Bryant v. City of St. Paul
| Decision Date | 01 April 1885 |
| Citation | 33 Minn. 289 |
| Parties | ANN BRYANT <I>vs.</I> CITY OF ST. PAUL. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
S. P. Crosby and W. H. Lightner, for appellant.
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W. P. Murray, for respondent.
The plaintiff in this action seeks to charge the defendant for the misfeasance or negligence of the board of health or its agents in leaving a vault upon private premises exposed and open after removing its contents, in consequence of which plaintiff, without fault on her part, fell into the vault and was injured.
By the charter of the city the board of health is constituted a separate body, composed of the city engineer, city physician or health officer, and four members of the city council appointed by the president of that body. Its powers and duties are specially defined by the charter, and it is expressly authorized to make rules and by-laws for the government of the action of the board and its agents in the discharge of its and their duties, and it is made the duty of the police to enforce its sanitary regulations and orders. It is also clothed with authority, within the limits of the city, to enforce all laws of the state generally, relating to the care and preservation of health, and is given jurisdiction over all lakes and water-courses in Ramsey county to the same extent as within the city. City Charter, (Mun. Code, St. Paul,) c. 11, (Sp. Laws 1874, c. 1.) The provisions of the charter clearly mark and define the duties of the board as public and general in their character. Sp. Laws 1874, c. 1, subc. 11, as amended, Sp. Laws 1879, c. 88; Sp. Laws 1883, c. 2, § 18.
It is usual, either by general law or in municipal charters, to confer such authority upon local boards of health, to be exercised under the general police power of the state. And it is entirely immaterial, as affecting the question of the nature of the duties devolving upon such board, and the question of municipal responsibility, in what manner the legislature may direct and authorize its members to be appointed, — whether by the corporation or otherwise. Maxmilian v. Mayor, 62 N. Y. 160; Fisher v. Boston, 104 Mass. 87.
The charter also contains general provisions authorizing the common council, by ordinance, to remove and abate nuisances injurious to the public health, and to make regulations for the preservation of health and suppression of disease, and to make and enforce quarantine laws. Chapter 4. But it is not alleged or claimed in this case that the board of health were acting under the direction of the corporation in executing or enforcing any regulation in pursuance of which the alleged negligent act or omission occurred, or otherwise than in the exercise of the general discretionary powers conferred on it by the charter.
We are not, therefore, called on to consider the question of the liability of the municipality when it undertakes, in the exercise of its corporate powers, the performance of the act complained of, or specially directs or interferes in the premises. It is true, the complaint alleges "that the defendant, through the said board of health, caused said vault to be cleansed," etc.; but it is clear, we think, and was so assumed in argument, that the agency of the city referred to in the matter was simply its relation to the board of health as defined by the charter, and that the board was, in fact, acting by virtue of the powers thereby conferred. Chapter 11, § 5, of the charter, under which it appears by the complaint the board proceeded in this instance, provides that "said board may order or cause any excavation, * * * room, building, premises," etc., in said city, "regarded by said board as in a condition dangerous * * * to health, * * * to be cleansed," etc. It is not, we think, to be implied that the city council took any express or affirmative action in the premises to direct the abatement of the nuisance in this case, but that it was done by the board in the ordinary course of its duties.
The question, then, presented for our consideration is whether the alleged negligence of the board created a corporate liability as against the city. The duty is imposed by the legislature upon the board of health, under the police power, to be exercised for the benefit of the public generally. It is one in which the city corporation has no particular interest, and from which it derives no special benefit in its corporate capacity. And we think it clear that, as respects an agency thus created for the public service, the city should not be held liable for the manner in which such service is performed by...
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