Childress By and Through Childress v. Madison County

• Citation: 777 S.W.2d 1
• Parties: William Todd CHILDRESS, By and Through his parents, Ira CHILDRESS and Joyce Childress, and Ira Childress and Joyce Childress, individually, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. MADISON COUNTY, Tennessee, the Madison County Board of Education, and the Young Men's Christian Association, Jackson, Tennessee, a/k/a Y.M.C.A., Defendants-Appellees. 777 S.W.2d 1
• Decision Date: 24 January 1989
• Court: Court of Appeals of Tennessee

Page 1

777 S.W.2d 1

William Todd CHILDRESS, By and Through his parents, Ira

CHILDRESS and Joyce Childress, and Ira Childress and Joyce Childress, individually, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. MADISON COUNTY, Tennessee, the Madison County Board of

Education, and the Young Men's Christian

Association, Jackson, Tennessee, a/k/a

Y.M.C.A.,

Defendants-Appellees.

777 S.W.2d 1

Court of Appeals of Tennessee,

Western Section, at Jackson.

Jan. 24, 1989.

Permission to Appeal

Denied by Supreme Court

Aug. 7, 1989.

David Hardee and Linda L. Moore, Jackson, for plaintiffs-appellants.

J. Tim Edwards, Glassman, Jeter & Edwards, Memphis, for defendants-appellees.

HIGHERS, Judge.

The plaintiffs, Ira Childress and Joyce Childress, brought this action individually and on behalf of their son, William Todd Childress, against Madison County and the Madison County Board of Education, alleging negligence which proximately caused personal injury to their son, a mentally handicapped student in Special Education at South Side High School. After a bench trial, the court found that the evidence did not preponderate in favor of the contentions of the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs are appealing from a judgment for the defendants.

At the time of the accident, William Todd Childress was a twenty-year old, nonverbal, severely retarded student. He traveled regularly with his class to the Y.M.C.A. to use recreational facilities, including a swimming pool. ¹ The trips were supervised by a teacher and an aide, both employees of Madison County, and while at the pool, by a lifeguard employed by the Y.M.C.A.

Some of the trips were to allow students to train for the Special Olympics. Childress' event consisted of walking the width of the shallow end of the swimming pool and handing a floating ball to an attendant.

On April 11, 1984, near the end of one of these training excursions to the Y.M.C.A., Childress was found on the floor of the pool at the point where the pool slopes from the shallow to the deep end. He was retrieved by the lifeguard and, after resuscitation began to breathe. He expelled water, vomited, and coughed, but otherwise appeared normal. An ambulance was called and Childress was taken to the hospital and admitted. Childress sustained injuries and incurred medical expenses as a result of this incident.

The teacher testified that there were three people who were responsible for observing the class--the teacher, the aide, and the lifeguard. The teacher testified that she was at the shallow end of the pool, the aide was on the other side of the pool, and the lifeguard was in and out of the pool at various points while offering instruction to students.

On this occasion the teacher stated that she was working with Childress. She described the events leading to the accident as follows:

Q. And toward the end of that hour what specifically were you doing with the children?

A. Well, the last thing that I did before I got out of the pool was work with Todd going back and forth across the pool.

Q. He would be walking back and forth across the pool?

A. Yes.

Q. And when you ceased that activity, what did you do?

A. I told Todd to get out of the water and told all of the other children to get out of the water.

Q. Did Todd get out of the water?

A. I did not see Todd get out of the water. As the children were exiting the pool another student jumped in at the shallow end, who was a swimmer, to swim a lap and I walked along the edge of the pool as he swam to the deep end.

Q. Did you ever again see Todd after you told him to get out of the pool until he was found underwater?

A. No.

* * * * * *

Q. Do you know who was watching Todd?

A. No.

Q. Do you know if anybody was watching Todd?

A. We all had joint responsibility for watching the students.

Q. Do you know if anyone was watching Todd as he was getting out of the pool?

A. I would have no way of knowing.

In light of the testimony, we are of the opinion that the evidence preponderates against a finding of no negligence. In non-jury matters the findings of fact of the trial court come to this court with a presumption of correctness and are reviewed de novo. Unless the evidence preponderates against the findings, we must affirm. T.R.A.P. 13(d). The trial court's judgment in this case indicates that he found no negligence on the part of Madison County or the Madison County Board of Education. The proof shows, however, that the teacher and the aide were responsible for watching the students; that the teacher ordered students out of the pool, but did not actually see Childress exit; that she became involved in observing another student, and did not know whether Childress left the pool; and that she did not know whether anyone was watching Childress during the crucial period when he apparently went into water that was over his head, thereby sustaining the injuries and damages which gave rise to the complaint. It further appears that each of the attendants was involved in small group instruction and that no one actually scanned the pool in order to see whether the group as a whole had obeyed the instructions to leave the area. But for the fact that no one watched the pool without the distractions of other instruction, Childress would not have been injured.

Under these circumstances, we cannot say that plaintiffs have failed to make out a case by the greater weight or preponderance of the evidence.

The defendants have raised a further issue in this case, however, that the mother executed a release of all liability of these defendants. It is their contention that even if they were guilty of negligence the action is barred by the release of claims executed by the mother individually and on behalf of her son.

It is well settled in this state that parties may contract that one shall not be liable for his negligence to another but that such other shall assume the risk incident to such negligence. Moss v. Fortune, 207 Tenn. 426, 340 S.W.2d 902 (1960). This rule is subject to exception. A party cannot contract away his liability for willful or gross negligence. Memphis & Charleston Railroad Co. v. Jones, 39 Tenn. (2 Head) 517 (1859). Neither can a party contract away liability if the duty under which he acts is a public one. Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railway Co. v. Saulsbury, 115 Tenn. 402, 90 S.W. 624, 626 (1905); Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio Railway Co. v. Unaka Springs Lumber Co., 130 Tenn. 354, 170 S.W. 591, 594 (1914); Hartford Fire Insurance Co. v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co., 175 U.S. 91, 20 S.Ct. 33, 44 L.Ed. 84 (1899).

The existence of a public duty which would disallow giving effect to an exculpatory provision is determined by looking at several factors. If the service provided is the type which may generally be subject to public regulation then the duty probably exists. Smith v. Southern Bell, 364 S.W.2d at 958. Other factors include the degree to which the service is of practical necessity for some members of the public, whether the service is offered to any member of the public who seeks it or qualifies for it, whether one party has greater bargaining power than members of the general public, whether in exercising that bargaining power, the party presents a standardized "adhesion" contract making no provision whereby protection against negligence may be obtained, or whether the person or property of one party is placed under the control of the other. Olson v. Molzen, 558 S.W.2d 429, 431 (Tenn.1977) (adopting the rule of Tunkl v. Regents of University of California, 60 Cal.2d 92, 32 Cal.Rptr. 33, 383 P.2d 441 (1963)). Particularly offensive in Tennessee are exculpation contracts executed by persons in professional vocations. Olson, 558 S.W.2d at 432.

Persons and businesses which normally operate under a public duty are not bound by the exception and can execute valid exculpation contracts when the transaction in question is not under that public duty. Thus it has been held that a telephone company can execute such a contract as to its advertising services, Smith v. Southern Bell, 364 S.W.2d 957-958, citing Mitchell v. Southwestern Bell Telephone Co., 298 S.W.2d 520 (Mo.App.1957), and a common carrier may contract against liability when executing a lease agreement, Cincinnati, N.O. & T.P.R. Co. v. Saulsbury, 90 S.W. at 626.

Analyzing the facts of this case under the foregoing rules, we find that the Special Olympics generally, and the services provided in this case specifically, are governed by the general rule and do not fall under the exception prohibiting exculpatory clauses. Although there are a number of circumstances which would otherwise bring the Special Olympics under the exceptions related to professional or public services, our analysis of all the cases cited reveals that the rule was intended to operate primarily in the marketplace. The Olson opinion in analyzing the public duty exception refers to "business," "bargaining strength" in "economic settings," "purchasers," and payment of "additional fees to obtain protection against negligence" implying that there were fees in the first place. We are not here saying that the touchstone of the analysis is the existence or absence of business motivations, or pecuniary exchange. But when those considerations which are tied to economic factors are eliminated from the analysis, in this case by the absence of any business motivations, the remaining factors are insufficient to bring this case under the exception. Having determined that the exculpatory clauses are generally valid as to the Special Olympics, we look now to the provisions of the clause used in this case.

The exculpatory language in this case is a part of a form document entitled "Tennessee Special Olympics Parental/Medical Release Form." It is printed on an 8 1/2" X 11" sheet divided into three sections, the right half of the page being a medical release to be completed by a physician or registered nurse. The left half of the page is divided into two secti...