Kaminski v. United States, Case No. 14-2630-DDC-JPO
Decision Date | 01 December 2017 |
Docket Number | Case No. 14-2630-DDC-JPO |
Parties | CHARLES KAMINSKI, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Defendant. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Kansas |
In February 2013, several winter storms passed through northeast Kansas, blanketing the area with heavy snowfall.1 This same month, plaintiff Charles Kaminski slipped and fell on a sidewalk outside a post office in Bonner Springs, Kansas. He sustained injuries to his right arm and shoulder. Mr. Kaminski brought this negligence lawsuit against defendant, the United States of America, seeking to recover damages for his injuries under the Federal Tort Claims Act ("FTCA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b), 2671-2680.
After a trial to the court beginning on July 18, 2017, and ending on July 20, 2017, the case now is ready for decision.2 After considering the evidence and arguments presented at trial, the court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, as Rule 52 requires. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 52(a)(1) ( ). In sum, the court concludes that Mr. Kaminski has failed to meet his burden to prove a negligence claim under the FTCA. The court thus enters judgment for defendant. The court explains the reasons for its decision, below.
On an early morning in February 2013, Mr. Kaminski drove to the post office in downtown Bonner Springs, Kansas, stopping to mail some letters before heading to work. Mr. Kaminski testified that it was cold outside that morning, but clear. Mr. Kaminski recalled that no snow or ice was falling that morning, and the streets outside the post office were clear. Mr. Kaminski arrived at the post office shortly after 5:00 a.m. It was dark when he arrived.
The United States Postal Service's ("USPS") postal facility ("Post Office") in Bonner Springs, Kansas, is located at the intersection of East Second and Cedar Streets. East Second Street borders the Post Office on the northwest side, and Cedar Street borders it on the southwest side. The front of the Post Office runs parallel with Cedar Street. There are four angled, off-street parking spaces located on the East Second Street side of the Post Office. A public sidewalk runs between the off-street parking spaces and the northwest wall of the Post Office. A free-standing letter collection box is located near the corner of East Second and Cedar Streets. It stands to the southwest of the four angled parking spaces between East Second Street and the Post Office building.
When Mr. Kaminski arrived at the Post Office, he parked his pick-up truck in the third or fourth parking space moving away from the corner of East Second and Cedar Street.3 Mr. Kaminski testified that he did not park in one of the spaces closer to the collection box because he saw broken concrete on the ground in one of those spaces. After parking, Mr. Kaminski lefthis truck through the driver's side door and walked in front of his truck. He intended to walk down the sidewalk to the collection box at the end of the street so that he could mail his letters. While still standing in the street, Mr. Kaminski noticed a small ridge of snow piled along the curb line and another ridge of snow piled up against the other side of the sidewalk, i.e., against the Post Office building. He also saw that someone had shoveled a path about three feet wide in between the two snow piles. Mr. Kaminski stepped over the snow closest to the curb and onto the sidewalk. He slipped on the sidewalk immediately, falling on his right arm, right elbow, and right side. Mr. Kaminski testified that he fell to the ground so hard that he thought he had hit his head. Mr. Kaminski then rolled over on his stomach, got to his hands and knees, and crawled to the street where he was able to regain his feet. He testified that the sidewalk was so slippery that he could not stand on it. But, he testified, he was able to stand in the street.
Once on his feet, Mr. Kaminski heard some noise coming from the back of the Post Office building. He walked back there and saw Matt Lowe, a postal employee, standing outside the building. Mr. Kaminski told Mr. Lowe that he had slipped and taken a "hard fall" on the sidewalk. He also told Mr. Lowe that the Post Office should do something to treat the slippery conditions on the sidewalk. Mr. Lowe never asked Mr. Kaminski if he was hurt or injured by the fall. But, likewise, Mr. Kaminski never told Mr. Lowe that he had injured himself.
After this conversation, Mr. Kaminski walked back down the street to the collection box. He mailed his letters, walked in the street back to his truck, and then drove on to work. He worked at a Honeywell facility located on Bannister Road in Kansas City, Missouri—about 30 miles from the Bonner Springs Post Office.4
Mr. Kaminski worked his complete work shift the day of the fall, ending about 3:00 p.m. On his way home from work, Mr. Kaminski drove to the Post Office again. He went inside, asked to speak with the manager, and he met Officer-in-Charge ("OIC") Roy Sanderson. Mr. Kaminski told Mr. Sanderson that earlier that morning he had slipped and taken a hard fall on the ice outside of the Post Office and asked whether the Post Office had taken care of the icy conditions. Mr. Kaminski never told Mr. Sanderson that he had sustained any injuries from the fall. And, Mr. Sanderson never asked Mr. Kaminski if he had hurt himself in the fall. Outside the Post Office, Mr. Kaminski observed ice melt on the sidewalk. He also noticed that someone had placed one or two plastic placards on the sidewalk. Mr. Kaminski would not remember what was on the placards, but he compared them to one that a custodian might use to mark a wet floor.
Mr. Kaminski then went home. He showed his wife his injured arm. It was black and blue. He treated his arm at home with ice and ibuprofen. But, Mr. Kaminski did not seek medical treatment for his injuries for several more months. On March 12, 2013, Mr. Kaminski had an appointment with his family physician to treat a sinus infection. He never mentioned that he had sustained injuries from a fall in February during this doctor visit. Mr. Kaminski testified that he did not tell his doctor about his injuries from the fall because he thought they would improve. But, when they did not, he made an appointment with Dr. Prem Parmar, an orthopedic surgeon. On June 3, 2013, Mr. Kaminski had his first visit with Dr. Parmar. This was the first medical treatment Mr. Kaminski had sought or received for injuries he sustained in the fall.
The parties sharply dispute the date when Ms. Kaminski fell outside the Post Office. This fact is complicated by both parties' omissions and errors in reporting the date of the fall. These errors begin early in the timeline. On the day Mr. Kaminski fell, no one at the Post Officerecorded the date or made a report about it. But, in 2013, USPS required employees to report all injuries involving non-postal employees on Post Office premises. USPS also required that a postal facility's manager or supervisor report all accidents and occupational injuries and illnesses in the Employee Health and Safety System ("EHS") within 24 hours of the event. To make the report, the USPS employee must input information into EHS, and EHS then generates an accident investigation worksheet (Form 1700) and accident report (Form 1769).
Matt Lowe—the employee who Mr. Kaminski had spoken with minutes after he fell—testified that he never prepared a written report about Mr. Kaminski's fall. He told OIC Roy Sanderson about the complaint, however, and they agreed to "take care" of the sidewalk before the Post Office opened that morning. Mr. Lowe testified about his brief conversation with Mr. Kaminski about the fall on the morning it happened. Mr. Lowe explained he had just arrived at work. He had seen Mr. Kaminski's truck parked in the parking space as he walked to the building to begin his work day. It was dark outside, and Mr. Lowe recalls that snow was covering the ground. Mr. Lowe also testified that he was unlocking the door to go into the Post Office when Mr. Kaminski approached him. Mr. Kaminski told him that he had fallen on the sidewalk on the northwest side of the building. Mr. Lowe testified that he responded by saying that he'd take care of the slippery conditions when he had time.
Mr. Lowe also testified at trial that he believes the fall happened on February 27, 2013—which was a Wednesday. Mr. Lowe readily conceded, however, that he testified at his deposition that the fall occurred on a Monday. But, at trial, he testified that he knows today that the fall did not happen on a Monday. He explained the basis for his conclusion in this fashion: In 2013, Mr. Lowe's scheduled hours required him to arrive at work at 5:15 a.m. on Tuesdays through Saturday. But his scheduled called for him to arrive at 4:00 a.m. on Monday. When Mr.Kaminski reported the fall to Mr. Lowe, he just had arrived at work. Mr. Lowe's time records appear to support his testimony. On Wednesday, February 27, Mr. Lowe clocked into work at 5:04 a.m. But, on Monday, February 25, Mr. Lowe clocked in at 4:20 a.m.
Mr. Sanderson also failed to make a written report about Mr. Kaminski's fall on the day it occurred. Mr. Sanderson recalled that Mr. Kaminski came to the Post Office on the afternoon of his fall to complain, but Mr. Sanderson did not know that USPS policy required him to report the complaint. In June 2013, Mr. Kaminski and his wife returned to the Post Office to make another complaint about his fall in February. Mr. Sanderson again received Mr. Kaminski's complaint. After speaking to Mr. Kaminski in June, Mr. Sanderson called another postal employee to ask for instructions about how to handle the complaint. The employee directed him to contact Safety Specialist Kathreen Bollinger. On June 11, 2013, Mr. Sanderson submitted an...
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