Banovetz v. King

• Citation: 66 F.Supp.2d 1076
• Decision Date: 25 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 98-956 JRT/RLE.,Civ. 98-956 JRT/RLE.
• Parties: Lorene BANOVETZ, Plaintiff, v. Betty KING, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. United States of America, Third-Party Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota

66 F.Supp.2d 1076

Lorene BANOVETZ, Plaintiff, v. Betty KING, Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, v. United States of America, Third-Party Defendant.

No. Civ. 98-956 JRT/RLE.

United States District Court, D. Minnesota.

August 25, 1999.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

TUNHEIM, District Judge.

The above-entitled matter comes before the Court upon the Report and Recommendation of United States Magistrate Judge Raymond L. Erickson dated August 3, 1999. No objections have been filed to the Report and Recommendation in the time period permitted.

Based upon the Report and Recommendation of the Magistrate Judge, and all of the files, records and proceedings herein,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:

1. That the Third-Party Defendant's Motion to be Dismissed and to Remand [Docket No. 12] is GRANTED.

2. That this action be remanded to the Minnesota District Court for Hennepin County, and the Clerk of Court is directed to do so forthwith.

LET JUDGMENT BE ENTERED ACCORDINGLY.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

ERICKSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. Introduction

This matter came before the under-signed United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to a special assignment, made in accordance with the provisions of Title 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(A), upon the Third-Party Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, and to Remand this action back to the State Court from which it was removed.

A Hearing on the Motion was conducted on November 9, 1998, at which time, the Plaintiff, Lorene Banovetz ("Banovetz"), appeared by Dean M. Salita, Esq.; the Defendant and Third-Party Plaintiff, Betty King ("King"), appeared by Gina M. Stanaway, Esq.; and the Third-Party Defendant, the United States of America, through its Postal Service ("Postal Service"), appeared by Lonnie F. Bryan, Assistant United States Attorney.

For reasons which follow, we recommend¹ that the Motion to Dismiss, and to Remand, be granted.

II. Factual and Procedural History

On or about March 13, 1992, while delivering mail for the Postal Service, Banovetz allegedly slipped on snow and ice, which had accumulated on the sidewalk of the premises located at 6818 Lombardi Avenue, in Crystal, Minnesota, causing her to fall, and to injure herself. The premises were owned by King, who had purchased the home as her personal residence, on February 19, 1992. At the time of the claimed injury to Banovetz, King had not moved into that residence, and did not locate herself there until March 19, 1992. See, Deposition of Betty King at 6, 9-10. Banovetz brought a State Court action against King, claiming that King was negligent for failing to remove the ice and snow from her sidewalk. See, Complaint at ¶¶ 2-3.

Thereafter, King impleaded the Postal Service, alleging that, as Banovetz's employer, it was contributorily negligent for failing to adequately instruct Banovetz on how to perform her job duties in a safe manner; i.e., how to recognize and avoid potentially unsafe conditions, such as accumulated snow and ice. On March 17, 1998, the Postal Service removed this action to Federal Court pursuant to Title 28 U.S.C. § 1441 and, on September 16, 1998, moved the Court to dismiss King's Third-Party Complaint for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, with a resultant need to remand the remaining claims to State Court. See, Rule 12(b)(6), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

III. Discussion

A. Standard of Review. In considering a Motion to Dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6), we accept as true, in a hypothetical sense, all of the factual allegations of the Complaint, and we view those allegations in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, here King. See, Riley v. St. Louis County of Missouri, 153 F.3d 627, 630 (8th Cir.1998), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ____, 119 S.Ct. 1113, 143 L.Ed.2d 109 (1998); Springdale Educ. Ass'n v. Springdale School Dist., 133 F.3d 649, 651 (8th Cir.1998). Under such an analysis, a Motion to Dismiss, for failing to state a claim, should only be granted if it is beyond doubt than no relief could be granted, under any set of facts, when the allegations are construed in a light most favorable to the pleader. Hartford Fire Ins. Co. v. California, 509 U.S. 764, 811, 113 S.Ct. 2891, 125 L.Ed.2d 612 (1993); Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974); Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957); County of St. Charles v. Missouri Family Health Council, 107 F.3d 682, 684 (8th Cir.1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 859, 118 S.Ct. 160, 139 L.Ed.2d 105 (1997).

In deferring to the well-pleaded factual allegations, the Court need not accept, as true, wholly conclusory allegations, or unwarranted factual inferences. See, Springdale Educ. Ass'n v. Springdale School Dist., supra at 651; Bradley v. Chiron Corp., 136 F.3d 1317, 1322 (Fed. Cir.1998); Morse v. Lower Merion School Dist., 132 F.3d 902, 906 (3rd Cir.1997); LRL Properties v. Portage Metro Housing Authority, 55 F.3d 1097, 1103 (6th Cir. 1995) Moreover, in treating the factual allegations of a Complaint as true, the Court "do[es] not, however, blindly accept the legal conclusions drawn by the pleader from the facts." Westcott v. City of Omaha, 901 F.2d 1486, 1488 (8th Cir.1990), citing Morgan v. Church's Fried Chicken, 829 F.2d 10, 12 (6th Cir.1987).

B. Legal Analysis. King premises her claim for contribution against the Postal Service upon its asserted breach of a duty to properly train its workers, and to maintain a safe workplace, as required by regulations promulgated pursuant to the Occupational Safety and Health Act ("OSHA"), Title 29 U.S.C. § 651 et seq., and the Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Act ("MOSHA"), Minnesota Statutes Section 182.65 et seq., as well as under the precepts of Minnesota common law. Specifically, King alleges that the Postal Service negligently failed to train Banovetz with respect to the hazards posed by snow and ice, thus rendering it liable for the injuries sustained by Banovetz, when she purportedly slipped and fell on King's property. It is King's contention that, under both State and Federal law, training as to the hazards presented by snow and ice conditions was required, since Banovetz was reasonably likely to encounter such hazards in the performance of her employment duties.

The Postal Service counters that neither OSHA, nor MOSHA, has a substantive requirement to train employees concerning work conditions that are outside of the Postal Service's ability to control — such as those found on King's private property. Consequently, the Postal Service contends that the regulations, which were promulgated pursuant to OSHA and MOSHA, create no duty of care as to the claims asserted by King. Moreover, the Postal Service asserts that, even assuming that the State and Federal OSHA regulations obligated it to train employees regarding obvious hazards — such as snow and ice — King could not legally employ those statutory, and regulatory provisions, in order to impose liability upon it, as she was not a person for whose protection the regulatory measures were promulgated. According to King, however, she can employ these regulations, not for the purpose of redressing an injury to herself, but to establish the Postal Service's contributory negligence as to the injury that is claimed to have been suffered by Banovetz — for whose benefit the protections were clearly intended.

Lastly, King contends that the Postal Service has a nondelegable duty, under Minnesota common law, to provide a safe workplace, which includes the requirement to properly train its employees, so as to reduce the risk of harm that is posed by an unsafe workplace that, King argues, should include her personal premises. The Postal Service rejects this suggestion, and asserts that Minnesota common law does not recognize such a nondelegable duty under the circumstances presented here. We assess the statutory and common law bases for King's contribution claims against the Postal Service, in turn.

1. Breach of a Duty. Since King maintains that the Postal Service was negligent in failing to train Banovetz concerning the dangers posed by snow and ice accumulations, we first must determine whether any such duty legally exists.

a. Standard of Review. The necessary elements of actionable negligence are: "(1) a duty; (2) breach of that duty; (3) a causal connection between the breach and injury; and (4) injury in fact." Johnson v. State, 553 N.W.2d 40, 49 (Minn. 1996), citing Hudson v. Snyder Body, Inc., 326 N.W.2d 149, 157 (Minn.1982). The question of a legal duty is well-suited to exploration at the dispositive Motion stage for, under Minnesota law, whether a legal duty exists is frequently "an issue for the court to determine as a matter of law." Larson v. Larson, 373 N.W.2d 287, 289 (Minn.1985); see also, Johnson v. State, supra at 49; Kim v. Ingersoll Rand Company, 921 F.2d 197, 199 (8th Cir.1990); Thompson v. Campbell, 845 F.Supp. 665, 676 (D.Minn.1994).

In the context of a negligence action, a duty is "an obligation, to which the law will give recognition and effect, to conform to a particular standard of conduct toward another." Vaughn v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 558 N.W.2d 736, 742 (Minn.1997), quoting Rasmussen v. Prudential Ins. Co., 277 Minn. 266, 152 N.W.2d 359, 362 (1967), quoting in turn, Prosser, Torts (3d Ed.), § 53; see also, Safeco Ins. Co. of America v. Dain Bosworth, Inc., 531 N.W.2d 867, 871 (Minn.App.1995), rev. denied (Minn., July 20, 1995). Therefore, "[a]ctionable negligence is a failure to discharge a legal duty to the one injured." Rasmussen v. Prudential Ins. Co., supra at 362. Whether a legal duty exists depends "on the relationship of the parties and the foreseeable risk involved" and, "[u]ltimately, the question is one of policy." Erickson v. Curtis Inv. Co., 447 N.W.2d 165, 168-69 (Minn.1989); Vaughn v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., supra at 742; Yunker v. Honeywell, Inc., 496 N.W.2d 419, 421 (Minn.App.1993), rev....