Williams v. Missouri Highway and Transportation Comm.

• Decision Date: 01 February 2000
• Citation: 16 S.W.3d 605
• Parties: (Mo.App. W.D. 2000) Kristi Williams, et al., Appellants, v. Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, Respondent. WD57074 Handdown Date: 0
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

16 S.W.3d 605 (Mo.App. W.D. 2000)

Kristi Williams, et al., Appellants, v. Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission, Respondent.

WD57074

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

Handdown Date: 02/01/2000

Appeal From: Circuit Court of Jackson County, Hon. Justine E. Del Muro

Counsel for Appellant: Larry D. Coleman

Counsel for Respondent: James M. Slone

Opinion Summary: Kristi Williams, individually and as next friend for her minor sons, Marcel Williams and Benjamin Mims, appeals from the judgment of the Circuit Court of Jackson County granting summary judgment to the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission (the MHTC) on the appellants' claims for damages resulting from a motor vehicle accident in Kansas City, Missouri.

In their sole point on appeal, the appellants claim that the trial court erred in granting the MHTC's motion for summary judgment on the basis that their claims were barred by sovereign immunity because genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the dangerous condition exception of section 537.600, RSMo 1994, applied to waive the sovereign immunity defense of the MHTC so as to allow their claims for damages.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.

Division Three holds: The doctrine of sovereign immunity protects public entities, such as the MHTC, from liability for negligent acts. Section 537.600 provides two exceptions to the sovereign immunity doctrine: (1) the "motor vehicle exception" and (2) the "dangerous condition exception." It is the second exception on which the appellants relied to recover against the MHTC.

Claiming that the dangerous condition exception of section 537.600 applied so as to waive the sovereign immunity bar to their claims, the appellants alleged in their first-amended petition that a dangerous condition of the MHTC's property existed in that the traffic lights, which controlled the intersection where the accident in question occurred, were out at the time of the accident. For the dangerous condition exception of section 537.600 to apply, the appellants were required to plead and prove not only that (1) there existed a dangerous condition of the MHTC's property, but that (2) the injury directly resulted therefrom; (3) the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of harm incurred; and (4) a public employee negligently created the condition or had actual or constructive notice of the condition in time to protect against the dangerous condition.

Under Rule 74.04, to be entitled to summary judgment, the MHTC was required to show that: (1) no genuine dispute existed as to those material facts upon which it was relying for summary judgment; and (2) based on these undisputed facts, it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. If the movant for summary judgment is a defending party, as in the present case, a prima facie case for summary judgment may be established by one or more of the following means: (1) showing undisputed facts that negate any one of the claimant's required proof elements; (2) showing that the claimant, after an adequate period of discovery, has not produced and would not be able to produce evidence sufficient to allow the trier of fact to find the existence of any one of the claimant's required proof elements; or (3) showing that there is no genuine dispute as to the existence of each of the facts necessary to support an affirmative defense properly pleaded by the movant. In its motion for summary judgment, the MHTC, as a defending party, employed both the first and second means for making a prima facie case for summary judgment by alleging: (1) facts which it asserted negated the second element of the dangerous condition exception to sovereign immunity; and (2) that the appellants had not and would not be able to produce any evidence to prove the fourth element of the dangerous condition exception.

The MHTC claims that on the undisputed facts, as alleged in its motion, the second element of the dangerous condition exception of section 537.600, the "causation element," was negated. Specifically, the MHTC contends that the lights being out at the intersection was not the direct and proximate cause of the appellants' injuries because the negligence of the uninsured motorist, Uber, intervened to cause the accident and their injuries.

To succeed on its motion for summary judgment on the basis that the causation element of the dangerous condition exception, relied upon by the appellants to recover, was negated, the respondent necessarily was required to rely on an inference that Uber's negligence was the direct and proximate cause of the accident. Even assuming, arguendo, that such an inference could be drawn from the alleged undisputed facts, the appellants contend that this inference alone would not be sufficient to negate the causation element of the dangerous condition exception they alleged so as to entitle the MHTC to summary judgment. This is so in that a public entity may be sued, under a waiver of sovereign immunity, concurrently with another party at fault. Even accepting that a causal connection could be established between the negligence of Uber and the accident, rendering her liable to the appellants, this fact would be insufficient, in and of itself, to negate the second element of the dangerous condition exception pled by the appellants in order to waive the sovereign immunity defense of the MHTC. As such, the MHTC failed to make a prima facie case for summary judgment on this basis.

In addition to the other three specified elements, the appellants, in order to establish the dangerous condition exception, were also required to plead and prove the fourth element, that a MHTC employee negligently created the alleged dangerous condition or the MHTC had actual or constructive notice of it in time to protect against it. As to this element, found in section 537.600.1(2), RSMo 1994, the MHTC employed the second means available to a defending party to make a prima facie case for summary judgment by alleging that the appellants, after an adequate period of discovery, had not and would not be able to produce evidence sufficient to allow a jury to find that the MHTC had sufficient notice to protect against the dangerous condition alleged.

As to the fourth element, in order to establish the dangerous condition exception, it was sufficient for the appellants to show either that: (1) the lights-out condition of the traffic lights was created by a MHTC employee; or (2) it had actual or constructive notice of the condition in time to protect against it. Because the fourth element of the dangerous condition exception of section 537.600 can be satisfied on the two specified alternative bases, it follows then that, if facts existed from which either could be found, the MHTC's motion for summary judgment, predicated on its attack on the fourth element, should have failed, and the trial court erred in granting it on that basis. Thus, even assuming, arguendo, that a prima facie case for summary judgment was made by the MHTC with respect to the fourth element of the dangerous condition exception, summary judgment for the MHTC on that basis was improper in that there were facts in dispute from which it could be reasonably inferred that the lights-out condition of the traffic signals was created by an employee of the MHTC.

Edwin H. Smith, Judge

Opinion modified by Court's own motion on March 28, 2000. This substitution does not constitute a new opinion.

Kristi Williams, individually and as next friend for her minor sons, Marcel Williams and Benjamin Mims, appeals from the judgment of the Circuit Court of Jackson County granting summary judgment to the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission (the MHTC) on the appellants' claims for damages resulting from a motor vehicle accident in Kansas City, Missouri.¹.

In their sole point on appeal, the appellants claim that the trial court erred in granting the MHTC's motion for summary judgment on the basis that their claims were barred by sovereign immunity because genuine issues of material fact existed as to whether the dangerous condition exception of section 537.600².applied to waive the sovereign immunity defense of the MHTC so as to allow their claims for damages.

We reverse and remand.

Facts

At approximately 12:01 a.m. on June 19, 1995, Kristi Williams (Williams) was driving her 1989 Ford Tempo south on Bruce R. Watkins Drive in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri. Her two minor sons, Marcel Williams (Marcel) and Benjamin Mims (Benjamin), were passengers in the car. When she neared the intersection at Meyer Boulevard, she noticed that the traffic signals were out in all directions. Upon reaching the intersection, she stopped and, after determining that it was safe to proceed, entered the intersection. As she entered the intersection, another vehicle, driven by Angela T. Uber (Uber) and traveling west on Meyer Boulevard, struck the driver's side of Williams's car. Uber was uninsured.

As a result of the collision, Williams and her sons were injured and her vehicle was extensively damaged. Williams received injuries to her neck, shoulder, and knee. Marcel sustained injuries to his leg, neck, collarbone, and head, requiring several weeks of hospitalization, and Benjamin suffered a broken nose and multiple abrasions and contusions.

On April 10, 1997, as a result of the accident, Williams, individually and as next friend for her sons, filed suit against the MHTC in the Circuit Court of Jackson County to recover damages for their personal injuries and property loss from the damage to Williams's Ford Tempo. An amended petition was filed on July 22, 1997. The MHTC moved for and on March 5, 1998, was granted leave by the trial court to add Uber as a third-party defendant. The appellants alleged, inter alia, in their petition that the sovereign immunity bar to their claims was waived in that the lights-out condition of the traffic signals at the intersection...