AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• In January 2016, Luis Levario was injured in an automobile accident in Lea County, New Mexico, during his employment with Butch’s Rat Hole & Anchor Services. Starr Indemnity & Liability Company, providing workers' compensation insurance, paid for Levario's medical and indemnity benefits. In December 2018, Levario sued the Defendants for negligence in New Mexico State District Court. In January 2019, Starr Indemnity, as Levario's subrogee, filed a separate lawsuit seeking reimbursement for its subrogation interest, alleging negligence against Defendants Abel Noguera and Checkmate Transport, LLC, and asserting vicarious liability on Checkmate for Noguera's actions (paras 2-3).

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Plaintiff: Argued that it satisfied all pleading requirements and stated a claim on which relief can be granted, seeking reimbursement for its subrogation interest due to payments made under its workers' compensation insurance plan (para 3).
• Defendants: Contended that Plaintiff did not have standing to bring its claims and failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, arguing that New Mexico law does not provide subrogation rights to compensation insurers to recover from third parties for injuries to a worker (para 3, 5).

Legal Issues

• Whether the district court erred in dismissing Plaintiff's claims for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted under New Mexico law (para 1).
• Whether Plaintiff, as subrogee, has a legally sufficient claim for recovery from Defendants under New Mexico law (para 5).

Disposition

• The district court's grant of Defendants' motion to dismiss Plaintiff's complaint was affirmed (para 9).

Reasons

• The Court, comprising Judge Megan P. Duffy, with Judges Jane B. Yohalem and Gerald E. Baca concurring, held that the Plaintiff's focus on procedural aspects of its complaint did not address the substantive legal issue that New Mexico law does not permit a direct and independent action for subrogation against Defendants. The Court referenced NMSA 1978, Section 52-5-17(B) (1990), interpreting it as a reimbursement statute that assigns a cause of action to the employer or insurer only to the extent of payment by the employer for compensation or benefits, thereby not supporting a direct action by the insurer against third parties. The Court also noted that Plaintiff did not preserve any argument for a distinct claim for property damage on behalf of Butch’s Rat Hole & Anchor Services for appeal and, even if it had, such a claim was not exempt from dismissal based on the reasons set forth (paras 4-8).