/16/2005
AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART AND REMANDED
Marsai Broadway, in her individual capacity and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Louise Taylor, filed a wrongful death action against Mayfair Nursing Home. Broadway alleged her grandmother, Louise Taylor, died as a result of neglect and/or abuse at the Mayfair Nursing Home, leading to multiple severe pressure ulcers, dehydration, malnutrition and contractures. Broadway asserted numerous causes of action including negligence, gross negligence, punitive damages, negligence per se for violations of Oklahoma and federal statutes, deceptive trade practices, third-party beneficiary claims, negligent hiring, retention and supervision, and breach of contract. Broadway filed the petition exactly two years after Taylor died.
In the petition, Broadway asserted she was "acting as the Personal Representative of the Estate of Louise Taylor," and filed both in her individual and her personal representative capacities. However, in discovery responses Broadway admitted no probate estate had ever been established for Taylor. Broadway also admitted Taylor was survived by one child, Martha Broadway. Based on this information, Nursing Home filed a Motion to Dismiss, arguing Broadway did not have standing to bring a wrongful death action pursuant to 12 O.S. 2001 §1053 or §1054, because she was not the personal representative of Taylor's estate or her next of kin. In response, Broadway filed an affidavit from her mother, Martha Broadway, in which Martha waived her right to be personal representative and her right to any damages from the wrongful death action. Broadway also filed a copy of the petition she had filed to have herself appointed as personal representative of Taylor's estate. By the time Broadway asked to be appointed as personal representative, Taylor had been deceased almost three years. Based on this information, the trial court denied Nursing Home's Motion to Dismiss, and allowed Broadway to proceed in her individual capacity until she was appointed as personal representative.
Nursing Home then filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on all issues, arguing the statute of limitations had run as to all claims before Broadway was appointed as personal representative, and alternatively arguing all claims should be dismissed because the undisputed facts did not state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The trial court granted summary judgment on the breach of contract claim because it failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The court also granted summary judgment as to all the remaining issues, finding they were barred by the applicable two-year statute of limitations. The evidence was undisputed that Broadway filed this action exactly two years after Taylor died, and had not been appointed personal representative of Taylor's estate and was not Taylor's next of kin on that date. The court held the statute of limitations had expired because Broadway did not have standing when she filed the petition, and her later appointment as personal representative did not relate back.
Broadway moved for reconsideration of the award of summary judgment on three grounds: 1) the court's ruling that her claims were barred by the statute of limitations was erroneous because her appointment as personal representative should relate back to her original petition; 2) the court had no authority to reconsider its order denying Nursing Home's motion to dismiss because that order was res judicata; and 3) the statute of limitation should be tolled because Taylor was under a legal disability before she died. The trial court denied Broadway's motion for reconsideration, and Broad
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