Berman v. Sitrin

• Decision Date: 20 April 2010
• Docket Number: No. 2008-74-Appeal.,2008-74-Appeal.
• Citation: 991 A.2d 1038
• Parties: Simcha BERMAN et al. v. Laura SITRIN, in her capacity as Finance Director for the City of Newport et al.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

991 A.2d 1038

Simcha BERMAN et al. v. Laura SITRIN, in her capacity as Finance Director for the City of Newport et al.

No. 2008-74-Appeal.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

April 20, 2010.

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COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Kevin P. Gavin, Esq., Portsmouth, Ronald J. Resmini, Esq., Providence, for Plaintiff.

Lauren E. Jones, Esq., Providence, for Newport Preservation Society.

Kathleen M. Daniels, Esq., Providence, for City of Newport.

Present: SUTTELL, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, ROBINSON, JJ., and WILLIAMS, C.J. (ret.).

OPINION

Justice GOLDBERG, for the Court.

This case comes before us on appeal by the plaintiffs, Simcha Berman and Sarah Berman from summary judgment entered in the Superior Court in favor of the defendants, The Preservation Society of Newport (Society) and the City of Newport (Newport or city). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Superior Court's grant of summary judgment for the Society but we vacate the grant of summary judgment for the city.

Facts and Travel

Once again, this Court finds itself faced with a catastrophic injury that occurred on the Cliff Walk, a major Newport tourist attraction.¹ The Cliff Walk runs along 18,000 feet of Newport's shoreline, high above the rocky Atlantic coast; its majestic cliffs and scenic viewpoints beckon hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Although the vast majority of these visits result in enjoyable experiences, the situation at bar decidedly did not.

The record establishes that the Cliff Walk is a public easement over private land; a number of individuals and entities, including the Society and Salve Regina University (Salve Regina), own the land over which it runs. It is undisputed, however, that the city has assumed authority and exercises control over the Cliff Walk, both by regulation and maintenance. The city has enacted ordinances restricting access to the Cliff Walk and limiting enjoyment thereon to foot traffic.² The city also established the Cliff Walk Commission, an organization responsible for raising money and contracting for the repair and improvement on this important coastal attraction.³ Additionally, the record is replete with evidence of collective efforts by the city and the State of Rhode Island (state) to secure funding for Cliff Walk-related construction and repair.

On August 17, 2000, newly married twenty-three-year-old Simcha (Simcha) Berman⁴ and his wife, Sarah, stopped in Newport as part of a belated honeymoon.⁵ The couple, from Brooklyn, New York, decided to take a late-afternoon tour of The Breakers, one of the historic mansions in Newport owned and operated by the Society. They paid admission to tour the mansion and the lavishly landscaped grounds. During the tour, the Society's guide pointed out the Cliff Walk, which runs along The Breakers' property, separated by a fence; plaintiffs allege that the guide suggested that, after the tour, the group experience the Cliff Walk. After the tour, plaintiffs first spent some time enjoying the grounds of The Breakers, and then they decided to take an excursion to the Cliff Walk. They exited the fenced-in area of The Breakers through a gate on the north side of the property onto Shepard Avenue, a public street. The plaintiffs followed Shepard Avenue to the portion of the Cliff Walk that runs along the Society's property—an area known as Ochre Point. The plaintiffs allege that there were no signs warning of the Cliff Walk's potential hazards at either The Breakers or the Shepard Avenue entrance.

According to plaintiffs, after they reached the paved portion of the Cliff Walk, the couple noticed a "beaten path," which they assumed would guide them toward the water. Simcha took the lead and proceeded down the path with Sarah close behind. Suddenly, the ground beneath Simcha's feet gave way and he plummeted approximately twenty-nine feet to the rocks below. His injuries were catastrophic; he suffered a severe spinal cord injury that rendered him a quadriplegic.

In 2003, plaintiffs filed this action in the Superior Court, alleging that the Society, Newport, and the state negligently caused Simcha's injuries by failing to properly inspect, maintain, and repair the Cliff Walk and, further, that they knew of its defects and failed to guard or warn against them. In 2005, defendants moved for summary judgment on the ground that Rhode Island's Recreational Use Statute (RUS) immunized them from liability. The original hearing justice denied summary judgment, partly because of perceived ambiguities surrounding the applicability of the RUS to the facts of this case.

Subsequently, in 2007, plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment seeking to preclude defendants from raising the RUS as a defense. The defendants filed a cross-motion for summary judgment based on the RUS, relying on this Court's recent decisions interpreting its provisions. After a hearing, a second hearing justice denied plaintiffs' motion and the state's motion, but granted summary judgment in favor of both the Society and the city. Judgment in favor of the Society and the city subsequently was entered in accordance with Rule 54(b) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure.

This appeal followed. Further facts will be supplied as necessary.

Standard of Review

It is well established that this Court employs a de novo standard to review a hearing justice's decision to grant summary judgment. National Refrigeration, Inc. v. Standen Contracting Co., 942 A.2d 968, 971 (R.I.2008). "We examine the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and we will affirm the judgment if we conclude that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Ouch v. Khea, 963 A.2d 630, 632 (R.I.2009) (citing Benaski v. Weinberg, 899 A.2d 499, 502 (R.I.2006)).

Additionally, we review questions of statutory interpretation on a de novo basis. Bucki v. Hawkins, 914 A.2d 491, 495 (R.I.2007). "It is well settled that when the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, this Court must interpret the statute literally and must give the words of the statute their plain and ordinary meanings." Accent Store Design, Inc. v. Marathon House, Inc., 674 A.2d 1223, 1226 (R.I.1996). Our obligation is to ascertain the legislative intent behind the enactment and give effect to that intent. Kaya v. Partington, 681 A.2d 256, 260 (R.I.1996). We are also mindful, however, that "under no circumstances will this Court `construe a statute to reach an absurd result.'" Smiler v. Napolitano, 911 A.2d 1035, 1041 (R.I.2006) (quoting State v. Menard, 888 A.2d 57, 60 (R.I.2005)).

Furthermore, this Court can affirm the Superior Court's judgment on grounds other than those relied upon by the trial justice. State v. Lynch, 770 A.2d 840, 847 (R.I.2001). Finally, it is well settled that in a negligence action, "whether a duty exists in a particular situation is a question of law to be decided by the court." Ferreira v. Strack, 636 A.2d 682, 685 (R.I.1994). Whether the duty has been breached, however, is a question for the fact-finder. Seide v. State, 875 A.2d 1259, 1268 (R.I.2005).

Analysis

I Recreational Use Statute

In 1978, the General Assembly enacted the RUS, G.L. 1956 chapter 6 of title 32 (P.L. 1978, ch. 375, § 1), to encourage private landowners to make their land free and open to the public for recreational purposes. See § 32-6-1.⁶ To accomplish this salutary purpose, the General Assembly declared in pertinent part as follows:

"An owner of land who either directly or indirectly invites or permits without charge any person to use that property for recreational purposes does not thereby:

"(1) Extend any assurance that the premises are safe for any purpose;

"(2) Confer upon that person the legal status of an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed; nor

"(3) Assume responsibility for or incur liability for any injury to any person or property caused by an act of omission of that person." Section 32-6-3.

The legislative intent was "to treat those who use private property for recreational purposes as though they were trespassers." Tantimonico v. Allendale Mutual Insurance Co., 637 A.2d 1056, 1060 (R.I. 1994). Thus, landowners who open their land for recreational activities have no duty to the public other than to refrain from willful or wanton conduct. Id. at 1061.

In 1996, the Legislature expanded the term "owners" to include the state and its municipalities.⁷ Section 32-6-2(3), as amended by P.L. 1996, ch. 234, § 1. However, and determinatively, we conclude that regarding Newport's duty in this case, the RUS has its limitations. Relevant to our analysis here, § 32-6-5 provides, in relevant part, as follows:

"(a) Nothing in this chapter limits in any way any liability which, but for this chapter, otherwise exists:

"(1) For the willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity after discovering the user's peril; or

"(2) For any injury suffered in any case where the owner of land charges the person or persons who enter or go on the land for the recreational use thereof * * *." (Emphases added.)

Thus, the Legislature declared that all people who use this state's public recreational resources are classified as trespassers to whom no duty of care is owed, save to refrain from willful or malicious conduct as defined in the RUS.⁸ It is that limitation for willful or malicious conduct that controls the result in this case for Newport.

II

The Society's Liability

The RUS and the Society

The trial justice granted summary judgment in favor of the Society, based on her conclusion that the Society was the fee owner of the property where the incident occurred, but that it did not charge an admission for entrance onto the Cliff Walk. She further found that there was no evidence in the record "that the Society discovered plaintiffs in a position of peril," and therefore the Society...