Catt v. Board of Com'rs of Knox County

• Decision Date: 22 November 2002
• Docket Number: No. 42S01-0106-CV-288.,42S01-0106-CV-288.
• Citation: 779 N.E.2d 1
• Parties: Brian E. CATT, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF KNOX COUNTY, Appellee (Defendant).
• Court: Indiana Supreme Court

779 N.E.2d 1

Brian E. CATT, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF KNOX COUNTY, Appellee (Defendant).

No. 42S01-0106-CV-288.

Supreme Court of Indiana.

November 22, 2002.

Stephen L. Williams, Mann Law Firm, Terre Haute, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

H. Linwood Shannon, III, Fine & Hatfield Evansville, IN, Attorney for Appellee.

Andrew P. Wirick, Hume Smith Geddes Green & Simmons, LLP, Jo Angela Woods, Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Brief of Indiana Association of Cities and Towns and Indiana Municipal Lawyers Association in Support of Petition to Transfer.

CIVIL TRANSFER

RUCKER, Justice.

Case Summary

Brian Catt was injured in a single-car accident occurring in the early morning hours of May 18, 1995, when his car slid into a ditch created by a washed-out culvert. He filed a complaint against the Board of Commissioners of Knox County ("the County"). The County responded with a motion for summary judgment alleging immunity under the Indiana Tort Claims Act ("the Act"). The trial court granted the motion and the Court of Appeals reversed. Having previously granted transfer, we now affirm the trial court.

Facts and Procedural History

In the early morning of May 18, 1995, eighteen-year-old Brian Catt was traveling southbound on County Road 200 East in Harrison Township, Knox County, Indiana. At that time there was only a slight mist or sprinkle. However, the night before, Knox County had experienced a torrential rainstorm. Proceeding down a small hill Catt saw mud in the road. As he advanced, Catt noticed that the road was out and attempted to stop the car. Sliding on the slick mud, Catt crashed his car into a water-filled ditch in the middle of the road. As a result, he sustained serious injuries.

A subsequent examination of the accident site revealed that due to the immense amount of rain Knox County had received, a culvert had been washed out sometime during the night of May 17, 1995, or early morning of May 18, 1995. The washed-out culvert, which came to rest approximately fifty feet downstream from the accident site, left a ditch in the middle of the roadway approximately ten to twelve feet wide.

Catt filed a complaint against the County alleging negligent inspection and maintenance of the roadway. The County filed its answer, which included the affirmative defenses of statutory immunity, contributory negligence, and assumption of risk. After the parties conducted discovery, the County filed a motion for summary judgment contending: (i) it owed no duty to Catt and therefore his negligence claim failed; (ii) it was immune from liability under the Act; and (iii) Catt was contributorily negligent which operated as a complete bar to his claim. After entertaining arguments of counsel, but entering no findings of facts or conclusions thereon, the trial court granted the County's motion.

Catt appealed and a divided panel of the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court. Catt v. Bd. of Comm'rs of Knox County, 736 N.E.2d 341, 343 (Ind.Ct.App.2000). Adhering to the rule that the Court may affirm a grant of summary judgment on any grounds supported by the Indiana Trial Rule 56 materials, the Court of Appeals addressed each ground upon which the trial court may have based its decision. The Court determined: (1) the County was not entitled to immunity under the Act; (2) there were disputed issues of material fact as to whether Catt was contributorily negligent; and (3) genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the County breached its duty of care to maintain public thoroughfares in a safe condition for travel. The County sought transfer, which we previously granted. We now affirm the trial court.

Standard of Review

When reviewing a grant or denial of a motion for summary judgment our standard of review is the same as it is for the trial court: whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Ind. Univ. Med. Ctr. v. Logan, 728 N.E.2d 855, 858 (Ind.2000). Summary judgment is appropriate only where the designated evidence shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Corr v. Am. Family Ins., 767 N.E.2d 535, 537 (Ind. 2002). All facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts are construed in favor of the nonmoving party. Id. at 537-38.

Discussion

The sole issue presented on transfer is whether the County is immune from liability pursuant to the Act. The Act "allows suits against governmental entities for torts committed by their employees but grants immunity under the specific circumstances enumerated in Indiana Code section 34-13-3-3." Mangold v. Ind. Dep't of Natural Res., 756 N.E.2d 970, 975 (Ind. 2001). Immunity under the Act is a question of law to be decided by the court. Id. The party seeking immunity bears the burden of establishing it. Id.

Indiana Code section 34-13-3-3(3) provides in relevant part: "A governmental entity or an employee acting within the scope of the employee's employment is not liable if a loss results from ... (3) the temporary condition of a public thoroughfare which results from weather."¹ Ind. Code § 34-4-16.5-3(3). The law in this jurisdiction is settled that a governmental entity has a common law duty to exercise reasonable care and diligence to keep its streets and sidewalks in a reasonably safe condition for travel. Galbreath v. City of Indianapolis, 253 Ind. 472, 255 N.E.2d 225, 227 (1970); see also I.C. § 34-13-3-3(18) (declaring "[T]his subdivision shall not be construed to relieve a responsible governmental entity from the continuing duty to provide and maintain public highways in a reasonably safe condition."). Our courts have not addressed this duty in the context of washed-out culverts but have done so in the context of a city's duty to remove snow and ice. For example in Van Bree v. Harrison County, 584 N.E.2d 1114 (Ind.Ct.App.1992),trans. denied, the Court noted that under the common law a governmental entity is not generally liable for injuries caused by defects in sidewalks and roadways due to the natural accumulation of snow and ice. Id. at 1117 (citing Walton v. Ramp, 407 N.E.2d 1189, 1191 (Ind.Ct.App.1980); City of South Bend v. Fink, 139 Ind.App. 282, 219 N.E.2d 441, 443 (1966)); see also Adams v. Pa. R. Co., 117 F.2d 649, 650 (7th Cir.1941)

(indicating that in Indiana the "duty to keep streets reasonably free from defects therein, does not extend to defects in the streets due to natural accumulation of ice"); 19 Eugene McQuillin, The Law of Municipal Corporations § 54.79, at 305 (3rd ed. 1994). However, a city could be held liable under the common law for failure to remove snow and ice if it could be shown that the snow and ice represented an obstruction to travel and the city had an opportunity to remove the snow and ice, but failed to do so. Van Bree, 584 N.E.2d at 1117 (citing Ewald v. City of South Bend, 104 Ind.App. 679, 12 N.E.2d 995, 997 (1938)); see also City of Muncie v. Hey, 164 Ind. 570, 74 N.E. 250, 251 (1905) (holding "The accumulation of water and ice ... so as to obstruct the free and safe use of the sidewalk, constitute[s] a nuisance which it [is] the duty of the city to prevent or abate, and if it negligently fail[s] to perform this duty ... it ... will be held liable."); McQuillin, supra, § 54.79, at 306. As the Van Bree court points out, the Act reflects these common law principles, and provides immunity for temporary conditions caused by weather, but does not provide for immunity when the condition is permanent or not caused by the weather. Van Bree, 584 N.E.2d at 1117. We agree and find these observations equally applicable here.

Analyzing the immunity provision of the Act, the Court of Appeals examined the meaning of "temporary." Contrasting "temporary" with "permanent" the Court said that while inclement weather may temporarily cause a roadway or bridge to become dangerous or impassable for a motorist, "if this condition is due to poor inspection, design, or maintenance of the thoroughfare then the condition of the thoroughfare could be considered `permanent.'" Catt, 736 N.E.2d at 345.

We agree that if the hazardous condition of a roadway is due to poor inspection, design or maintenance, then the governmental entity may be held liable for injuries caused thereby. Indeed a governmental entity is not entitled to immunity every time an accident occurs during bad weather. Bd. of Comm'rs of Steuben County v. Angulo, 655 N.E.2d 512, 513 (Ind.Ct.App.1995),trans. not sought. Rather, in determining whether a governmental entity is immune under the Act, the relevant inquiry is whether the loss suffered by the plaintiff was actually the result of weather or some other factor. Id. However we disagree with our colleagues on the Court of Appeals that poor inspection, design, or maintenance are factors to be considered in determining whether the condition of a roadway is permanent. In our view such factors may demonstrate negligence. And if a party can show that his or her injury is due to negligence—as opposed to the temporary condition of a thoroughfare "that results from weather"—then the governmental entity may be held liable for the party's loss. See id. at 513, 514 (rejecting County's claim that the accident would not have occurred but for temporary foggy weather conditions, where plaintiff designated...