Larson v. Independent Sch. Dist. No. 314, Braham

Decision Date28 January 1980
Docket NumberNo. 49271,49854.,49271
PartiesSteven C. LARSON, a minor, by Percy Larson, his father and natural guardian, Percy Larson, Individually, and Phyllis Larson, Respondents, v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 314, BRAHAM, Minnesota, and James Lamont, Defendants, Lyle Lundquist, Appellant (49854), and Jack Peterson, Appellant (49271).
CourtMinnesota Supreme Court

Lommen, Cole & Stageberg and John P. Lommen, Minneapolis, for Lundquist and School Dist. No. 314.

Gislason, Dosland, Malecki, Gilason & Halvorson, C. Allen Dosland, and Steven C. Isaacson, New Ulm, for Peterson.

Rider, Bennett, Egan & Arundel, David F. Fitzgerald, and Eric J. Magnuson, Minneapolis, Parker & Olsen and Robert S. Parker, Cambridge, for Larson.

Thomas E. Peterson, Minneapolis, for School Dist. No. 314.

Jardine, Logan & O'Brien and James J. Galman, St. Paul, for Lamont.

William B. Korstad, Roger Sahr, Minneapolis, G. William Smith, St. Paul, John D. Quinlivan, St. Cloud, Parker & Olsen, Cambridge, James J. Galman, St. Paul, Korstad, Lund, Soules, Erdall & McKendrick, Minneapolis, for Minnesota Assn. of Secondary School Principals.

Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.

PETERSON, Justice.

This action was brought on behalf of plaintiff Steven C. Larson, a minor, by plaintiff Percy Larson, individually and as natural guardian of Steven, against defendants Lyle H. Lundquist, Jack Peterson, and James Lamont, for injuries received by Steven on April 12, 1971, in an eighth grade physical education class at Braham Junior-Senior High School.1 Trial was held in Isanti County District Court before Judge Thomas G. Forsberg, commencing on November 1, 1977. The trial court granted Lamont's motion for a directed verdict on November 28, 1977, on the ground that plaintiffs had not established a prima facie case of negligence against Lamont. On December 1, 1977, the jury returned a verdict finding Lundquist 90 percent negligent, Peterson 10 percent negligent, and Steven free from negligence.

The trial court awarded Steven, individually, judgment against Peterson and Lundquist, jointly and severally, in the sum of $1,013,639.75 together with his costs and disbursements and awarded Percy Larson $142,937.89 together with his costs and disbursements. The trial court further held that procurement of liability insurance in the sum of $50,000 by Independent School District No. 314 under Minn.St.1971, c. 466, waived the school district's absolute defense of governmental immunity for torts committed by its employees to the extent of $50,000 and that the school district was thereby jointly and severally liable with Peterson and Lundquist in the sum of $50,000 to each plaintiff.2

Post-trial motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial, made on behalf of Lundquist and Peterson, were denied by order of the trial court on June 20, 1978. Lundquist and Peterson appeal from the order and from the judgment entered in favor of plaintiffs on July 12, 1978. Plaintiffs cross-appeal the order for a directed verdict in favor of Lamont. We affirm.

On April 12, 1971, Steven was severely injured while performing a gymnastic exercise known as a "headspring over a rolled mat," a required activity in his eighth grade physical education class. As a result of landing on his head, and from the force of running and diving onto the rolled mat, Steven broke his neck. The injury resulted in quadraplegic paralysis.

At the time of the accident, Steven was a student at Braham Junior-Senior High School. He was participating in a compulsory physical education class being taught by Lundquist, a first-year teacher with a teaching certificate in physical education. Lundquist had commenced teaching physical education classes at the school on March 10, 1971, when the former physical education teacher, Mark Embretson, was required to report for military duty. The accident occurred nine class periods after Lundquist had replaced Embretson. Lamont was the superintendent of the school district, and Peterson was the principal of Braham Junior-Senior High School.

Plaintiffs' allegations of negligence against Lundquist were based upon arguments that Lundquist was teaching Steven's class the headspring before the class had participated in the necessary preliminary progressions of less advanced gymnastic exercises, progressions designed in part for safety, and that Lundquist was improperly spotting the exercise at the time Steven was injured.3 The evidence at trial demonstrated that the headspring is an advanced gymnastic exercise4 and, in the words of one of plaintiffs' expert witnesses, is "a high danger skill." Lundquist does not on this appeal specifically contest the sufficiency of the evidence as it relates to his negligence.5 Furthermore, there is sufficient evidence in the record that Lundquist was negligent in teaching the headspring at the time and that Steven's accident occurred because Lundquist was negligent in spotting the headspring.

Plaintiffs' contentions of negligence against Superintendent Lamont and Principal Peterson were that they had not properly developed, administered, and supervised the physical education curriculum; that they had not properly handled the transition from Embretson to Lundquist; and that they had not properly supervised Lundquist's physical education instruction.

As principal, Peterson had a duty to exercise reasonable care in supervising the development, planning, and administration of the physical education curriculum within the school; in supervising and evaluating the work of teachers within the school; and in maintaining conditions conducive to the safety and welfare of students during the school day.6 In effect, the jury found that Peterson's actions as an administrator were unreasonable and that his failure to reasonably administer the curriculum and supervise the teaching of an inexperienced instructor created the opportunity for Steven's accident to occur. A review of the record demonstrates that the jury could make such a finding.7

Other than to furnish Lundquist with a copy of Curriculum Bulletin No. 11, "A Guide for Instruction in Physical Education, Secondary Schools, Grades 7-12, Boys and Girls," published by the department of education,8 Peterson did not actively participate in developing or administering the physical education curriculum. Responsibility for those matters was entirely in the hands of Lundquist, a first-year teacher with little prior experience in physical education,9 even though it was his first occasion to plan a unit of physical education as a physical education instructor. Plaintiffs introduced expert testimony which indicated a need for closely supervising the planning of a unit of gymnastics when a young teacher with little experience was involved. Furthermore, Peterson did not give Lundquist minimal guidance, such as telling him to abide by the provisions of Curriculum Bulletin No. 11 or explaining use of the bulletin's provisions.10

During the transition from Embretson to Lundquist, Peterson never met with the two teachers to discuss the physical education curriculum. When Peterson was informed of the exact date in March 1971 upon which Embretson would be leaving, he told Lundquist to meet with Embretson and plan physical education classes for the remainder of the year for the entire junior-senior high school. Peterson gave no instructions to either Embretson or Lundquist regarding the transition plan to be formulated. Embretson and Lundquist met for approximately 30 minutes to discuss the transition. Their discussion about gymnastics was limited to whether a unit in gymnastics had been taught and the possibility of Lundquist's teaching such a unit that year. When Lundquist reported to Peterson, he told Peterson what subjects he was going to teach, but he did not discuss in detail what activities he was going to include or what method he was going to use to teach gymnastics, partly because Peterson did not ask Lundquist detailed questions. No further meetings were held to discuss the transition.

Furthermore, testimony by one of plaintiffs' expert witnesses indicted that unit planning of physical education programs was important to ensure that proper progressions for the promotion of safety were followed and that such planning was to be in addition to daily lesson plans. Nevertheless, Embretson was not required to prepare a plan of activities for the entire school year, even though Peterson knew that Embretson might be leaving during the school year. Lundquist could not recall submitting, or Peterson's asking him to submit, a detailed written plan of what he was going to teach.

Because of Lundquist's inexperience, the jury could reasonably have believed that Peterson should have exercised closer supervision over planning and administering the physical education curriculum by specifically instructing Lundquist to refer to Curriculum Bulletin No. 11, by instructing an experienced physical education instructor like Embretson to closely plan the curriculum and submit a detailed report, or by requiring detailed written plans from Lundquist.11 It could also have believed that Peterson should have more closely supervised the transition between Embretson and Lundquist by formulating definite goals and requiring detailed reports. The jury's finding that Peterson was negligent is supported by the evidence.12

The trial court directed a verdict in favor of Superintendent Lamont on the ground that plaintiffs did not establish a prima facie case of negligence against him. On appeal, plaintiffs contend that the jury question of Lamont's negligence was sufficiently presented at trial. They argue that Lamont had a specific duty to develop and administer the physical education curriculum in compliance with Curriculum Bulletin No. 11 and that the breach of that duty resulted in Lundquist's failure to teach in accordance with the...

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