Gunn v. Northville State Hosp.

• Decision Date: 10 November 1988
• Docket Number: No. 104349,104349
• Citation: 430 N.W.2d 815,171 Mich.App. 669
• Parties: Ernestine GUNN, as personal representative of the Estate of Frances Russell, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NORTHVILLE STATE HOSPITAL, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

Page 815

430 N.W.2d 815

171 Mich.App. 669

Ernestine GUNN, as personal representative of the Estate of Frances Russell, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. NORTHVILLE STATE HOSPITAL, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 104349.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted Aug. 2, 1988.

Decided Sept. 20, 1988.

Released for Publication Nov. 10, 1988.

Meklir, Schreier, Nolish & Friedman, P.C. by Samuel A. Meklir, Southfield, for plaintiff-appellant.

Frank J. Kelley, Atty. Gen., Louis J. Caruso, Sol. Gen., and George L. McCargar and Alan F. Hoffman, Asst. Attys. Gen., for defendant-appellee.

Before DANHOF, C.J., and CYNAR and DENEWETH, ^* JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Plaintiff, as personal representative of the estate of Frances Russell, a mentally incapacitated person, brought this action against defendant Northville State Hospital. On October 21, 1987, the Court of Claims entered an order granting defendant's motion for summary disposition as to all four counts of plaintiff's complaint. Plaintiff appeals as of right only as to the dangerous or defective building count and the intentional nuisance count. We affirm.

Plaintiff's complaint alleged that, on or about March 30, 1986, Frances Russell was involuntarily admitted to defendant hospital for a period of sixty days. Plaintiff's complaint further alleged that during Ms. Russell's stay at defendant hospital, two male patients were improperly supervised and were consequently allowed to enter Ms. Russell's room where they assaulted, battered, and raped Ms. Russell.

In plaintiff's dangerous or defective building claim, plaintiff alleged that defendant:

(a) failed to realize the dangerous conditions of having male and female mentally unstable individuals freely associating;

(b) failed to properly design the building for its intended purpose which would require segregation of male and female patients;

(c) allowed a dangerous building and/or condition to exist by failing to provide a security system or building design which would allow proper supervision of the patients in their custody.

(d) failed to act on the basis of previous confrontations between patients to rectify this dangerous condition;

(e) failed to adequately supervise mental patients to assure their and others safety;

(f) failed to use locks present on doors to protect patients;

(g) failed to provide adequate and reasonable mental care.

In plaintiff's intentional nuisance claim, plaintiff alleged that defendant created an intentional nuisance by allowing the two male patients to freely roam around the hospital unsupervised in violation of applicable standards of practice and defendant's ministerial duties.

On June 9, 1987, defendant moved for summary disposition as to all counts of plaintiff's complaint pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(7) and (8). On October 21, 1987, the Court of Claims granted defendant's motion and dismissed plaintiff's complaint.

On appeal, plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in granting summary disposition to defendant on plaintiff's dangerous or defective building claim. Plaintiff maintains that she stated a valid cause of action within the public building exception to avoid governmental immunity.

The public building exception to governmental immunity, M.C.L. Sec. 691.1406; M.S.A. Sec. 3.996(106), provides in part:

"Governmental agencies have the obligation to repair and maintain public buildings under their control when open for use by members of the public. Governmental agencies are liable for bodily injury and property damage resulting from a dangerous or defective condition of a public building if the governmental agency had actual or constructive knowledge of the defect and, for a reasonable time after acquiring knowledge, failed to remedy the condition or to take action reasonably necessary to protect the public against the condition."

In Reardon v. Dep't of Mental Health, 430 Mich. 398, 424 N.W.2d 248 (1988), the plaintiff, a nursing student who was training at the Newberry Regional Mental Health Center, was sexually assaulted by one of her instructors while she was residing in a dormitory room operated by the defendant Michigan Department of Mental Health. The plaintiff claimed that her room was unsafe because of the large number of master keys in...