Brown v. Fountain Hill School District

1 S.W.3d 27, 67 Ark. App. 358, 1999 Ark. App. LEXIS 644
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedOctober 6, 1999
DocketCA 99-98
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 1 S.W.3d 27 (Brown v. Fountain Hill School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Fountain Hill School District, 1 S.W.3d 27, 67 Ark. App. 358, 1999 Ark. App. LEXIS 644 (Ark. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

Olly Neal, Judge.

On September 30, 1993, John Brown was a student at Fountain Hill High School, when he amputated the fingers on his right hand while operating a table saw in the school’s vocational-agriculture shop class. John’s parents, Hughey and Teresa Brown, filed a negligence action against the individual appellees, because of the removal of the table saw’s blade safety guard by appellee Hal Gibson. An action was brought against the school district based upon the theory of respondeat superior. Appellees filed a motion to dismiss appellants’ complaint based upon the statutory immunity afforded school districts and their employees in negligence actions by Ark. Code Ann. section 21-9-301 (1987). Appellants subsequently filed an amended and substituted complaint, in which they added the insurance exception to the statutory-immunity defense, and pled in the alternative that appellees’ actions amounted to the tort of outrage. Appellees filed a motion under Ark. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) that was not ruled upon. After discovery was completed, appellees filed a motion for summary judgment.

In a hearing held on May 26, 1998, the trial court granted partial summary judgment to appellees based upon its finding that Ark. Code Ann. section 21-9-301 barred appellants’ claim for damages caused by appellees’ negligence. The trial court allowed appellants to proceed with their claim based upon the tort of outrage.

On September 11, 1998, a subsequent hearing was held and at that time, the trial court granted summary judgment to appellees on appellants’ claim for outrage. In granting summary judgment, the trial court found that appellants had not pled sufficient facts to succeed on a claim for damages based upon the tort of outrage. This appeal followed.

On appeal, appellants argue three points: (1) the appellees’ motion for summary judgment was defective because it failed to address the appellants’ tort of outrage claim in the amended and substituted complaint; (2) the trial court erred when it considered matters in appellees’ supplemental brief in violation of Ark. R. Civ. P. 56(c), when making its September 11, 1998, order; and (3) the trial court erred in dismissing appellants’ amended and substituted complaint that adequately pled the tort of outrage.

Appellants’ first two points on appeal were not presented to the trial court, and as a consequence, are not preserved for appellate review. See Helms v. University of Missouri-Kansas City, 65 Ark. App. 155, 986 S.W.2d 419 (1999).

Appellants’ remaining point is that the trial court erred in dismissing the remaining portion of their complaint that adequately pled the tort of outrage. The law is well settled that summary judgment is to be granted by a trial court only when it is clear that there are no genuine issues of material fact to be litigated, and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Pugh v. Griggs, 327 Ark. 577, 940 S.W.2d 445 (1997). Once the moving party has established a prima facie entitlement to summary judgment, the opposing party must meet proof with proof and demonstrate the existence of a material issue of fact. Id. On review, the appellate court determines if summary judgment was appropriate based on whether the evidentiary items presented by the moving party in support of the motion leave a material fact unanswered. Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Adams, 326 Ark. 300, 930 S.W.2d 374 (1996). This court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion was filed, resolving all doubts and inferences against the moving party. Id.

To succeed on a tort-of-outrage claim, the plaintiff must prove that (1) the defendant intended to inflict emotional distress or knew or should have known that emotional distress was the likely result of his conduct; (2) the conduct was extreme and outrageous and utterly intolerable in a civilized community; (3) the defendant’s conduct was the cause of the plaintiff s distress; and (4) emotional distress sustained by the plaintiff was so severe that no reasonable person could be expected to endure it. Holloman v. Keadle, 326 Ark. 168, 931 S.W.2d 413 (1996).

In their amended complaint, appellants alleged:

Defendant Hal Gibson was in charge of Ashley County’s school children and had the ultimate responsibility for their safety and his behavior in removing the safety guard which greatly enhances said saw’s potential to mutilate, deform and mangle children coming in contact with said equipment was beyond all possible bounds of decency and utterly intolerable.
Defendant Hal Gibson purposely, knowingly, willfully and intentionally removed the safety guard of the Delta International table saw that was installed to prevent any unnecessary injury or enhancement of injury. The removal of said safety guard on the part of Defendant Hal Gibson constitutes willful conduct and elevates itself to reckless disregard or conscious indifference of the consequences of his actions.
At said times Defendant Fountain Lake School District, its governing board, officers, agents, and employees, knew or, in the exercise of reasonable care, should have known of the dangerous and defective condition of the table saw, that table saw lacked entirely any effective or adequate automatic or other type release or safety device, and wholly lacked any kind of guard to protect students, using the same.
Jonathan Brown sustained complete amputations of his index, long, ring, and small fingers of the right hand. Plaintiff Jonathan Brown immediately underwent revascularization of these digits and stabilization of the fractures in an eight-hour surgical procedure. In addition, Plaintiff Jonathan Brown has sustained segmental bone loss at the PIP joint of his index, long, and ring fingers, and has undergone two subsequent operations and is scheduled to undergo subsequent operations in the future.
Jonathan Brown has been permanently impaired, suffered great pain and anxiety by reason of said injuries, has suffered and during the remainder of his life will suffer great humiliation and anxiety, will be hindered and damaged in his professional trade or calling by reason of the mutilated and crippled condition of his right hand and will be forever barred from doing certain kinds of work.

Appellants contend that the pleadings found in the amended complaint are not conclusions, and are every bit as express as those found in Diestch v. Tillery, 309 Ark. 401, 833 S.W.2d 760 (1992). In Deitsch, which involved a dismissal pursuant to Ark. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), the supreme court found that the wording of the complaint recited more than conclusory allegations, as it was required to do. In making its decision, the court supplied the following rationale:

In their complaint, the appellants allege the appellees knew of the presence of specific rules and regulations for the removal of asbestos and failed and refused to follow such procedures.

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Bluebook (online)
1 S.W.3d 27, 67 Ark. App. 358, 1999 Ark. App. LEXIS 644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-fountain-hill-school-district-arkctapp-1999.