Sciotto v. Marple Newton School Dist.

• Decision Date: 23 September 1999
• Docket Number: No. CIV. A. 98-2768.,CIV. A. 98-2768.
• Citation: 81 F.Supp.2d 559
• Parties: John SCIOTTO and Catherine P. Sciotto on behalf of Louis Sciotto, a Minor, as his parents and natural guardians, Plaintiffs, v. MARPLE NEWTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT, James Smith, Stu Nathans, and Greg Fendler, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

81 F.Supp.2d 559

John SCIOTTO and Catherine P. Sciotto on behalf of Louis Sciotto, a Minor, as his parents and natural guardians, Plaintiffs, v. MARPLE NEWTOWN SCHOOL DISTRICT, James Smith, Stu Nathans, and Greg Fendler, Defendant.

No. CIV. A. 98-2768.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

September 23, 1999.

James J. Byrne, Jr., Robert E.J. Curran, Curran & Byrne, P.C., Media, PA, for plaintiffs.

Derek B. Eddy, Bennett, Bricklin & Saltzbyrg, Philadelphia, PA, Phillip B. Silverman, Harris & Silverman, Philadelphia, PA, Joseph T. Bodell, Jr., Louis A. Bove, Chrystale B. Conwell, Bodell, Bove and Van Horn, Philadelphia, PA, Michael I. Levin, Michael I. Levin and Assoc., Huntingdon Valley, PA, Mark A. Sereni, David C. Zimmaro, Diorio and Sereni, LLP, Media, PA, for Marple Newtown School Dist., defendant.

Robert G. Hanna, Jr., Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin, Harrisburg, PA, Thomas E. Butler, Jr., Butler & McNamara, PC, Philadelphia, PA, for James Smith, defendant.

Joseph M. Fullem, Jr., Kittredge, Donley, Elson, Fullem & Embick, Philadelphia, PA, John A. Orlando, White & Williams, Philadelphia, PA, for Stu Nathans, defendant.

Israel N. Eisenberg, Post and Schell, P.C., Philadelphia, PA, Joel I. Fishbein, Bennett, Bricklin & Saltzburg, Philadelphia, PA, for Greg Fendler, defendant.

MEMORANDUM

LOWELL A. REED, Jr., Senior District Judge.

Before the Court are the respective motions of defendants Marple Newtown School District ("the school district") (Document No. 76), James Smith ("Smith") (Document No. 66), Stu Nathans ("Nathans") (Document No. 77) (collectively, "the school defendants"), and Greg Fendler ("Fendler") (Document No. 74) for summary judgment on the claims of plaintiff Louis Sciotto, by and through his parents and natural guardians, John Sciotto and Catherine P. Sciotto. Based on the following reasons, the motions will be considered in an omnibus fashion and will denied.

I. BACKGROUND

The following facts are based on the evidence presented to the Court in support of defendants' motions for summary judgment and plaintiffs' response (which consist primarily of depositions taken of defendants, plaintiff, and witnesses). All inferences have been taken in favor of plaintiffs, the non-moving parties.

On January 10, 1997, Greg Fendler, an alumnus of Marple Newtown High School and former member of the high school wrestling team, attended a Marple Newtown High School wrestling practice at the invitation of head coach Stu Nathans. (Smith's Exh. D, Fendler Deposition, at 41-42). Fendler's attendance was in keeping with a "longstanding tradition" at Marple Newtown High School in which alumni members of the wrestling team returned to participate in wrestling practices following their graduations. (Smith's Exhibit F, Smith Deposition, at 19-20; Exhibit G, Nathans Deposition, at 51-52). Nathans, Smith, and members of the school district's Board of School Directors were aware of this tradition. (Id.; Smith's Exhibit H, J. Leon Deposition, at 10; Plaintiff's Exhibit B, Price Deposition, at 29). The practice has since been formally discontinued by the school district. (Smith's Exhibit H, J. Leon Deposition, at 74-76).

At the beginning of the January 10 wrestling practice, Nathans introduced Fendler to the wrestling team, correctly informing the team that after graduating from high school, Fendler had gone on to become a member of the Division-I wrestling team at Pennsylvania State University at State College, Pennsylvania.¹ At the time he attended the high school's wrestling practice, Fendler was 22 years old and weighed approximately 145-150 pounds. (Smith's Exh. D, Fendler Deposition, at 37). During the practice, Fendler demonstrated moves, instructed wrestlers, and engaged in "live wrestling"² with members of the team. (Smith's Exh. D, Fendler Deposition, at 52-62).

One of the team members Fendler "live wrestled" was Louis Sciotto, a 16-year-old sophomore then weighing 110 pounds. (Smith's Exh. E, Sciotto Deposition, at 17). During the contest, Fendler executed a legal wrestling move called a "half-nelson." (Smith's Exh. D, Fendler Deposition, at 72). As he was "running the half" (Id. at 73), Fendler "heard a pop." (Id. at 82). Wrestling ceased, and Louis Sciotto said, "I can't feel my legs." (Id.). It was reliably determined that Sciotto had thereby sustained an injury to his spinal cord that has rendered him a quadriplegic. (Plaintiff's Exhibit F, Letter from Christopher Formal, M.D.). His arms, legs, and diaphragm are permanently paralyzed, and he now breathes with the assistance of a ventilator. (Id.)

Plaintiffs filed a complaint against the school defendants pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for deprivation of Louis Sciotto's right to bodily integrity under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and against Greg Fendler for assault and battery and negligence under Pennsylvania state law. On February 9, 1999, this court denied the motion of the school district, Nathans, and Smith to dismiss plaintiffs' complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Sciotto v. Marple Newtown Sch. Dist., No. 98-2768, 1999 WL 79136 (E.D.Pa. Feb. 9, 1999).

The school defendants now move for summary judgment on the grounds that plaintiffs have failed to present sufficient evidence upon which jury could find that the elements of the "state-created danger" theory of liability under § 1983 are met, and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Furthermore, the school district argues that plaintiffs have not established municipal liability, and Nathans and Smith assert a defense of qualified immunity. Defendant Fendler asserts that the plaintiffs have failed to present sufficient evidence that a reasonable jury could find he possessed the requisite intent to prove he committed assault and battery, and claims immunity as an employee under Pennsylvania's Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act, 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 8501, et seq.

II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Under Rule 56(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, "if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law," then a motion for summary judgment must be granted. The proper inquiry on a motion for summary judgment is "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to a jury or whether it is so one-sided that one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The moving party "bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion and identifying those portions of `the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any,' which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The nonmoving party must then "go beyond the pleadings and by its own affidavits, or by `depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file' designate `specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.'" Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548.

In deciding whether there is a disputed issue of material fact, the Court must view the underlying facts and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom in favor of the non-moving party. See Adickes v. S.H. Kress & Co., 398 U.S. 144, 158-59, 90 S.Ct. 1598, 26 L.Ed.2d 142 (1970).

III. ANALYSIS

A. Section 1983 Claims

The school defendants assert that they are entitled to summary judgment both on the facts of the case and as a matter of law. They argue that (1) that the "state-created danger" theory under which Louis Sciotto asserts a constitutional violation is not viable, Memorandum of Law of Defendant Marple Newtown School District in Support of Its Motion for Summary Judgment, at 18-19 (filed April 30, 1999) (hereinafter School District's Memo); and (2) that the evidence produced by the plaintiffs fails to satisfy the elements of that theory, Brief of Defendant Stuart Nathans in Support of His Motion for Summary Judgment, at 21-29 (filed April 30, 1999) (hereinafter Nathans' Brief).³ The school district further argues that plaintiffs have not established municipal liability under § 1983, see School District's Memo, at 26, and Nathans and Smith assert a defense of qualified immunity, see Nathans' Brief, at 29; Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendant James Smith's Motion for Summary Judgment (filed April 12, 1999) (hereinafter Smith's Memo), at 17.

1. "State-Created Danger" Theory⁴

Plaintiffs contend that the "state-created danger" theory of liability applies. See Johnson v. Dallas Indep. Sch. Dist., 38 F.3d 198, 201 (5th Cir.1994), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1017, 115 S.Ct. 1361, 131 L.Ed.2d 218 (1995). ("When state actors knowingly place a person in danger, the due process clause of the constitution has been held to render them accountable for the foreseeable injuries that result from their conduct whether or not the victim was in formal state custody."). See also Wood v. Ostrander, 879 F.2d 583 (9th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 938, 111 S.Ct. 341, 112 L.Ed.2d 305 (1990); Cornelius v. Town of Highland Lake, 880 F.2d 348 (11th Cir. 1989). As discussed in an earlier ruling by this Court on defendants' motion to dismiss, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has adopted the "state-created danger" theory as a "viable mechanism for establishing a constitutional claim" under § 1983. See Kneipp v. Tedder, 95 F.3d 1199, 1211 (1996). See also Sciotto v. Marple Newtown Sch. Dist., No. 98-2768, 1999 WL 79136, at *5 (E.D.Pa. Feb. 9, 1999).⁵ The Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has not overturned its holding in Kneipp and the Supreme Court has not ruled on "state-created...