Normandin v. Encanto Adventures, LLC

• Court: Arizona Supreme Court
• Citation: Normandin v. Encanto Adventures, LLC, 246 Ariz. 458, 441 P.3d 439 (Ariz. 2019)
• Decision Date: 17 May 2019
• Docket Number: No. CV-18-0200-PR,CV-18-0200-PR
• Parties: Marcie NORMANDIN, Plaintiff/Appellant, v. ENCANTO ADVENTURES, LLC, et al., Defendants/Appellees.

246 Ariz. 458

441 P.3d 439

Marcie NORMANDIN, Plaintiff/Appellant,

v.ENCANTO ADVENTURES, LLC, et al., Defendants/Appellees.

No. CV-18-0200-PR

Supreme Court of Arizona.

Filed May 17, 2019

David L. Abney (argued), Ahwatukee Legal Office, PC, Phoenix; Matthew L. McClellan, The McClellan Law Firm PLC, Phoenix, Attorneys for Marcie Normandin

Joseph L. Brownlee (argued), Joshua T. Greer, Moyes Sellers & Hendricks, Ltd., Phoenix, Attorneys for Encanto Adventures, LLC

JUSTICE LOPEZ authored the opinion of the Court, in which CHIEF JUSTICE BALES and JUSTICES TIMMER, BOLICK, GOULD, and PELANDER (RETIRED) and JUDGE ESPINOSA^* joined.

JUSTICE LOPEZ, opinion of the Court:

¶1 We consider whether Arizona’s recreational use statute, A.R.S. § 33-1551, immunizes Encanto Adventures LLC ("Encanto") from liability in a simple negligence action for injuries Marcie Normandin, a recreational user, sustained after falling in Encanto Park. We hold that Encanto is not a "manager" of land used for recreational purposes and therefore it is not immune from liability under the statute.

I.

¶2 Encanto operates an amusement park in an area of Encanto Park known as Picnic Island. In 1991, the City of Phoenix (the "City") and Encanto’s predecessor executed a concessionaire agreement (the "Agreement") to establish the amusement park wherein the City licensed certain exclusive rights to construct, maintain, and operate children’s rides within a fenced-in area of Picnic Island known as Enchanted Island. The Agreement also allowed Encanto’s predecessor to use an unfenced portion of Picnic Island adjacent to Enchanted Island known as the "piñata area."

¶3 There is no dispute that the Agreement governs Encanto’s relationship with the City. Encanto’s owner testified in a deposition that for twenty-five years, pursuant to the Agreement, he maintained Picnic Island, including the piñata area, by patrolling, maintaining, inspecting, preparing, and grooming the grounds. Although Encanto has been responsible for the piñata area’s maintenance, it does not have exclusive rights to use the piñata area, nor does it otherwise control public access to it.

¶4 Normandin paid Encanto $287 for a "Pete’s Package" to host her daughter’s first birthday party at Enchanted Island. Pete’s Package included all-day-ride wristbands for partygoers, as well as tables and a four-hour pavilion reservation. Although Encanto allowed customers to bring a piñata to their party if they broke it outside the fenced-in Enchanted Park, the package agreement explicitly stated that Encanto would not provide a piñata for the party and that no portion of Normandin’s payment would be refunded if she declined to participate in a piñata activity.

¶5 Normandin brought a piñata to the party and Encanto accommodated her, as it did its other customers, by directing her to the public piñata area adjacent to the fenced-in Enchanted Park. An Encanto employee also led Normandin to the piñata area, hung the piñata for her from a tree outfitted for such purpose, and raised and lowered the piñata as the partygoers tried to break it.

¶6 While walking through the piñata area, Normandin fell, breaking her ankle and injuring her arm. She alleged she fell because she stepped into a sprinkler-head divot or depression covered by grass. In her complaint, Normandin pleaded a single count of premises liability, a simple negligence claim, against the City and Encanto. Encanto and the City moved for summary judgment based on the recreational use immunity provided by § 33-1551(A). The trial court granted the motions.

¶7 The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of the City and Encanto, concluding that (1) Encanto is immune as a "manager" under § 33-1551(A) ; (2) Normandin was a "recreational user" under § 33-1551(A) ; (3) the statute does not violate the anti-abrogation clause of article 18, section 6 of the Arizona Constitution (as applied to Encanto); (4) the statute does not violate the equal privileges and immunities clause of article 2, section 13 of the Arizona Constitution (as applied to Encanto); and (5) the statute is not an unconstitutional special law as applied to managers of defined land in compliance with article 4, part 2, section 19(13), (20) of the Arizona Constitution. See generally Normandin v. Encanto Adventures LLC , 245 Ariz. 67, 425 P.3d 243 (App. 2018).

¶8 We granted review because the scope of immunity under § 33-1551 presents a recurring issue of statewide importance. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article 6, section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution. Because we resolve this case on the dispositive issue of Encanto’s status as a "manager" under the statute, we need not address Normandin’s other statutory and constitutional arguments. See, e.g. , Hayes v. Cont’l Ins. Co. , 178 Ariz. 264, 273, 872 P.2d 668, 677 (1994) (noting that "if possible we construe statutes to avoid unnecessary resolution of constitutional issues"). Normandin does not contest the City’s immunity under the statute.

II.

¶9 "We review the interpretation of a statute de novo." Glazer v. State , 237 Ariz. 160, 163 ¶ 12, 347 P.3d 1141, 1144 (2015). Because § 33-1551(A)"limits common-law liability, we must construe it strictly." Ward v. State , 181 Ariz. 359, 362, 890 P.2d 1144, 1147 (1995) ; see also Smith v. Ariz. Bd. of Regents , 195 Ariz. 214, 216 ¶ 9, 986 P.2d 247, 249 (App. 1999) ("[W]e must construe [ § 33-1551 ] strictly to avoid any overbroad statutory interpretation that would give unintended immunity and take away a right of action."). Summary judgment is appropriate only if "the moving party shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(a). We review a grant of summary judgment de novo, and we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Glazer , 237 Ariz. at 167 ¶¶ 28–29, 347 P.3d at 1148.

¶10 Arizona’s recreational use statute, § 33-1551(A), provides:

A public or private owner, easement holder, lessee, tenant, manager or occupant of premises is not liable to a recreational or educational user except on a showing that the owner, easement holder, lessee, tenant, manager or occupant was guilty of wilful, malicious or grossly negligent conduct that was a direct cause of the injury to the recreational or educational user.

Encanto’s sole claim to immunity under § 33-1551(A) rests on its asserted status as a "manager" of the piñata area at the time of Normandin’s fall. This claim is unavailing. We are unpersuaded by Encanto’s reasoning that its mere maintenance of the piñata area qualifies it as a "manager" under § 33-1551(A), and we also find the court of appeals’ reliance on a dictionary definition of "manager" insufficient to discern its proper statutory meaning. Normandin , 245 Ariz. at 72–73 ¶¶ 13–14, 425 P.3d at 248–49. As discussed below, we conclude that a "manager," when read in the context of the statute and considering the purpose of recreational use immunity, is someone imbued with authority to control the public’s access to land for recreational use.

¶11 We first examine the text of the statute to determine the meaning of "manager." See, e.g. , Wilks v. Manobianco , 237 Ariz. 443, 446 ¶ 8, 352 P.3d 912, 915 (2015) ("When interpreting a statute, our primary goal is to give effect to the legislature’s intent," and "[w]e derive that intent by examining the statute’s language; if the language is ambiguous, we look to the statute’s history, context, consequences, and purpose."(citation omitted)). We do not determine the meaning of a word in a statute in isolation; instead, "a statutory term is interpreted in context of the accompanying words." Estate of Braden ex rel. Gabaldon v. State , 228 Ariz. 323, 326 ¶ 13, 266 P.3d 349, 352 (2011) ; see also Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts 195–96 (2012) (discussing the noscitur a sociis canon and stating that it "especially holds that ‘words grouped in a list should be given related meanings’ " (quoting Third Nat’l Bank in Nashville v. Impac Ltd. , 432 U.S. 312, 322, 97 S.Ct. 2307, 53 L.Ed.2d 368 (1977) )).

¶12 Section 33-1551 does not define "manager," but it provides a critical contextual clue as to the term’s meaning. Notably, every other person or entity granted recreational use immunity under § 33-1551(A) —"public or private [land] owner, easement holder, lessee, tenant, ... or occupant of premises"—possesses a measure of authority and control over access to property in which that person or entity holds an interest. See Ward , 181 Ariz. at 362, 890 P.2d at 1147 (holding that a party is not an "occupant" for purposes of § 33-1551(A) unless they can admit or deny access to the land); Champie v. Castle Hot Springs Co. , 27 Ariz. 463, 468, 233 P. 1107 (1925) ("Private property is, in its nature and purpose, a monopoly .... One of the most cherished principles of our common law, to use the old phrase, is that ‘a man’s house is his castle, from which he may exclude any and all persons at will ....’ "); Restatement (Second) of Prop.: Landlord & Tenant § 6.2 cmts. a–b (Am. Law Inst. 1977) (noting tenants and lessees have the right to possess the leased property free of third-party interference); Restatement (First) of Prop. § 450 cmt. h (Am. Law Inst. 1944) (noting that easement holders have a property interest in the easement and are protected against interference from third parties); cf. A.R.S. § 33-1310(16) (" ‘Tenant’ means a person entitled under a rental agreement to occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others."). Thus, in its statutory context, "manager" connotes a person or entity with the power to exclude or otherwise control access to property. Any definition of "manager" that includes persons or entities lacking such authority is incongruous with the most relevant characteristic of the other classes listed in § 33-1551(A).

¶13 Because the text alone is not...