Bruce Dolfman v. Cedar Fair LP

648 F. App'x 285
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedMay 4, 2016
Docket15-2695
StatusUnpublished

This text of 648 F. App'x 285 (Bruce Dolfman v. Cedar Fair LP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bruce Dolfman v. Cedar Fair LP, 648 F. App'x 285 (3d Cir. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION *

FISHER, Circuit Judge.

Bruce Dolfman, administrator of the estate of Li Zhen, appeals the District Court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants, Cedar Fair and Camp Counselors U.S.A. The District Court dismissed Dolfman’s negligence claims because Dolfman could not prove that the defendants breached their duties of care or that their actions proximately caused Li Zhen’s death. Because we agree that there is no proximate cause, we will affirm.

I.

We write principally for the parties, who are familiar with the factual context and legal history of this case. Therefore, we will set forth only those facts that are necessary to our analysis.

Li Zhen was a twenty-two-year-old student from Tianjin, China, a city of over eight million people. She had travéled internationally on several occasions and regularly navigated busy streets. She entered the United States on a J-l Visa under the Summer Work and Travel Program, which “provide[s] foreign college and university students with opportunities to interact with U.S. citizens, experience U.S. culture while sharing their own cultures with Americans they meet, travel in the United States, and work in jobs that require minimal training and are seasonal or temporary in order to earn funds to help defray a portion of their expenses.” 1 Li Zhen’s participation in the program was administered by Camp Counselors U.S.A. (“CCUSA”), a program sponsor that matches prospective participants with employers in the United States, and Cedar Fair, which operates Dorney Park & Wild-water Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Li Zhen was a fast food worker at Dor-ney Park during the summer 'of 2012. From June until August 13th, Li Zhen lived in dormitory housing at Cedar Crest College, as was required by Cedar Fair. After August 13, 2012, Li Zhen resided at the Comfort Suites Hotel in Allentown. The hotel is located on Hamilton Boulevard directly across from Dorney Park. Hamilton Boulevard is a busy, four-lane, *287 two-way road with a median strip and is accessible to Interstate 78 via on and off ramps. Several modes of transportation from the hotel were available, including a Dorney Park shuttle; a local bus service, which stopped in front of the hotel; the regional Beiber Bus, which had a terminal three quarters of a mile from the hotel; a courtesy van provided by the Comfort Suites; and local taxi services.

On September 4, 2012, Li Zhen left her hotel on foot before sunrise at 5:30 am. She and her friends had planned a personal trip to Philadelphia, which required Li Zhen to walk to the terminal for the Beiber Bus. In order to get to the Beiber Bus terminal, two routes were available to Li Zhen: one required Li Zhen to walk through residential areas behind the Comfort Suites. This route was much longer than the alternative route — to walk along Hamilton Boulevard and then to cross the onramp to Interstate 78.

Li Zhen chose the shorter route and walked west along Hamilton Boulevard. When she approached the onramp to Interstate 78 and began to cross, she was struck by a Jeep driven by Zachary Edwards. Edwards was nineteen years old and driving to a jobsite for his employer, R.J. Skelding Co. He held a valid Pennsylvania driver’s license at the time of the accident but was operating his vehicle illegally because his license restricted him to “daylight only” driving due to retinoschi-sis — a genetic eye disorder. The accident occurred before dawn. Edwards testified that he saw Li Zhen on the ramp, and although he veered to avoid her, Li Zhen also veered in the same direction. Li Zhen died a short time after the accident.

The plaintiff, Bruce Dolfman, is the administrator of Li Zhen’s estate. He filed suit in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging state law negligence claims against defendants Cedar Fair, CCUSA, R.J. Skelding Co., and Zachary Edwards.

Cedar Fair, CCUSA, and R.J. Skelding moved for summary judgment on all of Dolfman’s claims. The District Court granted Cedar Fair’s and CCUSA’s motions on November 21, 2014, but denied R.J. Skelding’s motion. After Cedar Fair and CCUSA were dismissed from the litigation, Dolfman settled his claims with R.J. Skelding and Edwards. Following the dismissal with prejudice, Dolfman timely appealed the order granting summary judgment to Cedar Fair and CCU-SA.

II.

The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291. “We exercise plenary review over a grant of summary judgment, viewing the facts in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party, and applying the same standard that guides our district courts.” 2 Summary judgment is proper where “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” 3

III.

In order to make out a claim for negligence in Pennsylvania, Dolfman must show: the defendants had a duty of care to Li Zhen, they breached that duty, there is a causal connection between their conduct and the resulting injury, and Li Zhen suffered actual loss or damage. 4 Dolfman argues that summary judgment was improper as to both (1) Cedar Fair and (2) CCUSA.

*288 1.

Dolfman first argues that Cedar Fair was negligent in placing Li Zhen at the Comfort Suites Hotel, which is located on a dangerous road. According to Dolf-man, Cedar Fair knew that its employees would be required to walk along the road, putting them in danger. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of Cedar Fair because it held that, as a matter of law, there was no proximate cause — any hypothetical breach of duty on Cedar Fair’s part was not the proximate cause of Li Zhen’s death. 5 Dolfman argues that this was error.

Under Pennsylvania law, proximate cause exists where the alleged wrongful act was a “substantial factor” in bringing about the plaintiffs harm. “[A] substantial factor need not be ... the only factor in bringing about the relevant harm.” 6 Rather, in determining whether proximate cause exists, we examine: (1) the number of other factors which contribute to produce the harm and the extent they have in producing it; (2) whether the actor’s conduct has created a force or series of forces which are in continuous and active operation up to the time of the harm, or has created a situation harmless unless acted upon by other forces for which the actor is not responsible; and (3) lapse of time. 7

The District Court was correct in holding that any alleged breach of duty by Cedar Fair did not proximately cause Li Zhen’s death. There are simply too many other factors that contributed to her death to a far greater extent than her placement at the Comfort Suites Hotel.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
648 F. App'x 285, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bruce-dolfman-v-cedar-fair-lp-ca3-2016.