Anderson v. Soap Lake Sch. Dist.

• Decision Date: 09 August 2018
• Docket Number: No. 93977-2,93977-2
• Citation: 423 P.3d 197
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: Michele L. ANDERSON, a single person, individually and as the Administrator of the Estate of Sheila M. Rosenberg, Petitioner, v. SOAP LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Grant County, Grant County Sheriff’s Department, and Corporal Allan Sleeper, and John Doe(s), Respondents.

423 P.3d 197

Michele L. ANDERSON, a single person, individually and as the Administrator of the Estate of Sheila M. Rosenberg, Petitioner,

v.SOAP LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Grant County, Grant County Sheriff’s Department, and Corporal Allan Sleeper, and John Doe(s), Respondents.

No. 93977-2

Supreme Court of Washington.

Argued September 14, 2017

Filed August 09, 2018

Douglas Dwight Phelps, Phelps & Associates, P.S., 2903 N. Stout Road, Spokane, WA 99206-4373, Amber Fae Henry, Department of Licensing, P.O. Box 9031, Olympia, WA 98507-9031, Katharine Allison, Spokane County Public Defender's Office, 1033 W. Gardner Avenue, Spokane, WA 99201-2016, for Petitioner.

Michael Early McFarland Jr., Attorney at Law, 818 W. Riverside Avenue, Suite 250, Spokane, WA 99201-0910, for Respondents.

WIGGINS, J.

¶ 1 Michele Anderson suffered the tragic and heartbreaking loss of her daughter, Sheila Rosenberg, following the irresponsible actions of Rosenberg’s high school basketball coach, Igor Lukashevich. Lukashevich invited Rosenberg to his home where he poured and drank shots of vodka with her. Shortly after leaving Lukashevich’s home, Rosenberg was killed along with her boyfriend, Pavel Turchik, in a car accident. Anderson marshals a number of claims against Lukashevich’s employer, Soap Lake School District (Soap Lake or the district). But she fails to marshal sufficient evidence to support her claims. We conclude that the trial court properly granted summary judgment to Soap Lake, and we affirm the Court of Appeals.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY¹

I. The Accident

¶ 2 Rosenberg was killed in a single-car accident after leaving the home of her high school basketball coach, Lukashevich. The evening before the accident, Rosenberg and her boyfriend, Turchik, texted one another about meeting at Lukashevich’s house. Turchik texted Rosenberg that he was at the school playing basketball and then planned on going over to Lukashevich’s home. Rosenberg replied, "Ha nice!! What’s at [I]gors ^{[2 ]}? ... Oh yeah my ice[ ]cream! L[aughing] m[y] a[ss] o[ff]." Rosenberg then asked Turchik, "What [a]re you guys doing there?" Turchik replied, "We[’]re getting wasted th[a]ts wh[a]t we[’]re doin[g]!"

¶ 3 A couple of hours later, Lukashevich texted Rosenberg, asking her to come to his house. He texted, "Got your ice cream." Rosenberg replied, "Did you?!" Lukashevich answered, "Yea bring [V]ictoria ^{[3 ]} and come over." Rosenberg then responded, "Kkk!!!! Will do!"

¶ 4 Before Rosenberg went over to Lukashevich’s house, she and Turchik met up at another party, where they both drank alcohol. Rosenberg arrived at this first party with a "half-gallon of Monarch Vodka." Lukashevich was also at the party drinking beer. After a noise complaint, the "cops" came to the residence and told the partygoers to quiet down.⁴

¶ 5 Rosenberg and Turchik left that party together and drove to Lukashevich’s home. When they arrived, Ruby and Catrina Langley⁵ were already at the house. Both Ruby and Catrina had lived in the city of Soap Lake and knew Rosenberg and Turchik. Thus, of the four people at Lukashevich’s house—Turchik, Ruby, Catrina, and Rosenberg—Rosenberg was the sole member of the Soap Lake girls’ basketball team present.

¶ 6 Ruby and Catrina noticed that Rosenberg was visibly intoxicated when she arrived at Lukashevich’s home after midnight. Lukashevich was also drinking at his house. While Ruby and Catrina were there, they saw Lukashevich drink a beer and vodka mixed with cranberry juice. After Rosenberg arrived, she and Ruby ate ice cream from Lukashevich’s freezer. Lukashevich also poured two shots of vodka, one for himself and one for Turchik. Lukashevich, Turchik, and Rosenberg then each drank a shot together.⁶ Turchik and Rosenberg left Lukashevich’s house in Turchik’s car shortly thereafter.

¶ 7 Turchik was driving 99 miles per hour when he left the road and hit a driveway culvert. The vehicle rolled several times, ejecting both Rosenberg and Turchik. Rosenberg was killed immediately; Turchik died a few days later. At the time, Turchik had an estimated blood alcohol content of 0.175, and Rosenberg had an estimated blood alcohol content of 0.20. Both were minors.

II. Lukashevich’s Hiring, Training, and Supervision

¶ 8 Lukashevich was hired by Soap Lake to coach the high school girls’ varsity basketball team. Lukashevich had no college degree, no certifications in teaching or education, and no child development or physical education training. His main qualifications were that he had played basketball for six years in middle school and high school and lived in the city of Soap Lake. He had also previously worked as assistant coach to the junior varsity boys’ basketball team. He had attended a general training for first aid and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). At the time, Lukashevich was 22 years old. With these modest credentials, Lukashevich met the necessary qualifications for high school coaches listed in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s (WIAA)⁷ handbook:

¶ 9 The Coach Must Satisfy the Following Requirements:

1. Be a high school graduate or have completed a graduation equivalency diploma (GED) program, except as in d. below.

a. Be at least 21 years of age to be a head coach.

b. Be at least 19 years of age to be an assistant coach except as in d. below.

c. Hold a valid current First Aid Certification and "hands-on" CPR Certification or be enrolled in a First Aid Certification and "hands-on" CPR Course.

Soap Lake required Lukashevich to list any criminal history, and he indicated that he had never been convicted of or charged with a crime. Soap Lake also submitted Lukashevich’s fingerprints for a background check. Lukashevich passed both the Washington State Patrol’s and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s checks.

¶ 10 Before the start of the basketball season, Kevin Kemp, the school principal and athletic director, and Lukashevich’s direct supervisor, met individually with Lukashevich. They discussed uniform and equipment inventory. Kemp also discussed the importance of creating a positive and supportive culture.

¶ 11 Kemp did not remember giving a copy of the district employee handbook to Lukashevich and did not review the information in the handbook with him. To ensure that Lukashevich complied with the handbook policies, Kemp occasionally made impromptu visits to basketball practices.

¶ 12 In addition to the handbook, the school also required review of and agreement to the Soap Lake "Activities Code." Before student athletes could participate in school-sponsored sporting events, they and their parents or guardians were required to sign and return the Activities Code. The Activities Code prohibited consumption of alcohol and attendance at events where alcohol is present:

• Participants may not possess, imbibe, or ingest, alcohol in the form of beer, wine, liquors, or distilled spirits.

• Participants may not attend an event where alcohol is present.

In addition to the Activities Code, the WIAA also requires member schools, like Soap Lake, to adopt regulations discouraging student use of alcohol:

18.24.0 USE OF ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES - School and WIAA rules and regulations are intended to discourage the use of alcohol ....

18.24.1 Alcohol and tobacco - Each WIAA member school shall adopt reasonable rules and regulations pertaining to the use of alcohol or tobacco products that are specific to the middle or high school levels.

Kemp did not remember reviewing these policies prohibiting student consumption of alcohol with Lukashevich. Instead, to discuss the Activities Code, Kemp held an annual meeting with all the coaches at the beginning of the sports season, where he went over inventory, transportation, paper work, and practice schedules. He did not review the Activities Code item by item, instead focusing on academic excellence and attendance.

¶ 13 Before the accident, Kemp knew that Lukashevich had once asked Kemp for permission to take the team out for pizza in Ephrata. Kemp knew of no school policy about such an event and said that Lukashevich would not need to seek authorization to meet his students for a team party or to personally pay for a pizza party. Kemp also acknowledged that Lukashevich "had the luxury" to treat students to an ice cream social to reward and motivate their performance during basketball games and practices.

¶ 14 After Rosenberg’s and Turchik’s deaths, Kemp recommended that Soap Lake not renew Lukashevich’s coaching contract. Kemp stated that after the accident he felt that it was best to "bring in somebody new to get a fresh start." The district also received information that Lukashevich’s name "was brought forth during the investigation" of the students’ deaths, and it did not renew Lukashevich’s position.

III. Legal Challenges

¶ 15 Anderson, individually and as administrator of Rosenberg’s estate, sued Soap Lake.⁸ Anderson brought claims of negligent hiring and retention, negligent training and supervision, negligent protection of a student, vicarious liability, and breach of contract. At the trial court, Anderson twice moved for a continuance to gather more evidence, including the deposition of Kemp. The trial court granted both continuances to allow the case to be determined on the merits. However, because Anderson still failed to present sufficient evidence of her claims against Soap Lake after the continuances, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the district.

¶ 16 The trial court concluded that there was no evidence that differences in the school’s hiring or supervision techniques would have prevented Rosenberg’s death. The court also reasoned that the event at Lukashevich’s house was not a school event, that Lukashevich was a "rogue teacher" acting "contrary to his authority and ... unrelated to his work," and that there was no nexus to the district. Finally, the trial court found that the Activities Code was not a legal contract giving rise to a heightened duty to monitor and supervise student athletes while they...