Brooks v. Northwood Little League, Inc.

• Decision Date: 04 February 1997
• Docket Number: No. 2679,2679
• Citation: 327 S.C. 400,489 S.E.2d 647
• Parties: , 120 Ed. Law Rep. 838 Tommie C. BROOKS, Appellant, v. NORTHWOOD LITTLE LEAGUE, INC., Northwood Middle School, and The Greenville County School District, Respondents. . Heard
• Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals

Page 647

489 S.E.2d 647

327 S.C. 400, 120 Ed. Law Rep. 838

Tommie C. BROOKS, Appellant, v. NORTHWOOD LITTLE LEAGUE, INC., Northwood Middle School, and The Greenville County School District, Respondents.

No. 2679.

Court of Appeals of South Carolina.

Heard Feb. 4, 1997

Decided June 9, 1997.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 3, 1997.

Joseph G. Armstrong, Foster & Foster, Greenville, for appellant.

James D. Brice and C. Stuart Mauney, Gibbes, Gallivan, White & Boyd; and Matthew P. Utecht, Haynsworth, Marion, McKay & Guerard, Greenville, for respondents.

HEARN, Judge:

This is a negligence case. Tommie C. Brooks appeals from the trial judge's grant of summary judgment in favor of Northwood Little League, Inc., Northwood Middle School, and the Greenville County School District, Respondents. Brooks argues the judge erred in applying South Carolina's Recreational Use Statute to bar her claim and finding she was a licensee. We disagree and affirm.

FACTS

In May 1993, Brooks injured her ankle on the grounds of Northwood Middle School while attending her granddaughter's Little League T-ball game. She incurred approximately $9,000 in medical expenses as a result of her accident. Brooks was returning to the bleachers from a concession stand where she had purchased refreshments when she fell and twisted her ankle. She asserts she stepped into a "hole" or "trench." ¹ She stated she failed to notice it because grass growth obscured the depression from view. On her way to the concession stand, she had walked over the same area without incident.

After the accident, Brooks had surgery to repair the damage and missed six weeks of work. She initiated this lawsuit in July 1994. Following discovery, the Respondents moved for summary judgment. The trial judge granted their motions, holding the Recreational Use Statute barred Brooks' claims. He also held that even if the Recreational Use Statute did not apply, Brooks qualified as a licensee and was thus not entitled to recover from the Respondents for her injuries.

DISCUSSION

Brooks argues the trial judge erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Respondents. First, she asserts South Carolina's Recreational Use Statute does not apply to her claim. Second, she asserts the Respondents' conduct amounted to gross negligence. In the alternative, she argues that she qualified as an invitee and was owed a higher standard of care than a licensee. We disagree.

Summary judgment is appropriate where it is clear there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), SCRCP; Rakestraw v. South Carolina Dep't of Highways and Pub. Transp., 323 S.C. 227, 229, 473 S.E.2d 890, 892 (Ct.App.1996). When there is no dispute as to evidentiary facts, but only as to the inferences to be drawn from them, summary judgment should be denied. Id. However, when the evidence is susceptible of only one reasonable interpretation, summary judgment may be granted. See Clyburn v. Sumter County Sch. Dist. No. 17, 317 S.C. 50, 52, 451 S.E.2d 885, 887-88 (1994).

I.

In 1962, our legislature passed the Limitation on Liability of Landowners Act, commonly known as the Recreational Use Statute, to encourage landowners to make land and water areas available to the public. S.C.Code Ann. §§ 27-3-10 to 27-3-70 (1991). Its provisions shield landowners from liability to "persons who have sought and obtained [their] permission to use [their land] for recreational purposes." S.C.Code Ann. § 27-3-30. Landowners owe "no duty of care to keep the premises safe" for recreational users and need not "give any warning of a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity" on the property. Id. In tandem with this grant of immunity, the legislature broadly defined "recreational purpose" as follows:

" "Recreational purpose" includes, but is not limited to, any of the following, or any combination thereof: hunting, fishing, swimming, boating, camping, picnicking, hiking, pleasure driving, nature study, water skiing, summer and winter sports and viewing or enjoying historical, archaeological, scenic, or scientific sites."

S.C.Code Ann. § 27-3-20(c) (emphasis added).

The immunity afforded by section 27-3-30 is not absolute. Two exceptions exist. First, landowners may not claim immunity for gross negligence. S.C.Code Ann. § 27-3-60(a). Second, unless the landowner is the State or its political subdivision, landowners may not assess a charge. S.C.Code Ann. § 27-3-60(b).

Our research reveals no South Carolina case on point. ² Courts in other states examining similar issues have reached conflicting results, despite the straightforward purpose and relative uniformity of landowner immunity legislation. See, e.g., Redinger v. Clapper's Tree Serv. Inc., 419 Pa.Super. 487, 615 A.2d 743, 745 (1992), appeal denied, 533 Pa. 652, 624 A.2d 111 (1993) (noting "widespread conflict" among the jurisdictions concerning what type of land is intended to be covered); De Baritault v. Salt Lake City Corp., 913 P.2d 743, 746 (Utah 1996) (noting inconsistency of case law); Robin Cheryl Miller, Annotation, Effect of Statute Limiting Landowner's Liability for Personal Injury to Recreational User, 47 A.L.R.4th 262 (1986) (cases discussed therein).

Although reported cases follow no clearly identifiable liability trend, several commentators have concluded that the majority approach appears to limit immunity to injuries occurring in rural or undeveloped areas. See, e.g., John C. Becker, Landowner or Occupier Liability for Personal Injuries and Recreational Use Statutes: How Effective is the Protection?, 24 Ind.L.Rev. 1587, 1611 (1991) (noting "decidedly rural focus" followed by most courts in interpreting landowner immunity laws); 62 Am.Jur.2d "Recreational Use" Statutes as Affecting Landowner's Duty of Care § 124, at 487 (1990) ("courts have stated that the statute was intended to apply to nonresidential, rural, or semirural land"); Betty van der Smissen, Legal Liability and Risk Management for Public and Private Entities § 12.11, at 207 (1990) ("case interpretations emphasize that the type of areas protected are those which are natural, unimproved, and undeveloped"); but see, e.g., Opheim v. Lorain, 94 Ohio App.3d 344, 640 N.E.2d 897, 898, appeal dismissed by 70 Ohio St.3d 1440, 638 N.E.2d 1043 (1994) ("Numerous cases have found immunity from liability for injuries which occurred on city or suburban property."); Redinger, 615 A.2d at 750-51 (holding "urban or mixed use land is not outside the ambit of [Recreational Use of Land and Water Act]").

Some courts have focused on the nature of the land itself and have established prerequisites to immunity, namely that the land qualifying for protection is: (1) rural, (2) undeveloped, (3) appropriate for the type of activities listed in the statute, (4) open to the public free of charge, and (5) of a type that would have opened in response to the state's recreational use statute. ³ By contrast, other courts have focused on the definition of "recreational purpose" ⁴ or "user," ⁵ while others have examined whether the landowner assessed a "charge." ⁶ We do not find these distinctions helpful, however, because using them contributes to the "tortured tapestry of decisional law." Redinger, 615 A.2d at 746.

While it is arguable that our legislature intended to limit the application of our recreational use statute to rural and undeveloped areas--as opposed to semi-rural and urban ones--we have no evidence of this intent. In fact, the broad language adopted by our legislature suggests most strongly that it deemed the need for recreational lands in urban areas to be as great as in rural ones. By contrast, most cases that have limited recreational use statutes to rural land have based their holdings on statutory language or clear legislative purpose. See, e.g., Keelen v. State of Louisiana, Dep't of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, 463 So.2d 1287, 1290 (La.1985) (concluding statutory purpose suggested immunity applied only to rural or semi-rural land); Labree v. Millville Mfg., Inc., 195 N.J.Super. 575, 481 A.2d 286, 289-90 (Ct.App.Div.1984) (finding "beyond cavil" that legislature intended landowner immunity statute to apply only to rural and semi-rural properties); Ferres v. City of New Rochelle, 68 N.Y.2d 446, 510 N.Y.S.2d 57, 502 N.E.2d 972, 976-77 (1986) ("statute was originally envisioned as applying to undeveloped or wilderness areas"); Tijerina v. Cornelius Christian Church, 273 Or. 58, 539 P.2d 634, 636-37 & n. 1 (1975) (legislative history and express statutory language limit recreational immunity to agricultural land, rangeland, or forestland); Rivera v. Philadelphia Theological Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, Inc., 510 Pa. 1, 507 A.2d 1, 8 (1986) (legislative intent to limit statute's applicability to unimproved land "is evident ... from the Act's stated purpose").

In South Carolina, the primary rule of statutory construction is to give statutes their plain and ordinary meaning where the statute's language is unambiguous. Adkins v. Varn, 312 S.C. 188, 191, 439 S.E.2d 822, 824 (1993) (noting courts must not resort to forced construction to limit or expand a statute's operation). The plain language of our recreational use statute's provisions clearly protects the Respondents because it grants immunity to "landowners." ⁷ S.C.Code Ann. §§ 27-3-10 to 27-3-70; see also T.W. Morton Builders, Inc. v. von Buedingen, 316 S.C. 388, 402, 450 S.E.2d 87, 95 (Ct.App.1994) (noting courts may consider a statute's title in aid of construction to show legislative intent). This textualist approach anchors statutory meaning in the historical purpose of the text: to open up land for recreational use by the public. See S.C.Code Ann. § 27-3-10 (declaring legislative intent to make land available for recreational use). In our view, a statute does not apply only to facts in existence at the time of its adoption. Statutes must be updated functionally to reflect changes in...