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Endl v. School District of Beloit11/21/2001
APPEAL from a judgment of the circuit court for Rock County: JOHN H. LUSSOW, Judge. Affirmed.
. Kelly Endl appeals the trial court's judgment dismissing her claim against the School District of Beloit. Endl argues: (1) that the School District breached its voluntary agreement to settle her federal discrimination claim; (2) that the School District violated the principles of equity when it denied her claim for medical coverage; and (3) that the trial court improperly granted judgment on the pleadings on the issue of whether in vitro fertilization was covered under the health plan. Pursuant to our order of July 6, 2001, we placed this case on the expedited appeals calendar. See Wis. Stat. Rule 809.17 (1999-2000). We affirm.
. Kelly Endl is a kindergarten teacher for the Beloit School District. The School District has a self-insured medical employee benefit plan that reimburses participants and beneficiaries for covered medical expenses. Endl suffers from bilateral hydrosalpinges, a condition that causes infertility. Endl underwent in vitro fertilization in an attempt to become pregnant and submitted a claim to the plan seeking reimbursement of her costs. The plan denied Endl's request for reimbursement on the basis that the plan specifically excluded reimbursement for artificial means to achieve pregnancy, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization.
. Endl filed a charge of disability discrimination with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Before the EEOC resolved the claim, the School District and Endl entered into a confidential Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement provided:
2. In consideration for the representations and undertakings Ms. Endl makes in this Agreement, the School District agrees to the following:
A. Ms. Endl has submitted a claim for coverage under the School District's Employee Health Plan ("Health Plan") for coverage for infertility treatments she received in 1998. The School District will allow Ms. Endl to re-submit all claims for coverage for infertility treatments she received in 1998 or 1999 within thirty days of the date of the execution of this Agreement.
B. The School District will direct First Choice Benefits Management ("First Choice"), the Health Plan's third party administrator, to process all claims submitted pursuant to paragraph 2A of this Agreement as if they were timely and without regard to any fertility specific exclusions in the Health Plan.
. Endl resubmitted her claim, but the plan administrator again denied it concluding that in vitro fertilization was not a covered expense because it was not medically necessary to treat a "sickness." Endl appealed this determination through the plan's administrative review procedure, but to no avail. Endl then brought this action in the trial court against the School District, asserting that it had breached the Settlement Agreement, had violated principles of equity in denying the claim and had erred in concluding that in vitro fertilization was not a covered expense. The trial court granted judgment in favor of the School District dismissing the claim.
. Endl first argues that the School District violated the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement is a contract between Endl and the School District and, as such, its interpretation presents a question of law that we review de novo. Woodward Communications, Inc. v. Schockley Communications Corp., 2001 WI App 30, , 240 Wis. 2d 492, 622 N.W.2d 756. "If the terms of the contract are plain and unambiguous, it is the court's duty to construe the contract according to its plain meaning even though a party may have construed it differen
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