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Bar News - May 7, 2004 Tort Shorts from NH Courts By: Ralph Holmes Notable Decisions In Gutbier v. Hannaford Bros. Co., Opinion No. 2003-236 (February 13, 2004), the state Supreme Court held that an equitable petition for discovery was not the appropriate vehicle for the plaintiff to conduct discovery about her accident on the defendant's premises, where she had an adequate remedy at law. The plaintiff sustained injuries when she fell at defendant's grocery store. As a result, she could not recall any details about the fall or its cause. The defendant, per its usual procedure, had prepared an incident report that included observations about the conditions of the floor at the time of the fall, photographs of the accident scene, and names of witnesses. When the defendant denied the plaintiff's request for a copy of the report, she filed a petition in equity requesting that the Superior Court order its production. The court granted the petition, concluding that by "attempting to avoid making a claim for damages based only on the minimum amount of information that might satisfy the good faith standard for sanctions; plaintiff has, in effect, resisted the temptation to 'sue first and ask questions later.'" On appeal, the defendant argued that the Superior Court erred in granting the plaintiff's petition because she had a plain, adequate, and complete remedy at law by which to obtain the same information. The Supreme Court agreed, holding that the "plaintiff's proper remedy was to file a writ and obtain discovery through the course of litigation. Such a remedy would have been plain, adequate and complete, and we discern no reason why equitable jurisdiction would apply in this case." In a dissenting opinion, Justices Brock and Nadeau argued that the Superior Court had properly granted the discovery under the plain meaning and cases interpreting RSA 498:1. Achievements Congratulations to Rick Fradette who recovered a $375,000 verdict on January 29, 2004 in Mauricio v. Catholic Medical Center (Hills. Co. North No. 03-C-228). The plaintiff was a phlebotemist who was stuck with a needle by an HIV and hepatitis C-positive patient at the defendant hospital. The plaintiff claimed that the hospital negligently failed to warn him of the patient's communicable diseases and dangerous propensities. The plaintiff did not contract HIV or hepatitis, but did undergo extensive prophylactic treatments. Ralph Holmes practices with McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton in Manchester.
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