Hoff v. Vacaville Unified School Dist.

• Citation: 19 Cal.4th 925,968 P.2d 522,80 Cal.Rptr.2d 811
• Decision Date: 31 December 1998
• Docket Number: No. S050162,S050162
• Court: United States State Supreme Court (California)
• Parties: , 968 P.2d 522, 131 Ed. Law Rep. 513, 99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 35, 98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 29 Frederick HOFF et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. VACAVILLE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Respondent

Page 811

80 Cal.Rptr.2d 811

19 Cal.4th 925, 968 P.2d 522, 131 Ed. Law Rep. 513,

99 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 35,

98 Daily Journal D.A.R. 29

Frederick HOFF et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. VACAVILLE UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Respondent.

No. S050162.

Supreme Court of California

Dec. 31, 1998.

Michael W. Milward and Bryan M. Hansen, Petaluma, for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Bolling, Walter & Gawthrop, Marjorie E. Manning; Angelo, Kilday & Kilduff and Laurence L. Angelo, Sacramento, for Defendant and Respondent.

Farmer & Murphy, Craig E. Farmer and Frank J. Torrano, Rancho Cordova, for Northern California Regional Liaibility Excess Fund Joint Powers Authority, Southern California Regional Liability Excess Fund Joint Powers Authority and Schools Excess Liability Fund as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

CHIN, J.

Plaintiff Frederick Hoff (Hoff) suffered serious injuries when a student exiting a high school parking lot jumped the curb with his car and struck Hoff on the sidewalk across the street. We granted review to consider whether Hoff can pursue a negligence claim against the school district based on the breach of a duty to supervise the student. On the facts of this case, we conclude that neither the school district nor any of its employees owed a duty to Hoff, a nonstudent who was not on school property at the time of the accident. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which held to the contrary.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The trial court entered judgment for the Vacaville Unified School District (District) upon granting a motion for nonsuit after opening statement. Accordingly, on review, we accept as true all facts Hoff asserted in his opening statement and indulge every legitimate inference those facts support. (Willis v. Gordon (1978) 20 Cal.3d 629, 633, 143 Cal.Rptr. 723, 574 P.2d 794; Abeyta v. Superior Court (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 1037, 1041, 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 680.)

At the end of the last day of the 1991-1992 school year, Jason Lozano, a 16-year-old student at Vacaville High School, lost control of his car as he exited the school's overflow parking lot and struck Hoff. In exiting the lot, Lozano had "floor[ed]" the accelerator, "peeled out" with the wheels "screeching," "fishtailed," and jumped the curb and hit Hoff, who was walking on the sidewalk across the street. Lozano had been driving for six months, had no history of misbehavior, and obeyed his school supervisors. Hoff sustained severe injuries in the accident.

Both the overflow parking lot and the school's main parking lot exited onto West Monte Vista Avenue, a "very busy street." Since the 1980's, school authorities, who knew that young drivers "would burn rubber," "hang out of windows," and "ride on top of cars," had assigned trained employees to direct traffic exiting the main parking lot at the end of the school day. These traffic supervisors could stop traffic on the street to allow students to exit the lot and could suspend students who drove recklessly or revoke their campus parking permits. However, the overflow lot "was never supervised," even though the school had the money and personnel to do so.

Hoff filed suit seeking recovery for his injuries, naming the District as one of the defendants. ¹ In a negligence claim against the District, Hoff alleged that the District: (1) "had statutory duties, pursuant to California Education[ ] Code section 44807, to supervise [its] students on the premises of the Vacaville High School, including in the overflow lot and at the exit of the overflow parking lot at the end of the school day"; (2) "had undertaken the duty and responsibility to supervise [its] student drivers on the public street, and had assumed joint control of the public street for that purpose, as they exited the main parking lot at Vacaville High School onto said public street"; (3) "owed a duty of due care to [Hoff] to fulfill [its] statutory duty to supervise [its] students on the campus and [its] assumed duty to supervise students with reasonable care on the public street as they leave the high school premises"; and (4) was "negligent in the performance of [its] statutory duties and in the duties [it] assumed by [its] conduct, pursuant to California Education Code section 44807 and 44808 so as to cause the injuries to" Hoff.

Trial against the District began in September 1996. After Hoff's opening statement, the District moved for nonsuit, arguing that it owed Hoff no duty of care. Although the trial court had previously rejected the same argument in denying a summary judgment motion, it granted the motion for nonsuit, finding that the District owed Hoff no duty of care. The trial court later entered judgment for the District.

The Court of Appeal reversed the judgment, finding that the District owed a duty to exercise reasonable care in supervising its students for the protection of both students and nonstudents. We then granted the District's petition for review.

DISCUSSION

Under the California Tort Claims Act (Gov.Code, § 810 et seq.), ² "a public entity is not liable for injury arising from an act or omission except as provided by statute. (Gov.Code § 815, subd. (a); [citation].)" (Creason v. Department of Health Services (1998) 18 Cal.4th 623, 630-631, 76 Cal.Rptr.2d 489, 957 P.2d 1323.) Thus, in California, "all government tort liability must be based on statute [citation]." (Lopez v. Southern Cal. Rapid Transit Dist. (1985) 40 Cal.3d 780, 785, fn. 2, 221 Cal.Rptr. 840, 710 P.2d 907.) " 'In the absence of a constitutional requirement, public entities may be held liable only if a statute ... is found declaring them to be liable.' " (County of Sacramento v. Superior Court (1972) 8 Cal.3d 479, 481, 105 Cal.Rptr. 374, 503 P.2d 1382.)

Section 815.2, subdivision (a), is one such statute. It provides: "A public entity is liable for injury proximately caused by an act or omission of an employee of the public entity within the scope of his employment if the act or omission would, apart from this section, have given rise to a cause of action against that employee...." Through this section, the California Tort Claims Act expressly makes the doctrine of respondeat superior applicable to public employers. (Mary M. v. City of Los Angeles (1991) 54 Cal.3d 202, 209, 285 Cal.Rptr. 99, 814 P.2d 1341.) "A public entity, as the employer, is generally liable for the torts of an employee committed within the scope of employment if the employee is liable. [Citations.]" (Thomas v. City of Richmond (1995) 9 Cal.4th 1154, 1157, 40 Cal.Rptr.2d 442, 892 P.2d 1185.) Under section 820, subdivision (a), "[e]xcept as otherwise provided by statute ..., a public employee is liable for injury caused by his act or omission to the same extent as a private person." Thus, "the general rule is that an employee of a public entity is liable for his torts to the same extent as a private person (§ 820, subd. (a)) and the public entity is vicariously liable for any injury which its employee causes (§ 815.2, subd. (a)) to the same extent as a private employer (§ 815, subd. (b))." (Societa per Azioni de Navigazione Italia v. City of Los Angeles (1982) 31 Cal.3d 446, 463, 183 Cal.Rptr. 51, 645 P.2d 102, fn. omitted.)

Through these statutes, "the Legislature incorporated 'general standards of tort liability as the primary basis for respondeat superior liability of public entities....' [Citation.]" (Mary M. v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 54 Cal.3d at pp. 209-210, 285 Cal.Rptr. 99, 814 P.2d 1341.) Under them, "a school district is vicariously liable for injuries proximately caused by [the] negligence" of school personnel "responsible for student supervision." (Dailey v. Los Angeles Unified Sch. Dist. (1970) 2 Cal.3d 741, 747, 87 Cal.Rptr. 376, 470 P.2d 360 (Dailey ); see also Castro v. Los Angeles Bd. of Education (1976) 54 Cal.App.3d 232, 235, 126 Cal.Rptr. 537 [under § 815.2, "school districts are liable for the negligence of their employees"].) Thus, the District's liability under section 815.2 depends on whether school personnel, by failing to supervise Lozano as he exited the overflow parking lot, breached a duty owed Hoff.

I. No Common Law Duty Runs To Hoff

To say that someone owes another a duty of care " 'is a shorthand statement of a conclusion, rather than an aid to analysis in itself.... "[D]uty" is not sacrosanct in itself, but only an expression of the sum total of those considerations of policy which lead the law to say that the particular plaintiff is entitled to protection.' [Citation.]" (Dillon v. Legg (1968) 68 Cal.2d 728, 734, 69 Cal.Rptr. 72, 441 P.2d 912.) "[L]egal duties are not discoverable facts of nature, but merely conclusory expressions that, in cases of a particular type, liability should be imposed for damage done." (Tarasoff v. Regents of University of California (1976) 17 Cal.3d 425, 434, 131 Cal.Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334 (Tarasoff ).)

"As a general rule one has no duty to control the conduct of another, and no duty to warn those who may be endangered by such conduct. [Citations.] A duty may arise, however, where '(a) a special relation exists between the actor and the third person which imposes a duty upon the actor to control the third person's conduct, or (b) a special relation exists between the actor and the other which gives the other a right to protection.' (Rest.2d Torts, § 315; [citations].)" (Peterson v. San Francisco Community College Dist. (1984) 36 Cal.3d 799, 806, 205 Cal.Rptr. 842, 685 P.2d 1193 (Peterson ).) "This rule derives from the common law's distinction between misfeasance and nonfeasance, and its reluctance to impose liability for the latter. [Citation.]" (Tarasoff, supra, 17 Cal.3d at p. 435, fn. 5, 131 Cal.Rptr. 14, 551 P.2d 334.)

In this case, Hoff does not argue that a special relationship exists between himself and school personnel. Rather, emphasizing that "a 'special relationship' need not exist between the defendant (here...