Christophel v. Parkway School Dist.

• Decision Date: 25 March 1980
• Docket Number: No. 41291,41291
• Citation: 600 S.W.2d 61
• Parties: Irene J. CHRISTOPHEL, Appellant, v. PARKWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT, Respondent.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 61

600 S.W.2d 61

Irene J. CHRISTOPHEL, Appellant, v. PARKWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT, Respondent.

No. 41291.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Division Three.

March 25, 1980.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer to Supreme Court Denied

May 19, 1980.

Application to Transfer Denied July 15, 1980.

Mark Belz, Clayton, for appellant.

Donald L. James, Gary E. Snodgrass, Moser, Marsalek, Carpenter, Cleary, Jaeckel, Keaney & Brown, St. Louis, for respondent.

REINHARD, Judge.

Plaintiff appeals from trial court's dismissal of her petition for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Plaintiff filed suit on September 20, 1978, against Parkway School District seeking money damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained on defendant's premises on February 20, 1978. The trial court sustained defendant's Motion to Dismiss on the ground that the doctrine of sovereign immunity barred suit against a political subdivision of the State of Missouri.

Prior to Jones v. State Highway Commission, 557 S.W.2d 225 (Mo.1977), the State of Missouri and its political subdivisions enjoyed governmental immunity from liability and from suit for tortious acts committed by their agents and employees. O'Dell v. School District of Independence, 521 S.W.2d 403 (Mo. banc 1975). The Court in Jones prospectively abolished this immunity from liability as to all claims arising on or after August 15, 1978. The court made an exception for Jones and cases decided with it by abolishing immediately the immunity. Claims arising after Jones and before August 15, 1978, were to remain subject to the sovereign immunity defense.

Plaintiff's claim arose on February 20, 1978 and thus under the ruling in Jones is barred by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. She contends, however, that the prospective abrogation of sovereign immunity denies her equal protection of the law in that she is denied the right to recover damages while citizens injured after August 15, 1978 are allowed to recover damages. We disagree.

A classification created by a state which does not infringe upon fundamental rights or which is not drawn on inherently suspect distinctions, such as the one involved here, will be upheld if the challenged classification is rationally related to a legitimate state interest. New Orleans v. Dukes, 427 U.S. 297, 302, 96 S.Ct. 2513, 2516, 49 L.Ed.2d 511, 516 (1976). The Jones decision effectively draws a distinction between two groups: those injured after the date of the ruling in Jones, but before the rule takes effect, this group being denied a right to recover, and those injured after the rule in Jones takes effect, this group being granted a right to recover. In drawing this classification the court acknowledged that Missouri had traditionally followed the doctrine of sovereign immunity and that its governmental units had relied on this doctrine in formulating their policies and procedures. The Supreme Court therefore made the abrogation prospective "(i)n order that an orderly transition be made, that adequate financial planning take place, that governmental units have time to adjust their practices and that the legislature be afforded an opportunity to consider the subject in general." 557 S.W.2d at 231. We believe that these are legitimate governmental interests which justify the classification drawn by the court. Consequently, we rule against appellant on this point.

Plaintiff next contends that § 537.600 RSMo. 1978 ¹ permits her to recover against defendant. She argues that she may recover...