SPENCER v. NELSON

Citations

• 557 P.3d 144
• 2024 OK 63

Syllabus

¶0 Administrator sought certiorari review from the Court of Civil Appeals' decision affirming the trial court's order sustaining Defendants' Motion to Dismiss. Administrator brought a wrongful death action against the defendants for damages arising from physician's alleged negligent and grossly negligent treatment of Decedent by failing to make a surgical repair which allegedly was the proximate cause of Decedent's sepsis and death. Administrator urged that the Court of Civil Appeals erred by deciding questions of substance in a way that was not in accord with applicable decisions of this Court. We agree and hold: (1) for claims arising under the Oklahoma Governmental Tort Claims Act (GTCA), the discovery rule applies to wrongful death actions arising from medical negligence; and (2) a governmental employee has no immunity under the GTCA for claims arising from gross negligence, acts outside the scope of employment, and the GTCA notice requirements do not apply to such tort claims. The opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals is vacated, the judgment of the trial court is reversed, and the matter remanded for further proceedings.