Waybright v. Frederick County Dept. of Fire
| Decision Date | 01 March 2007 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. RDB 05-55. |
| Citation | 475 F.Supp.2d 542 |
| Parties | James and Shirley WAYBRIGHT, as personal representatives and co-executors of the estate of Andrew Waybright, et al., Plaintiffs, v. FREDERICK COUNTY MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF FIRE & RESCUE SERVICES, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Maryland |
Mark Berman, Berman Sobin and Gross LLP, Gaithersburg, MD, for Plaintiffs.
Thomas Vincent McCarron, Christopher J. Lyon, Semmes Bowen and Semmes PC, Baltimore, MD, John M. Quinn, Ethridge Quinn McAuliffe Rowan and Hartinger, Rockville, MD, Scott M. Hartinger, Ethridge Quinn McAuliffe Rowan and Hartinger, Frederick, MD, for Defendants.
This action arises out of a Complaint originally filed in the Circuit Court for Frederick County, Maryland. The estate of Andrew Waybright and James and Shirley Waybright, as personal representatives and co-executors of the estate of Andrew Waybright (collectively, "Plaintiffs") brought this action against Jeffrey Coombe, Walter Murray, Stanley Poole, Mark McNeal, Andrew Marsh, David Gray, John L. Thompson, Jr., Richard Welden, Jan H. Gardner, Terre R. Rhoderick, and the Frederick County, Maryland Department of Fire and Rescue Services, an agency of Frederick County, Maryland (collectively, "Defendants").1 The case was removed to this Court based on federal question jurisdiction arising from allegations of violations of the United States Constitution. The Complaint seeks damages in connection with the tragic and untimely death of firefighter recruit Andrew Waybright on July 3, 2002. Mr. Waybright died from heat exhaustion suffered in connection with physical training exercises administered by Defendant Jeffrey Coombe of the Frederick County, Maryland Department of Fire and Rescue Services. Currently pending before this Court are two Motions for Summary Judgment, one filed by Defendant Jeffrey Coombe and the other filed by the remaining Defendants. This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331. The issues have been fully briefed and a hearing was conducted on February 17, 2007. For the reasons that follow, Defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment are GRANTED-IN-PART and DENIED-IN-PART. As result, judgment will be entered in favor of Defendants and against Plaintiffs with respect to the Plaintiffs' federal and state constitutional claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Article 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. Plaintiffs' residual claims based on Maryland tort law, however, will be REMANDED to the Circuit Court for Frederick County, Maryland.
This Court reviews the facts of this case in the light most favorable to the party opposing the motion. See Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986).
On July 3, 2002, at 6:30 a.m., 23 year-old firefighter recruit Andrew Waybright reported for a physical fitness training session at the Frederick County Public Safety Training Center (the "Training Center"). At 7:00 a.m., the one-hour training session began. It involved a short walk, a 3-4 mile run, calisthenics, uphill wind sprints, and a jog. Toward the end of the exercises, Waybright looked "sick, dehydrated, pale, and in a state of exhaustion and pain." (Pl.'s Opp. Mots. Summ. J. Ex. 1 (the "Board of Inquiry Report") p. 20.) At the time, the temperature was approximately 84.2 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was 84 percent, resulting in a heat index of 96.
Just before 8:10 a.m., Waybright collapsed. Two civilians saw Waybright lying facedown in the grass and offered to call 911. A firefighter attending to Waybright, however, told them that assistance was not necessary and that Waybright was "just played out." (Board of Inquiry Report p. 28.) At some point, the paramedics were called and arrived on the scene. At 8:16 a.m., a paramedic reported that Waybright had gone into cardiac arrest. (Id. at p. 8.) At 8:32 a.m., Waybright was transported to the emergency room of Frederick Memorial Hospital. At 9:22 a.m., a doctor pronounced Andrew Waybright dead. His core body temperature was 107.4 degrees Fahrenheit. An autopsy identified hyperthermia as the cause of death and indicated that Waybright "had no preexisting conditions...." (Id.)
Defendant Jeffrey Coombe was the physical training instructor for the session on July 3, 2002. It is undisputed that Coombe failed to recognize Waybright's deteriorating condition during the training exercise. After Waybright collapsed, Coombe stayed with Waybright for a short period of time. Without administering basic first aid, Coombe left Waybright to return to the Training Center and assigned a firefighter named Eckhardt to attend to Waybright. After arriving at the Training Center, Coombe asked another firefighter — Troy Grossnickle — to get a pick-up truck and help Waybright. After driving to Waybright in the pick-up truck, Grossnickle was advised by Eckhardt that "Waybright was unconscious and to call for an ambulance." (Board of Inquiry Report p. 21.) Grossnickle returned to the Training Center to get a "bag valve mask" and oxygen but could not find the equipment. (Id. at 8.) Grossnickle told yet another firefighter to call 911 and then drove to Waybright with some other firefighters. "As they arrived, FfR Waybright went into cardiac arrest, and the paramedic member of the [Combat Challenge Team] initiated CPR."
It is further undisputed that Coombe was not a trained physical fitness instructor. Coombe testified that he did "nothing" to become an instructor. (Coombe Dep., p. 23, 1. 3.) At least one member of the Frederick County, Maryland Department of Fire and Rescue Services (the "Department") indicated that Coombe was not a "Level II" instructor, as required by the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute. (Himes Dep. p. 29, 11. 3-15.) A Board of Inquiry was empaneled and its report noted that:
The Department placed the physical training instructor in a position with supervisory responsibilities for which he was not prepared. The instructor had not yet completed training to obtain certification in physical fitness.
(Board of Inquiry Report p. 17.) Coombe apparently completed a 36-hour shift just before beginning the recruit training class on July 3, 2002.
Although medical equipment was available at the Training Center, nobody retrieved it to help Waybright because the location of the equipment was unknown. As already noted, firefighter Grossnickle could not find a bag valve mask or oxygen when he went to the Training Center to get help for Waybright. As Coombe explained to the Board of Commissioners for Frederick County, Maryland (the "Board"), "there was no [medical] equipment, no one knew where it was[, i]f it was there, it was locked up." (Pl.'s Opp. Mots. Summ. J. Ex. 3 p. 26.) There were also no radios or other communication devices with the recruit class during the training session on July 3, 2002. Coombe explained that this equipment was "under lock and key in the offices at the training center." (Id. at p. 24.)
Coombe's supervisors were aware of at least some of the above problems. For example, Defendant Stanley Poole acknowledges that training sessions such as the one that took place on July 3, 2002, should have been led by at least two instructors and involved a "gator" vehicle equipped with water, supplies, and communications equipment. (See Poole Dep. p. 142, 11. 4-12.) Other Defendants indicated that Poole had expressed concerns about the scheduling of instructors for Waybright's recruit class. (See, e.g., Marsh Dep. p. 137, 11. 8-17; see also Poole Dep. p. 147, 11. 14-16 (Acknowledging "the shortage of staff and the ability to have instructors available and those kind of things.").) The Board of Inquiry Report concluded that "[t]he Department lack[ed] the supervisory staff to operate a recruit school safely and effectively at the [Training Center] at this time." (Board of Inquiry Report p. 18.)
On March 9, 2004, Plaintiffs filed a Complaint in the Circuit Court for Frederick County, Maryland. (Paper No. 2.) This pleading asserted causes of action for wrongful death, loss of solatium, and survival under Maryland state law. (Id.) Each cause of action was premised on allegations of negligence.2 (Id.) On July 14, 2004, Defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment. (Paper No. 13; see also Paper No. 2 Ex. 1 p. 5.) On November 17, 2004, Judge Julie R. Stevenson Solt of the Circuit Court for Frederick County conducted a hearing. (Id at p. 6.) During that hearing, Judge Solt granted Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment with respect to the survival actions.3 (Def.'s Mem. Supp. Summ. J. Ex. 16.)
On December 10, 2004, Plaintiffs filed a First Amended Complaint. (Paper No. 26.) This pleading asserted new causes of action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Article 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights. (Id.) Theses causes of action were premised on the contention that Waybright's substantive due process rights were violated. (Id.) On January 7, 2005, Defendants removed this action from the Circuit Court for Frederick County to this Court. (Paper No. 1 (notice of removal); see id. at ¶ 7 ().)
On January 4, 2006, this Court granted Plaintiffs' request for leave to file a Second Amended Complaint. (Paper No. 58.) This pleading reflected various amendments "to tailor the already existing civil rights claim to what was learned in discovery over the last several months." (Paper No. 57.) On May 1, 2006, Defendant Coombe filed his Motion for Summary Judgment. (Paper No. 68.) On the same day, the other Defendants filed their Motion for Summary Judgment. (Paper No. 69.) On August 21,...
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Waybright v. Frederick County, Md
...length, and the district court needed a chart to keep track of the claims and defendants. See Waybright v. Frederick County Md. Dep't of Fire & Rescue Servs., 475 F.Supp.2d 542, 548 (D.Md.2007). When all was said and done, plaintiffs had lodged three types of claims against four types of Fi......
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Va. Dean Slaughter v. Mayor
...to cases in which the state has compelled the injured person to encounter the danger. See Waybright v. Frederick Cnty., MD, Dep't of Fire and Rescue Servs., 475 F.Supp.2d 542, 553 (D.Md.2007). This limiting principle operates in workplace safety cases. Section 1983 does not require the stat......
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Va. Dean Slaughter v. Mayor
...to cases in which the state has compelled the injured person to encounter the danger. See Waybright v. Frederick Cnty., MD Dep't of Fire and Rescue Servs., 475 F. Supp. 2d 542, 553 (D. Md. 2007). This limiting principle operates in workplace safety cases. Section 1983 does not require the s......