Crawford v. United States

• Decision Date: 12 December 2016
• Docket Number: 1:14-CV-1336 (LEK/CFH)
• Parties: CHRISTINE CRAWFORD, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of New York

CHRISTINE CRAWFORD, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, et al., Defendants.

1:14-CV-1336 (LEK/CFH)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

December 12, 2016

MEMORANDUM-DECISION AND ORDER

I. INTRODUCTION

This case—brought by Plaintiff Christine Crawford against Defendants the United States of America and the Albany County Chapter of NYSARC, Inc.—stems from an alleged slip and fall that occurred in the parking lot of the Leo W. O'Brien Federal Building in downtown Albany. Dkt. No. 1 ("Complaint") ¶¶ 1, 32. Crawford's claims against the United States are brought pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 2671-2680. Currently before the Court is the United States' Motion for Summary Judgment, Dkt. No. 63 ("U.S. Motion"); see also Dkt. Nos. 63-1 ("U.S. Memorandum"), 32-2 ("U.S. Statement of Material Facts"), 66 ("U.S. Opposition"), 67 ("NYSARC Response to Statement of Material Facts"), 76 ("U.S. Reply"), 78 ("Plaintiff's Response to Statement of Material Facts"), and NYSARC's Motion for Summary Judgment, Dkt. No. 69 ("NYSARC Motion"); see also Dkt. Nos. 69-4 ("NYSARC Memorandum"), 69-5 ("NYSARC Statement of Material Facts"), 77 ("NYSARC Opposition"). For the following reasons, the United States' Motion is granted and NYSARC's Motion is denied.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The O'Brien Building

The O'Brien Building is a ten-story high rise located in downtown Albany, New York. Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶ 43. Primarily at issue in this case is the building's parking lot, which is located directly to the north of the building and spans between North Pearl Street and Broadway. Id. ¶¶ 44-45. The General Services Administration ("GSA"), a federal agency, owns and manages the building. U.S. Mem. at 7; see also Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶ 48 (discussing the GSA's contracting for janitorial services).

While GSA acted as the building manager, it contracted out the building's janitorial services to NYSARC. Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶ 48. Although the contract relevant to this case was signed in 2010, NYSARC and its staff have been performing janitorial services at the O'Brien Building for at least twenty-nine years. Id. ¶¶ 48, 58. As part of its janitorial duties, NYSARC was tasked with removing snow and ice from the parking lot and other exterior areas of the O'Brien Building. Id. ¶¶ 51-52; Dkt. No. 63-16 ("Exhibit L") at 38-39. GSA did, however, retain the ability to order additional snow and ice removal outside of normal building hours, to approve chemicals used for deicing, and to determine the type and duration of certain services that are diverted to make way for additional snow and ice removal during inclement weather. Ex. L at 38-39; see also Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶¶ 51-52 (arguing that "the United States retained supervisory control" over NYSARC's snow and ice removal work).

Crawford argues that, outside of the contract, "GSA specifically detailed how they required the Albany NYSARC to perform the snow removal from the parking lot, where to place the snow and when and where to remove the snow." Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶ 59. In support of this,Crawford cites the deposition transcript of Jose Reyes, an NYSARC employee. Dkt. No. 63-15 ("Exhibit K"). Reyes testified that the general instruction concerning snow removal—unchanged in his twenty-nine years of employment there—was to push the snow from one side of the lot to North Pearl Street and Wilson Street, and to pick up and dump the snow from the other side of the lot into the grass between the lot and the sidewalk adjacent to Broadway. Id. at 28:2-30:1; accord Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶¶ 60-62.

B. The Incident

The claims in this case relate to a slip and fall that Crawford suffered in the parking lot of the O'Brien Building on January 13, 2014. Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶¶ 1, 19-34. Crawford—then thirty-five years old—was a legal assistant at the law firm of Featherson, Wiley & Clyne, LLP. Id. ¶ 3. While not herself a federal employee, Crawford would come to the O'Brien Building each morning to drop off her son at a (perhaps Orwellian-named) daycare facility there called "Club Fed." Id. ¶¶ 1, 4-9, 12.¹ The parking lot where the incident occurred is immediately adjacent to the O'Brien Building, id. ¶ 7, and when dropping off her son at Club Fed, Crawford would temporarily park in one of several spots in the lot that were designated for parents dropping off or picking up their kids, id. ¶ 8.

On the morning of January 13, 2014, Crawford entered the O'Brien Building parking lot as usual, and "did not notice anything unusual about its condition." Id. ¶¶ 19-20. After exiting the car, she gathered a diaper bag and her son from the car and began walking toward the building. Id. ¶¶ 23-26. As she walked, Crawford's "feet slipped out from under her," causing herto fall and "fracture . . . the radial head of her right elbow." Id. ¶¶ 32, 35. After she fell and while on the ground, Crawford "noticed the presence of 'black ice'" on the parking lot. Id. ¶ 33.

The parties dispute Crawford's attention level as she navigated the parking lot, as well as the suitability of her footwear for an Albany winter, in an attempt by Defendants to show that Crawford's own negligence was the cause of the fall. U.S. Mem. at 24-25; NYSARC Mem. at 6-7. In support of this theory, the Government points to portions of Crawford's deposition testimony that, under the Government's view, show she "wasn't even paying attention" to the parking lot's condition and that she was not looking at the ground and instead was "just in [her] zone rushing" into the building. Pl.'s Resp. SMF ¶¶ 25, 30. Additionally, the Government claims that Crawford "was not wearing winter boots" and instead "was wearing ankle boots . . . that had a heel a couple of inches tall," though Crawford contests these characterizations of her shoes. Id. ¶¶ 27-28.

C. The Summary Judgment Motions

At a January 15, 2016 telephone conference, Magistrate Judge Christian F. Hummel extended and set the deadline for dispositive motions for March 25, 2016. Jan. 15, 2016 Minute Entry;² see also Dkt. No. 62 (ordering the telephone conference). The United States complied with this deadline by filing a motion for summary judgment on March 25. U.S. Mot. In support of its motion, the Government argues that (1) because the clearing of ice and snow was delegated to NYSARC—an independent contractor—the United States cannot be held liable under the FTCA, (2) the Government's decision to delegate this responsibility to NYSARC is protectedunder the discretionary function exception to the FTCA, and (3) the sole proximate cause of Crawford's fall was her own negligence. U.S. Mem. at 16-25. Along with its brief and exhibits, the Government also filed a statement of material facts pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(a)(3). U.S. SMF. When the Government's motion was filed, a response deadline was set for April 19, 2016. Docket.

On April 19, Crawford filed her opposition to the Government's summary judgment motion. U.S. Opp'n. In that brief, Crawford argues that (1) the degree of control exercised by the Government over NYSARC in its clearing of the ice and snow from the O'Brien Building parking lot renders NYSARC a government employee, and not an independent contractor, (2) the method of snow removal and other issues related to this litigation are not subject to the discretionary function exception, and (3) Crawford's behavior was not the sole proximate cause of the accident. Id. at 8-12. Crawford did not file a response to the Government's statement of material facts along with her opposition brief, as is required by Local Rule 7.1(a)(3). Docket.

Also on April 19—over three weeks after the motion deadline—NYSARC filed what it styled a "cross motion for summary judgment," NYSARC Mot., along with a statement of material facts, NYSARC SMF. As Crawford points out, however, Dkt. No. 72 ("Letter Motion to Strike"), there is nothing "cross" about this motion at all: the motion requests that the Court grant NYSARC summary judgment against Crawford (not the United States) and "dismiss[] [her] Complaint in its entirety," NYSARC Mot.; accord NYSARC Mem.³ In the motion, NYSARCargues that (1) it is entitled to summary judgment based on its expert's opinion that, despite Crawford's testimony, there could not have been snow or ice present when she slipped and fell in the parking lot, NYSARC Mem. at 2-3, (2) even if there was snow or ice, "NYSARC undertook reasonable and diligent care in its snow removal efforts, id. at 3-5, and (3) Crawford's own negligence was the sole proximate cause of her fall, id. at 6-7.

On May 3, Crawford filed her opposition to the NYSARC Motion. NYSARC Opp'n. On the same day, Crawford also filed a response to the Government's original statement of material facts, two weeks after the opposition deadline and just over a week after the Government filed its reply. Pl.'s Resp. SMF. Crawford never filed a response to NYSARC's statement of material facts. Docket.

III. LEGAL STANDARD

Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure instructs courts to grant summary judgment if "there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Although "[f]actual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary" will not preclude summary judgment, "summary judgment will not lie if . . . the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248 (1986); see also Taggart v. Time, Inc., 924 F.2d 43, 46 (2d Cir. 1991) ("Only when no reasonable trier of fact could find in favor of the nonmoving party should summary judgment be granted.").

The party seeking summary judgment bears the burden of informing the court of the basis for the motion and of identifying those portions of the record that the moving party claims will demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). Similarly, a party is entitled to...