Baker v. Schafer

• Decision Date: 17 April 1996
• Docket Number: No. NA-95-45-C-R/H.,NA-95-45-C-R/H.
• Citation: 922 F. Supp. 171
• Parties: John W. BAKER, Plaintiff, v. Robert F. SCHAFER, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana

922 F. Supp. 171

John W. BAKER, Plaintiff, v. Robert F. SCHAFER, Defendant.

No. NA-95-45-C-R/H.

United States District Court, S.D. Indiana, New Albany Division.

April 17, 1996.

Daniel T. Albers, Kelly & Albers, Louisville, KY, for plaintiff.

James E. Bourne, John W. Woodard, Wyatt Tarrant & Combs, New Albany, IN, for defendant.

ENTRY DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND DENYING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT

DILLIN, District Judge.

A person wishing to sue a political subdivision of the State of Indiana for negligence must follow the procedures outlined in the Indiana Tort Claims Act (ITCA), specifically Indiana Code § 34-4-16.5-7. This is because such a subdivision, basking in the State's sovereign immunity, has had set for it the terms upon which it is sued under state law, even in federal court. The object of the ITCA "is to protect the fiscal integrity of governmental entities by limiting their liability for tort claims resulting from actions of public employees." Teague v. Boone, 442 N.E.2d 1119, 1120 (Ind.Ct.App.1982). In addition to controlling suits against the State and its political subdivisions, the ITCA also has been construed to apply in negligence suits against their employees. Poole v. Clase, 476 N.E.2d 828 (Ind.1985). The issue before the Court (with respect to defendant Schafer's motion anyway) is whether this is a suit against an employee of a political subdivision of Indiana, and, if so, whether, given that plaintiff did not comply with the ITCA by providing prompt notice of his claim to the proper agency, these claims are barred.

The circumstances that lead us to this issue are fairly clear. On August 5, 1993, plaintiff was driving south on State Road 62 in his tractor-trailer near Madison, Indiana. Schafer was driving north and towing a two-wheeled trailer. Somehow, the trailer came unhooked from Schafer's vehicle, veered into the southbound lane, and collided with the plaintiff's truck. The police arrived at the scene, Schafer reported his personal insurance information, and Schafer called his primary employer — the school corporation — for assistance in reloading equipment that had been on the trailer. Neither Schafer's privately owned vehicle, nor his trailer, nor his clothing, nor his statements at the time of the accident gave any indication that he was traveling in the course of his duties as Superintendent of the Jefferson County Regional Sewage District No. 1, as he now claims.

Alleging that he is a Kentuckian and Schafer is a Hoosier and that more than $50,000 is in controversy, plaintiff invoked the diversity jurisdiction of this Court by filing his complaint against Schafer on March 24, 1995. As just noted, at that time he had no way of knowing that Schafer was or would claim to be an Indiana political subdivision employee in the course of his duties at the time of the accident. However, it is on the basis of this assertion that Schafer — or in reality, Schafer's automobile insurer — has moved for summary judgment. He claims that there's no disputing that he was acting within the scope of employment because he was driving to a location to repair some manholes.

We're not so sure that plaintiff's loss is one occurring because of an act or omission within the scope of Schafer's employment. The few relevant cases concerning whether Schafer was a government employee who can avail himself of the ITCA require something more than an "only incidental" or "only marginal" causal connection between government employment and the act or omission at issue. See Van Valkenburg v. Warner, 602 N.E.2d 1046, 1050 (Ind.Ct.App. 1992). In VanValkenburg, a student who slipped and fell as she left a seminar held at the private residence of her professor sued her professor. The court of appeals, in rejecting the professor's efforts to invoke the ITCA, noted that the professor had no duty to conduct the seminar at his private residence and that his duties to maintain a safe residence lacked a sufficient causal connection to his duties as a government employee.

Other cases illustrate that for an employee to avail himself of the ITCA, the act or omission must be distinctly and substantially related to government employment. For example, in Poole, supra, the court determined that the ITCA applied in an action brought against a judge and clerk for negligent failure to recall an arrest warrant. Similarly, in Teague v. Boone, supra, the ITCA was determined to have the effect of barring a suit against a sheriff for "grossly mishandling repossession proceeds." See also Hupp v. Hill, 576 N.E.2d 1320 (Ind.Ct.App.1991) (holding that sheriff involved in allegedly wrongful search was entitled to notice under the ITCA as a precondition to a state tort suit).

In the case at bar, we cannot say as a matter of law that the causal connection between Schafer's alleged failure to secure and maintain his trailer and his job as sewer superintendent is sufficient to mandate the conclusion that ITCA applies here. It is clear that hauling the trailer was not a requirement of Schafer's employment as superintendent. Indeed, Schafer cannot even argue that but for his employment as sewer superintendent he would not have been hauling the trailer because it is clear that he was using the trailer largely in connection with his other, primary employment. While Schafer claims — and there appears to be a dispute on the veracity of this claim — that he was traveling to repair some manholes and so but for the employment would not have been involved in this accident, that does not adequately tie the duties of employment with the duties of care at issue in this suit. Schafer (or rather his insurer) can find no solace in the Indiana Tort Claims Act.

Moreover, even if we were to find the connection between Schafer's employment duties and the acts or omissions at issue in this suit substantial, we would still not provide Schafer any...