High Court limits liability of governments

Tuesday, July 28, 1998 | 10:55 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Supreme Court, in a 3-2 decision, ruled Monday that people who are wronged by the actions of governments cannot collect a money judgment from more than one government.

The court said that to permit suits filed against a number of governments arising from a single incident "may have a massive and deleterious effect upon state and local treasuries."

The decision overturns a pretrial ruling by Clark County District Judge Donald Mosley, who held that a suit by a Las Vegas couple could be pursued against University Medical Center even though they had received $150,000 from the state.

Martha Upchurch gave birth in July 1990 to a baby who suffered from cerebral palsy. The parents blamed the hospital and physicians Donald Roberts and Edward Spoon, who were obstetric-gynecology residents employed by the state and the University of Nevada Medical School.

The state agreed to settle, paying the maximum $50,000 each to the father, mother and child. The parents also sued University Medical Center, which said they were not entitled to collect from a second judgment.

The hospital argued that the Legislature intended for a limit to apply to a law covering suits against governments that allows payment based on the number of claimants and the number of wrongs committed. It said the parents could not collect from the hospital after getting paid by the state.

District Judge Richard Wagner of Lovelock, who wrote the majority decision, said there was no direct evidence that the Legislature ever considered this issue. Wagner, who sat in for Justice William Maupin, said that in the absence of clear "legislative guidance," the court would practice "judicial restraint" in ruling that only one government can be made to pay.

Chief Justice Charles Springer dissented, saying both the state and the hospital should be held liable.

The law, Springer said, permits an action against any political subdivision. "This means to me that one can sue and recover judgment against the state, a county government and a city government, if each has been proven to be independently liable for tortious conduct.

"Judgment, in such a case, could be awarded against each, and each would have to pay up to the $50,000 statutory limit," Springer said. Justice Bob Rose joined in the Springer dissent.