Summary
The Oklahoma Supreme Court held that the Governmental Tort Claims Act does not abrogate the collateral source rule for uninsured/underinsured motorist and medical-payment benefits received by a claimant from the claimant’s own insurer. The State was therefore not entitled to set off those benefits against its liability for injuries caused by a state employee. The trial court’s $175,000 judgment for Carolyn Mariani was affirmed.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether 51 O.S. 2011 §§ 158(E) and 162(D) permit the State to set off against its GTCA liability insurance benefits paid to the claimant by the claimant's own underinsured/uninsured motorist and medical-payment coverage.
- Whether those GTCA provisions abrogate Oklahoma's collateral source rule for claims against the State or a political subdivision.
Holdings
- The State is not entitled to set off against its GTCA liability the underinsured/uninsured motorist and medical-payment benefits Mariani received under an insurance policy she purchased for her own benefit.
- The collateral source rule applies to claims under the GTCA to the same extent as it applies to claims against private tortfeasors because 51 O.S. 2011 §§ 158(E) and 162(D) do not expressly or unambiguously create an exception.
Key quotations
“We hold that 51 O.S. 2011 §§ 158(E) & 162 (D) do not entitle the State to a setoff in the amount Plaintiff/Appellee previously received in underinsured/uninsured motorist and medical payments paid to her pursuant to the terms of a policy of insurance paid for by her and for her benefit.” (¶ 0)
“The collateral source rule therefore applies equally to GTCA claimants as it does to non-GTCA claimants unless the provisions of the GTCA provide otherwise.” (¶ 14)
“This Court is not at liberty to carve out an exception to the collateral source rule from the plain and clear language of GTCA.” (¶ 31)
“We will not carve out an exception to the collateral source rule where the plain and clear language of the law does not provide for one.” (¶ 33)
Factual background
On July 25, 2011, Carolyn Mariani was injured when her vehicle was struck by a tractor-trailer operated by an Oklahoma State University employee acting within the scope of employment. Mariani received $100,000 in underinsured/uninsured motorist benefits and $25,000 in medical-payment benefits from her own insurer, AAA. The parties stipulated that the State had no applicable liability insurance, that the employee acted within the scope of employment, and that the State was liable for injuries proximately caused by the accident subject to the GTCA's limitations and defenses.
Procedural history
Mariani sued the State under the Governmental Tort Claims Act after a State employee operating a State-owned vehicle injured her in a motor-vehicle collision. The district court denied the State's motions for a setoff, entered judgment for Mariani in the amount of $175,000, and certified an earlier interlocutory setoff order for immediate review; the Supreme Court previously denied review of that interlocutory order. After trial, the State appealed, raising only whether the GTCA permitted the setoff. The Supreme Court retained the appeal and affirmed.