Brady v. State ex rel. Louisiana Health & Human Resources Administration

525 So. 2d 102, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 752, 1988 WL 16510
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 1988
DocketNo. 87-189
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 525 So. 2d 102 (Brady v. State ex rel. Louisiana Health & Human Resources Administration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brady v. State ex rel. Louisiana Health & Human Resources Administration, 525 So. 2d 102, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 752, 1988 WL 16510 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

DOMENGEAUX, Judge.

Dora H. Brady and Stephen Brady commenced these proceedings to recover the damages they sustained as the result of an injury Dora Brady suffered while at a street dance sponsored by the Pinecrest State School for its residents. The Bradys named as the defendant, the State of Louisiana, in particular, the Department of Health and Human Resources, the state agency responsible for the Pinecrest School. The Trial Court rendered judgment in favor of the State, dismissing the Bradys’ suit at their cost. The Court, in oral reasons, held that the State had not breached any duty imposed for the benefit of the Bradys and that it was, therefore, not negligent in its supervision of the street dance or the residents.

The Pinecrest State School is a controlled residential community administered by the State to provide living facilities for mentally handicapped individuals. The School, in November of 1984 when Brady suffered her injury, had approximately 1620 residents, of which eighty-six percent were profoundly or severely mentally handicapped and fourteen percent were moderately or mildly handicapped. Approximately 500 of the 1620 residents suffered from convulsive disorders which caused grand mal and petit mal seizures.

The premise underlying the administration of the Pinecrest School, as stated by Coats Stucky a Mental Retardation Facility Administrator IV, and the Superintendent of Pinecrest in November of ’84, is to provide the residents with a protected living environment without totally restricting their activity. The residents live in cottage dormitories in groups not exceeding 24 persons. In accordance with Medi-cade requirements, three supervisory personnel, one Resident Training Specialist No. 2 (RTS-II) and two Resident Training Specialists (RTS’s), are responsible for the residents around the clock.

On the evening of November 7,1984, the residents of Pinecrest were enjoying their annual street dance on the school grounds. The event, which consisted of a band and concession booths or tables, was open to all Pinecrest residents, employees, both on and off-duty, and their families. Approximately 400 of the residents participated in the dance.

Dora Brady, the plaintiff, a clerk-typist-II at Pinecrest, was off-duty on the evening of November 7th and chose to participate in the festivities. Brady was injured about 6:35 or 6:45 that evening when she was unexpectedly struck from the rear by a person she described as a large light-skinned woman. Brady fell to the ground landing on her left foot causing it to break. The person who caused Brady to fall, a resident of Pinecrest, fell on top of her.

The resident who fell on Brady was Ber-die Edwards. Edwards, a long time resident of Pinecrest, was a woman in her 60’s. She was moderately mentally handicapped and was one of the many residents who experienced seizures.

Lemroy Culbert, Jr., an equipment operator at Pinecrest, was on duty the evening of the street dance and was responsible for patrolling the dance area. Culbert testified that he did not have an unobstructed view of the incident but, he did see Brady and Edwards fall to the ground. He testified that from his position in the crowd, approximately fifteen feet from the women, it [104]*104appeared that Edwards either intentionally hit or involuntarily fell against the back of Brady’s legs causing Brady to fall backwards.

Culbert, upon seeing the incident, went to the assistance of the women. He found both Brady and Edwards on the ground in an area partially paved and partially covered with gravel. Culbert testified that he permitted Edwards to lay on the ground for a short period of time because she was having a seizure. He was confident in his assessment that Edwards had experienced a seizure because her eyes were closed and she appeared as she had on the previous occasions when he had seen her experience seizures.

Culbert also testified that his instructions on the evening of the street dance were to return any resident who experienced one seizure to his or her dormitory room and that any resident who experienced three seizures was to be brought to the hospital. He did not state how many residents, if any, were brought to the hospital but, he did state that many residents experienced seizures.

The testimony of Paul Murphy, another employee of Pinecrest who assisted the women after their fall, was entered into the record by way of a stipulation. The parties stipulated that Murphy, who was approximately six to eight feet from the women, did not see what transpired, but did assist the women after the incident. The parties also stipulated that Murphy believed Edwards had experienced a seizure.

Hazel Paige, the RTS-II of Cottage 215, Edwards’ cottage, testified that most of the twenty-one or twenty-three residents of Cottage 215 attended the dance. Paige stated that a short time before Brady was injured, Edwards, apparently because of a sense of insecurity, chose to stay close to another Pinecrest employee. Paige then told the Court that subsequent to the employee being called away to assist at a concession stand, Edwards chose to remain close to her (Paige). Paige stated that Edwards held her (Paige’s) arm and that she assisted Edwards in the purchase of a sandwich and a drink. Paige then testified that Edwards, who was free to go about the facilities as she chose, let go of her arm and walked about fifty feet across the street from where the two of them were originally standing. Paige clearly explained that Edwards did not require one-on-one supervision and that she chose to remain close to her and the other Pinecrest employee entirely by her own choosing.

Paige testified that about two or three minutes after Edwards left she heard someone say that Edwards had experienced a seizure. When she arrived at the scene she saw Edwards, but did not believe that she had experienced a seizure. Paige, who was personally familiar with Edwards, stated that Edwards might not have a seizure for three or four months, but then could experience two in one month.

On appeal, the Bradys contend that the Trial Court erred in concluding that the State was not negligent. The Bradys, in essence, maintain that the law imposed on the State the duty of supervising the Pine-crest residents in a manner that would prevent them from injuring off-duty employees attending the street dance. The Bradys argue that the State breached its duty when it failed to prevent Edwards from injuring Dora Brady. The Bradys additionally maintain that the State should be found strictly liable in accordance with La.Civ.Code arts. 2317 (1870) and 2319 (1870). We conclude, as did the Trial Judge, that the State did not breach any duty imposed for the benefit of the Bradys and that it would be inappropriate to impose strict liability in this instance. We will, therefore, affirm the judgment of the District Court.

In Louisiana, in suits such as the instant case in which recovery is founded on allegations of negligence, the duty-risk analysis is utilized. The Louisiana Supreme Court in Forest v. State, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, 493 So.2d 563 (La.1986) recently restated the elements of the duty-risk analysis. The elements, as stated by the Forest Court, are: (1) Was the defendant’s conduct a cause in fact of the plaintiff’s injury? (2) Did the defendant owe the plain[105]*105tiff a legal duty which encompassed the particular risk of harm to which the plaintiff was exposed? (3) Did the defendant breach its legal duty? and (4) Did the plaintiff sustain any damage?

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Bluebook (online)
525 So. 2d 102, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 752, 1988 WL 16510, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brady-v-state-ex-rel-louisiana-health-human-resources-administration-lactapp-1988.