Sisk v. Union Pacific R. Co.

• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Patricia Breckenridge
• Citation: Sisk v. Union Pacific R. Co., 138 S.W.3d 799 (Mo. App. 2004)
• Decision Date: 20 July 2004
• Docket Number: No. WD 62441.,WD 62441.
• Parties: Jennifer SISK, Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, et al., Defendant, Jackson County, Missouri, Respondent.

138 S.W.3d 799

Jennifer SISK, Appellant, v. UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, et al., Defendant Jackson County, Missouri, Respondent.

No. WD 62441.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.

July 20, 2004.

Appeal from the Circuit Court, Jackson County, Marco A. Roldan, J Michael S. Dodig, Lee's Summit, MO, for appellant.

Kathleen Kedigh, Kansas City, MO, for respondent.

Gregory F. Maher, Overland Park, KS, for defendant.

Before BRECKENRIDGE, P.J., EDWIN H. SMITH and HOWARD, JJ.

PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE, Presiding Judge.

Jennifer Sisk was injured when she was struck by a train while walking down railroad tracks on a railroad bridge. The railroad tracks and bridge where she was injured are on land owned by Union Pacific Railroad Company and, at that point, the railroad line runs through Little Blue Trace Park, which is owned by Jackson County. Ms. Sisk filed suit against both Union Pacific and Jackson County for her injuries. Jackson County subsequently moved for summary judgment based on sovereign immunity. The trial court granted Jackson County's motion, finding neither condition of waiver under section 537.600.1, RSMo 2000,¹ applicable, so her claim was barred by sovereign immunity. The trial court also determined that the judgment as to Jackson County was final for purposes of appeal and that there was no just reason for delay. Ms. Sisk appeals, claiming that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to Jackson County on the basis of sovereign immunity because the "dangerous condition of property" exception in section 537.600.1(2) is applicable to her claims. Because Ms. Sisk's response to the motion for summary judgment failed to reference evidence that would demonstrate a dangerous condition on Jackson County's property, sovereign immunity bars her claims against Jackson County. Therefore, the judgment of the trial court granting Jackson County's motion for summary judgment is affirmed.

Factual and Procedural Background

On February 6, 2001, while Ms. Sisk was walking along railroad tracks on a railroad bridge, she was struck by a train. As a result, she sustained multiple injuries, including the termination of her pregnancy. Both the railroad bridge and the tracks where she was struck are owned by Union Pacific. The railroad line at the point of her injury runs through Little Blue Trace Park (the "Park"), which is owned by Jackson County. The portion of the Park adjoining the railroad tracks where Ms. Sisk was injured is commonly referred to as "Ripley Junction." The Ripley Junction area of the Park includes a walking and bicycle trail that intersects the railroad tracks. The Park also contains a baseball field, picnic tables, open grassy areas, and wooded areas.

The railroad bridge on which Ms. Sisk was injured crosses the Little Blue River. In the Ripley Junction area of the Park, the bridge is the only means of access from the Park property on one side of the river to the Park property on the other side of the river. The land on the far side of the river, however, is undeveloped. Ms. Sisk was using the railroad bridge to cross to the far side of the Park property when she was struck. No physical barriers are located between the Park property and the railroad tracks, and no warning signs are posted on the Park property indicating where the Park property ends and the railroad property begins. In addition, the Park contains no warning signs alerting park patrons of the active train line or instructing them to stay off the railroad tracks.

As a result of her injuries, Ms. Sisk filed a petition for damages against Union Pacific and Jackson County, alleging that the personal injury to herself and the wrongful death of her unborn child was caused by the negligence of Union Pacific and Jackson County. Specifically, as to her claims against Jackson County, Ms. Sisk asserted that the operation of a public park with an active railroad line running through it, without any safeguards such as barriers or signs, constitutes a dangerous condition. Ms. Sisk also alleged that Jackson County was negligent in the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of a public park with an active railroad line running through it without providing any type of physical barrier or posting any warning signs. Ms. Sisk claimed that Jackson County's negligence proximately caused, in whole or in part, her injuries and the death of her unborn child and that it was reasonably foreseeable that the type of harm she suffered could result from Jackson County's negligence.

Jackson County filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting the defense of sovereign immunity. The circuit court granted Jackson County's motion on January 23, 2003, finding that because Ms. Sisk's accident did not occur on land owned, controlled, or possessed by Jackson County, the county was entitled to sovereign immunity. The circuit court also determined, under Rule 74.01(b), that the "[j]udgment [was] final for purposes of appeal as to defendant Jackson County and there is no just reason for delay." Ms. Sisk filed this appeal.

Final Judgment

Before reaching the merits of Ms. Sisk's appeal, it is necessary to address Jackson County's motion to dismiss the appeal, which claims that this court lacks jurisdiction because there is no final judgment. "A prerequisite to appellate review is that there be a final judgment." Gibson v. Brewer, 952 S.W.2d 239, 244 (Mo. banc 1997) (quoting Boley v. Knowles, 905 S.W.2d 86, 88 (Mo. banc 1995)). Without a final judgment, an appellate court lacks jurisdiction, and the appeal must be dismissed. Id.

A final judgment normally must resolve all issues in a case and leave nothing for future determination. Id. Rule 74.01(b), however, recognizes an exception for cases involving multiple claims or multiple parties. Comm. for Educ. Equal. v. State, 878 S.W.2d 446, 450 (Mo. banc 1994). In such cases, the circuit court can certify as final a partial judgment pertaining to "one or more but fewer than all of the claims or parties," but only if it expressly determines that there is "no just reason for delay." Rule 74.01(b). And even though the circuit court certifies its order as final for purposes of appeal, such a determination is not conclusive. Gibson, 952 S.W.2d at 244. Rather, "[i]t is the content, substance, and effect of the order that determines finality and appealability." Id."A judgment which resolves fewer than all legal issues as to any single `claim for relief' is not final notwithstanding the trial judge's designation as such." Comm. for Educ. Equal., 878 S.W.2d at 450. Accordingly, "[t]his court must still decide if the partial judgment actually qualifies as a final judgment." Clay County ex rel. County Comm'n of Clay County v. Harley & Susie Bogue, Inc., 988 S.W.2d 102, 108 (Mo.App.1999).

For purposes of Rule 74.01(b), a judgment is final "only when the order disposes of a distinct `judicial unit.'" Gibson, 952 S.W.2d at 244. A judgment that dismisses one of two defendants on the basis of a defense available to only the dismissed defendant constitutes a "distinct judicial unit" reviewable on appeal. Yount v. Bd. of Educ. for City of St. Louis, 712 S.W.2d 455, 456 (Mo.App.1986). See also Gibson, 952 S.W.2d at 245 ("When one defendant, but not all defendants, is dismissed from a case, the trial court may designate its judgment as final `for purposes of appeal.'"); Roth v. La Societe Anonyme Turbomeca France, 120 S.W.3d 764, 771 n. 2 (Mo.App.2003) ("If at least one party's claim has been fully resolved, that matter may be appealed so long as the circuit court declares that it saw no just reason for delaying an appeal.").

Applying these principles to the facts of this case, Ms. Sisk's first amended petition alleged personal injury to her and the wrongful death of her unborn child caused by the negligence of Union Pacific and Jackson County. The defense of sovereign immunity, raised by Jackson County in its motion for summary judgment, is a defense available only to it. Finding the dangerous-condition-of-property waiver of sovereign immunity inapplicable to Ms. Sisk's claims against Jackson County, the circuit court granted Jackson County's motion for summary judgment as to all claims against it. Thus, the circuit court resolved all legal issues surrounding Jackson County's liability and left open no remedies for Ms. Sisk against Jackson County. Additionally, following the circuit court's decision, Jackson County no longer remains in the litigation. Consequently, the circuit court's judgment disposed of a distinct "judicial unit" as to Ms. Sisk's claims against Jackson County.

If the circuit court's judgment disposes of a distinct judicial unit, "Rule 74.01(b) grants [the] circuit court[ ] the discretion to declare that aspect of the judgment final upon a finding of `no just reason for delay.'" Comm. for Educ. Equal., 878 S.W.2d at 453. Rule 74.01(b) is inapplicable absent such a finding. Id. In exercising its discretion, the circuit court is "granted broad latitude to act as a `dispatcher' of the case." Id. (citing Curtiss-Wright Corp. v. Gen. Elec. Co., 446 U.S. 1, 8, 100 S.Ct. 1460, 1465, 64 L.Ed.2d 1 (1980)). Moreover, this discretion is to be exercised" `in the interest of sound judicial administration.'" Curtiss-Wright, 446 U.S. at 8, 100 S.Ct. at 1465 (quoting Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Mackey, 351 U.S. 427, 437, 76 S.Ct. 895, 900, 100 L.Ed. 1297 (1956)). It is an abuse of the circuit court's discretion if a finding of "no just reason for delay" is inconsistent with the circumstances of the case. Comm. for Educ. Equal., 878 S.W.2d at 453.

Because Missouri Rule 74.01(b) was originally copied almost verbatim from Federal Rule 54(b), prior federal cases can give guidance to when a circuit court has properly exercised its discretion. Id. at 451 ("Where a federal rule has been construed by the federal courts and our Court thereafter adopts a rule on the same subject using identical language, there is no...