March 29 2011
DA 10-0230
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
2011 MT 56
LEE WISER and CHARLES CONLAN,
Plaintiffs and Appellants,
v.
MONTANA BOARD OF DENTISTRY,
Defendants and Appellees.
APPEAL FROM: District Court of the First Judicial District,
In and For the County of Lewis and Clark, Cause No. CDV 2009-177
Honorable Kathy Seeley, Presiding Judge
COUNSEL OF RECORD:
For Appellants:
Jonathan Motl; Reynolds, Motl & Sherwood, PLLP; Helena, Montana
For Appellees:
Steve Bullock, Montana Attorney General; Thomas G. Bowe, Assistant
Attorney General, Agency Legal Services; Helena, Montana
Submitted on Briefs: December 1, 2010
Decided: March 29, 2011
Filed:
__________________________________________
Clerk
Justice Jim Rice delivered the Opinion of the Court.
¶1 Lee Wiser and Charles Conlan appeal from the Order of the First Judicial District
Court, Lewis and Clark County, granting summary judgment to the Montana Board of
Dentistry (BOD) on res judicata grounds. We affirm.
¶2 Did the District Court err in concluding that Appellants’ claims against BOD were
barred by res judicata?
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
¶3 Appellants/Plaintiffs Wiser and Conlan are licensed denturists. BOD is
responsible for regulating the practice of denturitry. These parties appeared before this
Court in Wiser v. State (Wiser I), 2006 MT 20, 331 Mont. 28, 129 P.3d 133. In that case,
Wiser and Conlan were among a large group of plaintiffs who filed an action against
numerous defendants, including BOD, seeking declaratory, injunctive, and monetary
relief, in part, on statutory and constitutional grounds related to the regulation of
denturitry. The District Court granted summary judgment to the defendants and we
affirmed.
¶4 This case arises out of BOD’s assertion that Conlan and Wiser are exceeding the
authorized scope of the practice of denturitry by fitting dentures on or over dental
implants. BOD issued a complaint against Conlan in 2007, alleging that his comments at
a hearing1 constituted a basis for disciplinary action for violating § 37-1-316 (18), MCA
1
At the hearing, Conlan stated, “I have been doing over dentures, implant over dentures for over
twenty two (22) years in this state and over forty (40) years for your profession.”
2
(2007)2 and Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302(1)(j), which states: “(1) The board defines
‘unprofessional conduct’ as follows: . . . (j) fitting, attempting to fit or advertising to fit a
prosthesis on or over a dental implant . . . .”3 In February of 2009, BOD issued an
administrative subpoena to Conlan, directing him to produce documentation and attend a
deposition on March 2, 2009. BOD likewise issued an administrative subpoena in
February 2009 to Wiser, requiring document production about the same alleged
regulatory violation and requiring his attendance at a deposition.
¶5 Prior to the scheduled depositions, Wiser and Conlan filed a complaint against
BOD seeking a judgment declaring Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302(1)(j) invalid due to a
conflict with §§ 37-29-102 and 37-29-402, MCA, and as a violation of Plaintiffs’ right to
constitutional due process. BOD answered the complaint and sought summary judgment
on res judicata grounds. The parties stipulated to dismissal of Plaintiffs’ constitutional
challenge, leaving only the statutory challenge before the court. After briefing and
hearing, the District Court granted summary judgment to BOD. Wiser and Conlan
appeal. Additional facts as necessary are set forth below.
2
Section 37-1-316(18), MCA (2007), reads: “The following is unprofessional conduct for a
licensee . . . (18) conduct that does not meet the generally accepted standards of practice. . . .”
3
This regulation was formerly Admin. R. M. 8.17.801(11). In 2003, BOD changed the number
of Admin. R. M. 8.17.801 to Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302. 20 Mont. Admin. Register 2436-37
(Oct. 30, 2003). The substance of the regulation remained the same. Although Plaintiffs’
complaint cites to Admin. R. M. 8.17.801(11), we will refer to the challenged regulation by its
revised number, Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302(1)(j).
3
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶6 We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the
criteria in M. R. Civ. P. 56. Alexander v. Bozeman Motors, Inc., 2010 MT 135, ¶ 15, 356
Mont. 439, 234 P.3d 880 (citing Mattson v. Mont. Power Co., 2009 MT 286, ¶ 15, 352
Mont. 212, 215 P.3d 675). “Summary judgment may be granted only when there is a
complete absence of genuine issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to
judgment as a matter of law.” Lorang v. Fortis Ins. Co., 2008 MT 252, ¶ 37, 345 Mont.
12, 192 P.3d 186 (citations omitted).
¶7 A district court’s application of res judicata is an issue of law which we review for
correctness. Textana, Inc. v. Klabzuba Oil & Gas, 2009 MT 401, ¶ 62, 353 Mont. 442,
222 P.3d 580 (citing Thornton v. Alpine Home Ctr., 2001 MT 310, ¶ 10, 307 Mont. 529,
38 P.3d 855).
DISCUSSION
¶8 “The doctrine of res judicata bars the relitigation of a claim once a final judgment
has been entered.” Parini v. Missoula Co. High Sch., 284 Mont. 14, 23, 944 P.2d 199,
204 (1997) (citation omitted). Res judicata bars a party from relitigating a matter that the
party has already had the opportunity to litigate. Baltrusch v. Baltrusch, 2006 MT 51,
¶ 16, 331 Mont. 281, 130 P.3d 1267 (citation omitted). The doctrine is premised on the
policy that there must be some end to litigation. In re Raymond W. George Trust, 1999
MT 223, ¶ 47, 296 Mont. 56, 986 P.2d 427 (citation omitted).
4
¶9 A matter is res judicata to subsequent claims if the following criteria are satisfied:
(1) the parties or their privies are the same; (2) the subject matter of the present and past
actions is the same; (3) the issues are the same and relate to the same subject matter; and
(4) the capacities of the parties are the same to the subject matter and issues between
them. Somont Oil Co., Inc. v. A & G Drilling, Inc., 2008 MT 447, ¶ 8, 348 Mont. 12, 199
P.3d 241 (citation omitted). Res judicata applies after a final judgment has been entered.
Baltrusch, ¶ 15 (citations omitted).
¶10 A final judgment was entered in Wiser I. See Mills v. Lincoln Co., 262 Mont. 283,
285, 864 P.2d 1265, 1267 (1993) (“We reaffirm the proposition that a summary judgment
is, indeed, a final judgment on the merits and that the res judicata bar is, therefore,
applicable.”). Appellants do not dispute that the parties here are the same as in Wiser I.
However, Appellants and BOD dispute the remaining three elements.
¶11 First, Appellants contend that the subject matter is not the same. They argue
Wiser I challenged “the overall authority of the BOD to engage in any regulation of any
denturists, including regulation by ARM [24.138.2302(1)(j)],” but here they are seeking
declaratory relief from BOD’s “enforcement” of the regulation, which “overreaches and
improperly restricts statutory license authority provided a denturist.” BOD replies that
Wiser I not only challenged BOD’s authority, but also contested BOD’s enforcement of
the same regulation against individual denturists that is being challenged here.
¶12 In State ex rel. Harlem Irrigation District v. Montana Seventeenth Judicial
District Court, 271 Mont. 129, 130, 894 P.2d 943, 943 (1995), the District, contending
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the plaintiffs failed to pay taxes, terminated their water service. Plaintiffs brought suit,
alleging that the District and several commissioners were liable for lost crops and for
punitive damages. Harlem, 271 Mont. at 130-31, 894 P.2d at 944. The district court
granted summary judgment to the District, which we affirmed. Harlem, 271 Mont. at
131, 894 P.2d at 944. Plaintiffs filed a new action alleging, inter alia, that the District
violated contractual and statutory duties by denying them water. Harlem, 271 Mont. at
131, 894 P.2d at 944. We reversed the district court’s denial of the District’s motion for
judgment on the pleadings based on res judicata. Harlem, 271 Mont. at 135, 894 P.2d at
946. In concluding that the subject matter of the actions was the same, we reasoned that
the first suit concerned the District shutting off plaintiffs’ water, and “[t]he underlying
subject matter in the [second suit] . . . was the District’s failure to provide water. The
same subject matter that gave rise to the initial claim was the basis for the additional
causes of action.” Harlem, 271 Mont. at 133-34, 894 P.2d at 945.
¶13 The complaint filed herein is premised on Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302(1)(j) and the
actions taken by BOD in alleging that Appellants are fitting dentures over implants,
stating: “Wiser and Conlan have each been charged through a complaint generated by
the BOD itself with unprofessional conduct under ARM [24.138.2302(1)(j)] and the
BOD is actively seeking to enforce those complaints through subpoena work.” In
Wiser I, the complaint alleged that “the Board acted . . . to regulate denturitry through
passage of regulations,” including “ARM [24.138.2302(1)(j)] . . . defin[ing]
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unprofessional conduct for a denturist as ‘fitting or attempting to fit or advertising to fit a
prosthesis on or over a dental implant . . . .’” The complaint in Wiser I further alleged:
52. In addition to the unlawful actions set out above [including wrongful
actions by way of regulation . . . which affected each plaintiff in a like
manner], individual denturists also were affected by special unlawful
actions directed solely at that denturist. . . .
a. Lee Wiser
. . . Wiser has . . . had a number of complaints filed against him by dentists
. . . . These complaints were designed to restrict the scope of Wiser’s
business practice by restricting him from placing a prosthesis upon implants
. . . . Several of such complaints are pending before the [BOD] at the time
of the filing of this Complaint.4
We do not agree that Wiser I was focused only on BOD’s “authority.” The allegations in
Wiser I encompassed BOD’s enforcement of Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302(1)(j) as well.
As in Harlem, we conclude that the subject matter which gave rise to Wiser I is the same
subject which forms the basis of the present action.
¶14 Appellants also contest the identity of issues. “‘[U]nless it clearly appears that the
precise question involved in the second case was raised and determined in the former, the
judgment is no bar to the second action.’” Phelan v. Lee Blaine Enters., 220 Mont. 296,
299, 716 P.2d 601, 603 (1986) (citation omitted). Wiser I specifically challenged the
validity of Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302(1)(j), and the complaint generally stated as
follows:
4
Appellants argue that Wiser, not Conlan, was referenced in the Wiser I complaint in regard to
pending disciplinary complaints before BOD. However, both appellants were within the group
of plaintiff denturists in Wiser I, each alleging the same violations and legal theories. The Wiser
I complaint states, “[s]pecifically, each denturist has suffered losses and damages sustained for
being wrongly restricted . . . in making dentures over implants . . . .” (Emphasis added.)
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46. As defined in this Complaint, above, the Board . . . has operated
and continues to operate in violation of statutory authority and/or the
Montana Constitution. By this claim the plaintiffs . . . seek the following
relief:
. . .
b. All regulations passed by the Board, customs adopted by the Board and
complaint actions that in any way concern the profession of denturitry
should be declared null and void . . . .
(Emphasis added.) The complaint in the present action states: “This declaratory
judgment action seeks to have ARM [24.138.2302(1)(j)] declared a void attempt to
contradict statutory law . . . . ARM [24.138.2302(1)(j)] should be declared as void as it
conflicts with and attempts to limit rights granted and activities allowed by statute.”
Thus, the issue—whether Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302(1)(j) is invalid due to a conflict
with statute—was the same in both cases. In Wiser I, the District Court rejected
plaintiffs’ contention that BOD acted in excess of its statutory authority, citing §§ 37-29-
201, 37-1-131, and 37-1-319(5), MCA (2003), which gave BOD power to adopt and
enforce rules related to disciplinary standards and unprofessional conduct. That part of
the District Court’s ruling in Wiser I was not challenged on appeal, so the District Court’s
ruling was a final determination of the issue for purposes of res judicata.
¶15 Appellants argue that new “facts” emerged after Wiser I—the 2007 BOD
complaint against Conlan and 2009 subpoenas issued to Wiser and Conlan—which
operate to raise new issues which had not yet accrued and therefore could not have been
litigated in Wiser I. We have stated that, “[w]here two causes, although seeking the same
relief, rest upon a different state of facts, the adjudication in the one constitutes no bar to
8
a recovery in the other.” Fox v. 7L Bar Ranch Co., 198 Mont. 201, 207, 645 P.2d 929,
932 (1982) (citations omitted). However, the BOD actions after Wiser I were not “a
different state of facts” in substance. The factual substance of the current complaint,
which asserts BOD enforcement of an asserted unlawful regulation, is the same as
asserted in Wiser I. Had the claim in Wiser I contesting the validity of Admin. R. M.
24.138.2302(1)(j) been resolved in Appellants’ favor, the current case would have been
unnecessary. See Harlem, 271 Mont. at 134, 894 P.2d at 946 (“had they succeeded in
their original action, they could have sought equitable relief which would have avoided
the damage now complained of”).
¶16 Appellants also argue that the legal theory of the statutory challenge in the present
case differs from that in Wiser I such that the issues in the two suits are not ‘“identical,’”5
and should not constitute relitigation. However, while the present case may state a
narrower theory than stated in Wiser I, the underlying issue of both suits remains the
same: whether BOD’s promulgation of Admin. R. M. 24.138.2302(1)(j) is invalid
because it conflicts with statute. The challenge in Wiser I was broad enough to
encompass the new theories Appellants raised here. The complaint in Wiser I explained
that “plaintiffs state that additional violations of statutory authority likely exist and
reserve their right to timely add such additional claims.”
¶17 “[R]es judicata bars not only issues that were actually litigated, but also those that
could have been litigated in a prior proceeding.” Harlem, 271 Mont. at 134, 894 P.2d at
5
Appellants use the term “identical issue,” quoting Baltrusch, but that term was used there as
part of the collateral estoppel, or issue preclusion, analysis. See Baltrusch, ¶ 18.
9
946 (second emphasis added) (citation omitted). “Finality is accorded to the disposition
of all issues that were raised or that could have been raised; a party, therefore, is
prohibited from relitigating a claim that he or she has already had an opportunity to
litigate.” Parini, 284 Mont. at 23, 944 P.2d at 204 (citation omitted); see also Hall v.
Heckerman, 2000 MT 300, ¶ 16, 302 Mont. 345, 15 P.3d 869 (citations omitted) (‘“A
judgment is binding and conclusive . . . as to all issues which could have been properly
raised irrespective of whether the particular matter was in fact litigated.’”). Appellants
are prohibited from relitigating a claim they already had an opportunity to litigate.
¶18 Lastly, Appellants argue that the parties’ capacities differ in the two actions. They
argue that Wiser I involved more parties, and that their role in Wiser I was to act “on
behalf of the profession of denturitry,” while their role in this action is to personally
defend their “scope of work.” However, Appellants, as denturists, are again contesting
BOD’s promulgation and enforcement of the regulation restricting them from placing
dentures over implants and, for this purpose, we see no distinction in their capacity to do
so as a representative of a group as opposed to individually. In both actions, Appellants
“litigated identical claims, in an identical capacity, against the same defendant[ ],” Brault
v. Smith, 209 Mont. 21, 28, 679 P.2d 236, 239 (1984), thus satisfying the final element of
res judicata.
¶19 Affirmed.
/S/ JIM RICE
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We concur:
/S/ MIKE McGRATH
/S/ JAMES C. NELSON
/S/ PATRICIA COTTER
/S/ MICHAEL E WHEAT
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