Hayes v. Hambruch

• Decision Date: 05 January 1994
• Docket Number: Civ. No. H-92-1830.
• Citation: 841 F. Supp. 706
• Parties: Antonette HAYES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Irene B. HAMBRUCH, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maryland

841 F. Supp. 706

Antonette HAYES, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Irene B. HAMBRUCH, Defendant.

Civ. No. H-92-1830.

United States District Court, D. Maryland.

January 5, 1994.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Saul E. Kerpelman, and Scott E. Nevin, Baltimore, MD, for plaintiffs.

David A. Carter, and Howell, Gately, Whitney & Carter, Towson, MD, for defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ALEXANDER HARVEY, II, Senior District Judge.

Presently pending in this civil action is defendant's motion seeking summary judgment on all five counts of the complaint. Defendant has filed a memorandum and various exhibits in support of her motion for summary judgment. Plaintiffs have opposed the motion, but have not submitted a memorandum of law. Rather, plaintiffs have relied in their opposition to the motion on excerpts from depositions taken in this case. Oral argument has been heard in open court. For the reasons to be stated herein, the Court has concluded that defendant's motion for summary judgment must be granted as to all counts.

Plaintiffs in this suit are Antonette Hayes, a minor child who is suffering from lead paint poisoning, and Rhoda McNutt, the mother of Antonette. Plaintiffs' complaint was originally filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and was subsequently removed by defendant to this Court. This Court's subject matter jurisdiction is based on the parties' diversity of citizenship.

The complaint contains five counts, as follows:

Count I, alleging on behalf of plaintiff Antonette Hayes a claim for negligence;

Count II, alleging on behalf of plaintiff Rhoda McNutt individually a claim for negligence;

Count III, alleging on behalf of plaintiff Antonette Hayes a claim based on defendant's alleged violation of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act;

Count IV, alleging on behalf of plaintiff Antonette Hayes a claim for strict liability; and

Count V, alleging on behalf of plaintiff Antonette Hayes a claim for punitive damages.

At a status conference held in this case on October 15, 1993, counsel for plaintiffs indicated that plaintiffs would not oppose the entry of summary judgment in favor of defendant as to Counts II, IV, and V of the complaint. Plaintiffs' counsel re-affirmed plaintiffs' position in this respect during oral argument on the pending motion. Accordingly, the Court will grant defendant's motion for summary judgment as to Counts II, IV, and V without further discussion.

This Memorandum Opinion will hereinafter address solely those counts which remain in contention, namely, Count I and Count III.

I Background Facts

Based upon the record now before the Court, the facts relevant to the pending motion are as follows. In November of 1974, the residential premises known as 1704 North Caroline Street, Baltimore, Maryland (hereinafter the "premises"), were leased to either plaintiff Rhoda McNutt or to Ollie McNutt, the grandmother of plaintiff Antonette Hayes. At that time, the premises were wholly owned by defendant Irene B. Hambruch.¹ Plaintiff Antonette Hayes was born on August 23, 1975. Plaintiff Rhoda McNutt first became aware of the fact that Antonette was suffering from lead poisoning in April of 1978, following a routine medical examination. Antonette was hospitalized and treated thereafter, and her family subsequently moved out of the premises.

Soon after Antonette was diagnosed as suffering from lead poisoning, the Baltimore City Health Department (hereinafter the "Health Department") conducted an inspection of the premises. This inspection revealed that the premises contained lead paint, and that this paint was flaking in various areas. By letter dated June 5, 1978, the Health Department informed defendant Hambruch of the results of the inspection, and informed her that, pursuant to applicable Baltimore City Ordinances, the lead paint was required to be removed within fifteen days.

Hambruch asserts that the Health Department letter of June 5, 1978 was her first notice of the existence of lead paint in the premises. Hambruch further contends that prior to this time she had no general knowledge concerning the dangers associated with lead paint. Plaintiff Rhoda McNutt testified at her deposition that flaking paint had been present from the time she first moved into the premises in November of 1974. There is no indication in the record presently before the Court that Rhoda ever informed defendant Hambruch about the flaking paint. Ollie McNutt testified at her deposition that she complained on numerous occasions to defendant concerning the flaking paint.

II Summary Judgment Principles

It is well settled that a defendant moving for summary judgment has the burden of showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), F.R.Civ.P.; see also Barwick v. Celotex Corp., 736 F.2d 946, 958 (4th Cir.1984). This burden may be met by consideration of affidavits, exhibits, depositions and other discovery materials. Id.

One of the purposes of Rule 56, is to require a plaintiff, in advance of trial and after a motion for summary judgment has been filed and supported, to come forward with some minimal facts to show that a defendant may be liable under the claims alleged. See Rule 56(e). Moreover, "`a mere scintilla of evidence is not enough to create a fact issue; there must be evidence on which a jury might rely.'" Barwick v. Celotex Corp., 736 F.2d 946, 958-59 (4th Cir. 1984) (quoting Seago v. North Carolina Theaters, Inc., 42 F.R.D. 627, 640 (E.D.N.C. 1966), aff'd, 388 F.2d 987 (4th Cir.1967)). In the absence of such a minimal showing, a defendant should not be required to undergo the considerable expense of preparing for and participating in a trial. As Judge Winter said in Bland v. Norfolk and Southern Railroad Company, 406 F.2d 863, 866 (4th Cir.1969):

While a day in court may be a constitutional necessity when there are disputed questions of fact, the function of a motion for summary judgment is to smoke out if there is any case, i.e., any genuine dispute as to any material fact, and, if there is no case, to conserve judicial time and energy by avoiding an unnecessary trial and by providing a speedy and efficient summary disposition.

In two cases decided in 1986, the Supreme Court clarified and expanded the principles applicable to a trial court's consideration of a summary judgment motion filed under Rule 56. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

In Anderson, the Supreme Court held that the standard for granting a summary judgment motion under Rule 56 is the same as that for granting a directed verdict under Rule 50, F.R.Civ.P., 477 U.S. at 250-51, 106 S.Ct. at 2511. The Court explained this standard as follows:

The judge must ask himself not whether he thinks the evidence unmistakably favors one side or the other but whether a fair-minded jury could return a verdict for the plaintiff on the evidence presented. The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiff's position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff.

Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. at 2512 (emphasis added).

In Catrett, the Court held that there is "no express or implied requirement in Rule 56 that the moving party support its motion with affidavits or other similar material negating the opponent's claim." 477 U.S. at 323, 106 S.Ct. at 2553 (emphasis in original). In reaching this result, the Court observed:

Summary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed "to secure the just, speedy and inexpensive determination of every action." Fed.Rule Civ.P. 1; see Schwarzer, Summary Judgment Under the Federal Rules: Defining Genuine Issues of Material Fact, 99 F.R.D. 465, 467 (1984).... Rule 56 must be construed with due regard not only for the rights of persons asserting claims and defenses that are adequately based in fact to have those claims and defenses tried to a jury, but also for the rights of persons opposing such claims and defenses to demonstrate in the manner provided by the Rule, prior to trial, that the claims and defenses have no factual basis.

Id. at 327, 106 S.Ct. at 2555.

The Fourth Circuit discussed the Supreme Court's holdings in Anderson and Celotex in Felty v. Graves-Humphrey Co., 818 F.2d 1126 (4th Cir.1987). Quoting Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323-24, 106 S.Ct. at 2552-53, Judge Wilkinson in Felty emphasized that trial judges have "an affirmative obligation ... to prevent `factually unsupported claims and defenses' from proceeding to trial." Id. at 1128. Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no "genuine issue for trial." Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 1356, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). The party opposing a motion for summary judgment "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Id. at 586, 106 S.Ct. at 1356.

Rule 56(e) provides that "when a motion for summary judgment is made and supported as provided in this Rule, an adverse party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the adverse party's pleadings, but the adverse party's response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in this Rule, must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." See Rivanna Trawlers Unlimited v. Thompson Trawlers, Inc., 840 F.2d 236, 240 (4th Cir. 1988). A party opposing a motion for summary judgment must therefore produce evidence countenanced by Rule 56(e) to contradict facts established by evidentiary materials furnished by the moving party.

Applying these principles to the facts of record here, this Court has concluded that defendant's motion...