Haley v. Calcasieu Parish School Bd.

• Decision Date: 08 December 1999
• Docket Number: No. 99-883.,99-883.
• Citation: 753 So.2d 882
• Parties: Linda HALEY v. CALCASIEU PARISH SCHOOL BOARD.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

753 So.2d 882

Linda HALEY v. CALCASIEU PARISH SCHOOL BOARD.

No. 99-883.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 8, 1999.

Writ Denied February 24, 2000.

Kevin Camel, Lake Charles, LA, Counsel for Linda Haley.

Laura Schneidau, Metairie, LA, Counsel for Calcasieu Parish School Board.

Musa Rahman, Baton Rouge, LA, Counsel for Workers' Compensation Corporation.

BEFORE YELVERTON, THIBODEAUX and SULLIVAN, Judges.

THIBODEAUX, Judge.

This appeal concerns a tort suit by Mrs. Linda Haley, an employee of the Calcasieu Association for Social Enrichment, Inc. (hereinafter "CASE"), for personal injuries caused by an allegedly defective condition in a building leased by CASE from the Calcasieu Parish School Board (hereinafter "the School Board"). In accordance with the terms of the lease, CASE agreed to hold the School Board harmless for any damages caused by building defects. Mrs. Haley filed suit against both the School Board and CASE. The claim against CASE was voluntarily dismissed (and was barred by workers' compensation). The trial court granted the School Board's motion for summary judgment based on the lease agreement.

We conclude that the School Board has failed to satisfy its initial burden of showing there are no genuine issues of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. We, therefore, reverse the trial court granting of summary judgment and remand this case for further proceedings.

I. ISSUE

The issues raised in this appeal are: {1) whether there are genuine issues of material fact surrounding a hold harmless clause in a lease agreement between an injured employee's employer and the building owner which would preclude the summary judgment in favor of a lessorowner against an employee's tort action for damages caused by an alleged defect in the premises; and, (2) whether a hold harmless clause in a lease agreement between an injured employee's employer and the building owner precludes the injured employee from bringing a tort action for damages caused by a defect in the premises against the lessor-owner?

II. FACTS

The School Board owns the old Jackson Street Elementary School property at 1408 Jackson Street in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The North Building is two stories high with an exterior balcony connecting the second floor classrooms. There is an enclosed stairway at each end of the balcony which provides access between floors.

On May 1993, the School Board leased the building to CASE. The term of the lease was from July 1, 1993 until June 30, 1998. The lease agreement provided in part:

14. The Lessor shall not be liable to Lessee, or to Lessee's employees, patrons, licensees, invitees or visitors, or to any other person for any damage to person or property caused by any act, omission or neglect of Lessee, Lessee's employees, patrons, visitors, licensees, or invitees or any other person or any other tenant of said premises, and Lessee agrees to hold Lessor harmless from and defend Lessor against all claims for any such damage, whether the injury occurs on or off the leased premises, and whether or not the injury is caused wholly or in part by the Lessor's negligence. Lessee further assumes full responsibility for any and all damages whatsoever arising from or growing out of the occupancy, presence upon, or use of the leased premises by any person, including that caused or allegedly caused by defects in the premises and/or Lessor's alleged negligence.

On November 13, 1997 at approximately 6:30 p.m., Mrs. Haley left an upstairs classroom and proceeded to the stairs. Upon entering the stairway, she noticed that the stairway was unlit. Since the light switch for the stairway lights was located in the boys restroom on the first floor, Mrs. Haley could not turn on the lights. She was unable to return to the second floor balcony since the stairway door had locked behind her. While proceeding down the darkened stairway, she fell and injured her left foot and ankle.

Mrs. Haley filed an action for damages against the School Board alleging that the stairway lighting was defective. The School Board filed a motion of summary judgment asserting that it was immune from suit based on the hold harmless clause in the lease by which it had transferred responsibility for the condition of the building to CASE. It also asserted that it had no knowledge of the alleged defect. Plaintiff filed an amended petition naming CASE as a defendant and adding her spouse and children as plaintiffs. The trial court granted the School Board's motion for summary judgment, dismissing the School Board with prejudice. Plaintiffs appealed. We remanded that appeal because it was not from a final judgment. Both the School Board and CASE filed motions for summary judgment. CASE asserted that the Workers' Compensation Act barred plaintiffs' tort action. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their claims against CASE. The trial court again dismissed the claims against the School Board with prejudice. Plaintiffs brought this appeal.

III.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

Standard of Review

An appellate court reviews summary judgments de novo, applying the same criteria as the district court in determining whether summary judgment is appropriate. Schroeder v. Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State Univ., 591 So.2d 342 (La. 1991). Article 966(B) of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment shall be granted where the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions on file and affidavits show that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

The mover has the burden of showing that no material issues of fact exist. La. Code Civ.P. art. 966(C)(2). To satisfy this burden, the mover must present supportive evidence that the motion should be granted. Once the mover establishes a prima facie showing, the burden of production shifts to the nonmoving party to present evidence of the existence of issues of material fact which preclude summary judgement. An adverse party may not rest on the pleadings but must set forth, by affidavit or otherwise, specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. La.Code Civ.P. art. 967. "Only when reasonable minds must inevitably conclude that the mover is entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the facts before the court is a summary judgment warranted." Reynolds v. Select Properties, Ltd., 93-1480, p. 2 (La.4/11/94); 634 So.2d 1180, 1183.

Stairway Defect

The School Board bears the initial burden of proving its entitlement to summary judgment by showing the absence of material issues of fact. In order to meet this burden, the School Board asserted in the trial court that it was immune from suit in tort for damages caused by a defect in the leased premises because: (1) it had no knowledge of a defect; and, (2) CASE had assumed full responsibility for the building and any injuries caused by defects in the building.

The School Board is a political subdivision under La.R.S. 9:2800(E).¹ In order to recover against such a government defendant under either a negligence or strict liability theory, the plaintiff must prove that: (1) the defendant owned or had custody of the thing which caused the damage; (2) the thing was defective in that it created an unreasonable risk of harm to others; (3) the defendant had actual or constructive knowledge of the defect and failed to take corrective action within a reasonable time; and (4) the defect was a cause-in-fact of the accident. Newsom v. State, Dep't of Transp. & Dev., 93-815 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/30/94); 640 So.2d 374, writ denied, 94-1118 (La.6/24/94); 641 So.2d 207; Bellard v. South Central Bell Telephone Co., 96-1426 (La.App. 3 Cir. 8/27/97); 702 So.2d 695, writ denied, 97-2415 (La.12/12/97); 704 So.2d 1202.

There is no question that the School Board owned the building in which Mrs. Haley suffered her injuries. The issue here is what, if any, "defect" caused her injuries. Mrs. Haley asserts that the stairway lighting system was defective because the lights did not illuminate automatically upon nightfall and because the light switch was not located in the stairway. The School Board responds that the stairway had an adequate and operative lighting system and that the only defect was that plaintiffs employer, CASE, failed to turn the lights on. Although not binding, Louisiana jurisprudence is instructive on the question of what constitutes a defect.

In Weiland v. King, 281 So.2d 688 (La. 1973), an employee of a lessee brought suit against the lessor-owner of a building seeking damages for personal injuries sustained in a fall down an unlit stairway. The stairway exit lights were inoperative, the stairway lights were not illuminated, the light switch was located outside the stairway in a location unavailable to that plaintiff, and there were no handrails on the landing from which plaintiff fell. The Supreme Court held that these factors "combined to create a dangerous trap for one descending the stairs." Id. at 691.

In Kessler v. Southmark Corp., 25,941 (La.App. 2 Cir. 9/21/94); 643 So.2d 345, the Second Circuit affirmed a jury verdict finding a lessor-owner partially at fault for creating an unreasonably dangerous condition on leased premises. The lessee-plaintiff there sustained personal injuries when she tripped over unexpected obstructions while attempting to traverse a room in order to reach a light switch on the far side of the dark room.

In Kelly v. Gilbert, 341 So.2d 632 (La. App. 4 Cir.1977), a tenant brought a tort suit against her lessor for personal injuries sustained in a fall down the stairway of her leased apartment. The Fourth Circuit found that the stairway was defective because, in part, there were no exit lights burning and the location of the light made the stairway lighting inadequate and inaccessible to service.

However, in West v. Celanese Coating Co., 305 So.2d 565 (La.App. 4 Cir.1974), the court held that an...