Hinkle v. Shepherd School Dist.# 37

• Decision Date: 01 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-772.,02-772.
• Citation: 93 P.3d 1239,2004 MT 175,322 Mont. 80
• Parties: Victor and Marilyn HINKLE on behalf of Rockwell Hinkle, a minor, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. SHEPHERD SCHOOL DISTRICT # 37, Jim Browning and James "Shorty" Horn, Defendants and Respondents.
• Court: Montana Supreme Court

93 P.3d 1239

2004 MT 175

322 Mont. 80

Victor and Marilyn HINKLE on behalf of Rockwell Hinkle, a minor, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. SHEPHERD SCHOOL DISTRICT # 37, Jim Browning and James "Shorty" Horn, Defendants and Respondents.

No. 02-772.

Supreme Court of Montana.

Submitted on Briefs May 22, 2003.

Decided July 1, 2004.

For Appellant: Lee Rindal, Rindal Law Firm, Billings, Montana.

For Respondent: Marshall Mickelson, Corette Pohlman & Kebe, Butte, Montana.

Justice PATRICIA O. COTTER delivered the Opinion of the Court.

¶ 1 Victor and Marilyn Hinkle, individually and on behalf of Rockwell "Rocky" Hinkle, ("Rocky" and "Hinkles"), appeal the District Court's Order granting summary judgment to Shepherd School District # 37, Jim Browning, and James "Shorty" Horn ("Defendants"). While we agree the District Court erred in concluding that Defendants owed no duty to Hinkles, we affirm the summary judgment on the issue of causation.

ISSUES

¶ 2 1. Did the District Court err when it granted Defendants' motion for summary judgment on the basis that no duty was owed to Hinkles because the alleged harm was not foreseeable?

¶ 3 2. Did the District Court err when it granted Defendants' motion for summary judgment on the basis that Hinkles' expert did not establish causation?

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 4 Defendants stipulated that, for the purposes of their motion for summary judgment, they would rely upon the facts as testified to in the depositions of Rocky and his pediatrician Dr. Fred Gunville, which we relate here. A freshman at Shepherd High School, Rocky traveled on the pep band bus to a basketball game in Belgrade on March 5, 1998. After the game, the band ate dinner at Pizza Hut in Bozeman. Rocky, along with his bandmates, band instructor Browning, and bus driver Horn, consumed pizza and soft drinks.

¶ 5 Some students requested a restroom stop during the return trip to Shepherd. Rocky heard other students teasing those who had requested the restroom stop. Horn pumped the brakes to jar the bus and aid in teasing the students who needed to use the restrooms. Browning allowed Horn to stop the bus at a convenience store in Big Timber, where Rocky purchased a bottle of water which he drank on the bus. As the bus continued toward Shepherd, some students threw candy and cheese at other students. Rocky had candy and cheese thrown at him, but he did not otherwise participate.

¶ 6 A little while later, Rocky needed to relieve himself and asked Browning if the bus could stop so he could use a restroom. Browning did not respond. After a second inquiry, Browning refused. Rocky then asked a third time and Browning ignored him. At this point, the bus was approximately fifteen minutes away from Shepherd High School. The other students on the bus began to tease Rocky by making references to running water and waterfalls. At first, Rocky was not bothered by the mild teasing, but as the drive continued and Rocky's situation became more urgent, the teasing intensified, the food-throwers targeted Rocky, and more students participated in both. Rocky didn't recall ever specifically telling Browning that his need to use a restroom was an emergency, but he did ask other students for a bottle in which he could relieve himself.

¶ 7 Approximately one quarter-mile from Shepherd High School, Browning announced that no one could leave the bus before it was cleaned. The other students on the bus, aware of Rocky's situation, cheered. Rocky said, "You let me off this fucking bus." Browning asked Rocky what he said and Rocky repeated himself.

¶ 8 As the bus neared the school, Horn pumped the brakes again. As a result of the jarring movement of the bus, Rocky lost continence and wet himself. As soon as the bus stopped at the school, Rocky rushed off the bus and into the boys' locker room. He used the restroom, returned to the bus to retrieve his belongings, and then left with his father, who was waiting at the school for him. The front of Rocky's jeans was noticeably wet, but he was not sure if any of the other students realized that he had had an accident.

¶ 9 The following day, Browning told Rocky that he would not be allowed to participate in the pep band for their next game, and that he might be removed from the band permanently for embarrassing Browning on the bus by using profanity. Rocky explained to Browning that he had been upset because of his need to use the restroom and because of the extent of the teasing by other students on the bus. Browning asked Rocky who had been teasing him and Rocky named seven students. Browning and Rocky then narrowed the list down to the three students whom Rocky asserted were the ringleaders.

¶ 10 The following Monday, Rocky was summoned to the principal's office and given a one-day out-of-school suspension for his use of profanity on the bus. After returning from his suspension on Wednesday, Rocky was again summoned to the principal's office and told that three students and a teacher had told the principal that Rocky was the instigator behind the antics on the bus. Rocky denied this, but the principal explained that he did not believe Rocky and ordered him to serve three days of lunch detention. Rocky was very upset and felt he was being treated unfairly.

¶ 11 Rocky claims that it was his discomfort, combined with the stress of being intensely teased by the other students on the bus, which caused him to be so upset that he used profanity on the bus. He argues that, although it was standard procedure for the band bus to be emptied row by row with Browning checking each row to be sure it was clean before allowing its occupants to disembark, Browning had announced that no one could leave the bus in order to delay his exit. He believes the students and teacher lied about his involvement in the teasing on the bus, and that he was being punished repeatedly for a single incident over which he had no control.

¶ 12 On Friday, March 13, Rocky went to his brothers' residence after school and spent the weekend with them. They played video games, watched movies, and ate junk food. Throughout the weekend, Rocky did not feel well and experienced some vomiting. On Monday, his mother took him to his pediatrician. Dr. Gunville tested Rocky for strep throat and gave him a shot of penicillin.

¶ 13 Rocky's condition worsened and he revisited his pediatrician a few days later. He was ultimately diagnosed with ketoacidosis, a condition in which his body was not producing enough insulin, which in turn caused his blood to become dangerously acidic. Gravely ill, he was transported by air ambulance for advanced care in Denver, Colorado. He was in a life-threatening condition for several days before he began to recover. He now suffers from Type I diabetes and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

¶ 14 Rocky and his parents filed a lawsuit against Browning, Horn, and the Shepherd School District, alleging that various breaches of duty on their parts triggered or accelerated Rocky's development of diabetes and caused his PTSD. Rocky's parents also sought on their own behalf damages for emotional harm incurred by them due to the treatment Rocky received from Defendants and Rocky's subsequent medical condition.

¶ 15 In his deposition, Dr. Gunville stated that the added stress in Rocky's life could have contributed to the diabetic situation, and noted that Rocky's situation was very unusual in that he became extremely ill without having exhibited symptoms for very long. Dr. Gunville stated that Rocky's stress came both from school and from an upper respiratory infection. He admitted that, while Rocky would have eventually developed diabetes irrespective of the stress he was experiencing, stress likely accelerated its onset. Dr. Gunville could not differentiate between the physical stress from Rocky's infection and the emotional stress from the bus incident, or state whether one or the other or both were the stressors that accelerated Rocky's diabetes. He agreed that Rocky's experiences on the bus — the thirst, the urgent need to relieve himself, the incontinence, and his reactiveness — were possibly symptoms of his emerging diabetic condition.

¶ 16 Defendants filed two motions for summary judgment. In their first motion, they claimed Hinkles failed to comport with the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure in regards to their disclosure of expert witnesses, that their experts should thus be excluded, and that Defendants were therefore entitled to judgment. The District Court denied this motion.

¶ 17 Defendants next moved for summary judgment on the grounds that they owed no duty to protect Rocky from injuries that were not foreseeable, and alternatively that his injuries were not caused by Defendants' actions. Oral argument on this motion was held in the District Court on January 31, 2002. On October 21, 2002, the District Court concluded that, even assuming arguendo that the chain of events stemming from the bus incident caused both the PTSD and the onset of Rocky's diabetes, such harm was unforeseeable by Defendants, and thus they did not have a duty to protect Rocky from such harm. The District Court also concluded that Hinkles' expert failed to establish causation. The District Court therefore granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants. Hinkles timely appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 18 We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same evaluation under Rule 56, M.R.Civ.P., as the district court. Glacier Tennis Club at the Summit, LLC v. Treweek Constr. Co., 2004 MT 70, ¶ 21, 320 Mont. 351, ¶ 21, 87 P.3d 431, ¶ 21 (citations omitted). In other words, the party moving for summary judgment has the initial burden of proving that there are no genuine issues of material fact that would permit a non-moving party to succeed on the merits of the case, and if the moving party meets that burden, then the non-moving party must provide substantial evidence that raises a genuine issue...