Chappel v. Franklin Pierce School Dist., No. 402

• Decision Date: 06 April 1967
• Docket Number: No. 38533,38533
• Citation: 71 Wn.2d 17,426 P.2d 471
• Court: Washington Supreme Court
• Parties: James CHAPPEL, a Minor, by his Guardian ad Litem, Edna Chappel, Appellant, v. FRANKLIN PIERCE SCHOOL DISTRICT, NO. 402, Respondent.

Page 17

71 Wn.2d 17

426 P.2d 471

James CHAPPEL, a Minor, by his Guardian ad Litem, Edna Chappel, Appellant, v. FRANKLIN PIERCE SCHOOL DISTRICT, NO. 402, Respondent.

No. 38533.

Supreme Court of Washington, Department 2.

April 6, 1967.

McGavick, Sauriol & Bottiger, R. Ted Bottiger, Tacoma, for appellant.

Gordon, Sager, Honneywell, Malanca & Peterson, Warren R. Peterson, Tacoma, for respondent.

HAMILTON, Judge.

On May 6, 1964, James Chappel, then a 16-year-old high-school student, was injured while being initiated into the Key Club of the Franklin Pierce High School in Pierce County, Washington. His guardian ad litem instituted this action seeking compensatory damages. Trial was had before the superior court sitting with a jury. At the conclusion of all evidence, the trial judge granted the school district's motion to dismiss. This appeal ensued.

The evidence adduced, when viewed in a light most favorable to appellant, ¹ reveals that the Franklin Pierce High School Key Club is a chapter of an international organization of Key Clubs sponsored by Kiwanis International. The Franklin Pierce chapter is fostered by the Parkland Kiwanis Club, and has been authorized, approved, accepted, and faculty supervised by the high-school authorities as an extracurricular student organization for several years. Student membership in the chapter is selective, is based upon scholastic and leadership ability, and is subject to faculty approval. The principal activities or projects of the club are oriented toward school and community improvement and are primarily devoted to stimulating the scholastic, cultural, and civic qualities of the membership. Regular meetings are normally held on the school premises and are attended and supervised by a faculty advisor.

Since establishment on the Franklin Pierce school campus, an initiation ceremony for newly elected members, while not compulsory, had become somewhat traditional with the chapter. At the time of the incident here in question and before, the Franklin Pierce school administration had an unwritten regulation that initiation ceremonies for their various student organizations, including the Key Club, would be conducted on the school premises, be held during the course of a day set aside for that purpose, and be of the 'nonhazing' variety. The regulation against 'hazing' was in conformity with the general written policy adopted by the Puget Sound League High School Principal's Association. Whether the school's regulation or the League's policy had been fully and formally conveyed to the faculty advisor assigned to supervise the Key Club is not certain. It is certain, however, that, despite the rule, Key Club initiations had for several years been conducted away from the school campus, after school hours, and in a manner which entailed some physical activity and exertion on the part of the candidate. These ceremonies had been so carried on with the knowledge, approval, and supervision of the faculty advisor, and without objection by the school administration or school district authorities.

A short time prior to May 6, 1964, the members of the Key Club met with their faculty advisor and scheduled and planned an initiation for that evening. It was determined that the event would be held at the family residence of one of the members and would include, among others, such initiatory tribulations as a 'swat line' and an illusory leap trick. This latter stunt was usually accomplished by blindfolding the candidate, disorienting him by leading or turning him about, having him mount a board or other slightly raised dais, inducing him to believe he was standing at the edge of a swimming pool or at the brink of an elevated platform, and then ordering him to jump. Since the initiate only descended a few inches to a level surface, the results were ordinarily harmless.

On the evening of May 6, 1964, members of the club and the candidates met at the designated residence site for the initiation ceremony. Shortly before the boys arrived and the ceremony commenced, the faculty advisor called the owner of the residence (the father of the club member who had volunteered the premises) and advised him that unforeseen circumstances prevented his presence and requested that the owner supervise the boys. In response to the owner's inquiry as to whether there was anything about the task he should know, the faculty advisor answered in the negative and stated the boys had been given their orders. Except to admonish his son against any initiates being thrown into a swimming pool which was on the premises, the owner thereafter paid little direct attention to the proceedings.

As the initiation ceremonies progressed the existence of the swimming pool was utilized in carrying out the illusory leap stunt. In accordance with the routine, initiates were blindfolded and individually conducted to the edge of the pool, requested to step upon concrete blocks about 4 inches thick, led to believe they were going to jump into the pool, and in jumping descended only several inches to a level area of lawn adjacent to the pool. When it came James Chappel's turn, for some reason, the site of the jump was changed to an area where the adjacent lawn sloped steeply down and away from the pool edge for about 3 feet. In making his blindfolded jump, young Chappel descended to and landed on the sloping ground near the base of the decline. As a result he sustained a fractured ankle. The faculty advisor testified that had he been present he would not have permitted a jump to uneven ground.

In seeking recompense for the injuries sustained, appellant contended in the trial court that the initiation ceremony was of the 'hazing' variety, that injuries are fore-seeable from such proceedings, and that the school district was negligent in knowingly sanctioning such an activity without proper supervision. In response, respondent, aside from pleading contributory negligence, argued that such an initiation activity away from school premises was beyond the scope of its supervisory authority and control. Thus respondent asserted the defense of ultra vires. ²

The trial court in granting respondent's motion to dismiss at the conclusion of all of the evidence accepted its argument and held that the activity in issue was ultra vires. In so holding, the trial court predicated its ruling upon the premise that the evidence failed to establish that the initiation ceremony involved possessed any educational or cultural value.

On appeal, appellant makes two principal contentions. First, that the State Tort Claims Act of 1961 (RCW 4.92.090), as amended by Laws of 1963, ch. 159, § 2, abrogates the defense of ultra vires insofar as school districts be concerned, and second, that, in any event, the defense is not applicable to the circumstances revealed by the evidence in the present case.

We find no merit in appellant's first contention. On this score appellant, in essence, argues that enactment of the State Tort Claims Act of 1961, together with its amendment in 1963, repealed by implication the italicized portion of RCW 4.08.120, which provides:

An action may be maintained against a county or other of the public corporations...