Cherney v. NORTH CAROLINA ZOOLOGICAL PARK

603 S.E.2d 842, 166 N.C. App. 684, 2004 N.C. App. LEXIS 2029
CourtCourt of Appeals of North Carolina
DecidedNovember 2, 2004
DocketNo. COA03-1615.
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 603 S.E.2d 842 (Cherney v. NORTH CAROLINA ZOOLOGICAL PARK) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cherney v. NORTH CAROLINA ZOOLOGICAL PARK, 603 S.E.2d 842, 166 N.C. App. 684, 2004 N.C. App. LEXIS 2029 (N.C. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinions

McCULLOUGH, Judge.

Tinya Cherney ("plaintiff") appeals the opinion and award entered 28 July 2003 by the North Carolina Industrial Commission.

*843The facts and procedural history pertinent to the instant appeal are as follows: On 18 July 1998, plaintiff visited the North Carolina Zoological Park ("the Zoo") in Asheboro as a business invitee. While plaintiff was inside the Zoo's African Pavilion, a thirty-four-foot-tall ficus benjamina tree ("ficus tree") broke from its support cables and fell onto a nearby thirty-eight-foot-tall Traveler's tree, a portion of which broke off and struck plaintiff. Plaintiff sustained multiple injuries, including a fractured right femur, fractured vertebrae, and fractured ribs. She subsequently underwent surgery and incurred medical expenses exceeding $80,000.00.

On 7 September 1999, plaintiff filed a claim for damages against the Zoo pursuant to the Tort Claims Act, N.C. Gen.Stat. § 143-291, et seq. In the affidavit in support of her claim ("the affidavit"), plaintiff alleged her injuries and damages resulted from the negligence of Zoo employees Ron Ferguson ("Ferguson") and Virginia Wall ("Wall"). Ferguson served as Chief Gardener for the Zoo and Wall was the Curator of Horticulture for the Zoo. Plaintiff's affidavit contained the following allegations:

That the injury or property damage occurred in the following manner: Mrs. Cherney was in the enclosed African Pavilion near the center when a large ficus tree fell hitting a palm tree. Both trees then fell on her pinning her to the floor of the walkway in the African Pavilion. The impact caused vertigo, broke her right femur, cracked three ribs, caused compression fractures to three vertebra[e] and wrenched her knee. The injury occurred because the ficus tree which was indoors had been permitted to grow too large for its roots or alternatively had not been properly maintained to prevent it from becoming unsafe. The ficus tree was under the exclusive control of the Zoo personnel and not subject to wind or any natural force.

On 21 December 1999, defendant filed an answer denying the allegations of the affidavit. Defendant asserted that plaintiff failed to properly "allege a negligent act or omission on the part of the alleged employees of defendant" and failed to properly "state a claim over which there is jurisdiction over the person and subject matter and ... upon which relief may be granted."

On 13 August 2001, Deputy Commissioner Richard Ford ("Deputy Commissioner Ford") heard arguments and received evidence from both parties. In an order filed 30 October 2001, Deputy Commissioner Ford ordered that defendant pay plaintiff $500,000.00 in compensatory damages.

Defendant appealed Deputy Commissioner Ford's opinion and award, and on 29 April 2002, the matter came before the Full Commission for review. In an opinion and award filed 28 July 2003, a majority of the Full Commission reversed Deputy Commissioner Ford's prior opinion and award. The majority made the following pertinent findings of fact:

3. There was no evidence that the first of the two named employees, Ron Ferguson had any involvement with the tree that fell on plaintiff.
....
18. The greater weight of the evidence indicates that Ms. Wall neither knew or should have known that the ficus tree was likely to fall. There is no showing that Ms. Wall violated any applicable standard of care in her management of the horticulture department and supervision of the horticulture staff.

Based upon these findings of fact, the majority made the following pertinent conclusions of law:

2. Pursuant to N.C. Gen.Stat. § 143-291, plaintiff must show that the injuries sustained were the proximate result of a negligent act of a named state employee acting within the course and scope of his employment.
....
4. The greater weight of the evidence shows that Ms. Wall's practices and management of her staff in the care of the ficus benjamina were reasonable and met or exceeded the standards for monitoring, record keeping, pruning, watering, fertilizing, cabling, syringing and soil mixture in her field. Plaintiff has failed to prove that either of the named employees of defendant,

*844

Ron Ferguson and Virginia Wall breached any applicable standard of care. Therefore, plaintiff has failed to prove negligence and is not entitled to recovery.

Commissioner Bernadine S. Ballance ("Commissioner Ballance") dissented from the Full Commission's decision and order. Plaintiff appeals.

The issues on appeal are: (I) whether the Full Commission applied the correct legal standards in its decision; and (II) whether the Full Commission's findings of fact support its conclusions of law.

Under the Tort Claims Act, "jurisdiction is vested in the Industrial Commission to hear claims against the State of North Carolina for personal injuries sustained by any person as a result of the negligence of a State employee while acting within the scope of his employment." Guthrie v. State Ports Authority, 307 N.C. 522, 536, 299 S.E.2d 618, 626 (1983). On appeal from a decision by the Full Commission, this Court reviews the decision for errors of law "only under the same terms and conditions as govern appeals in ordinary civil actions, and the findings of fact of the Commission shall be conclusive if there is any competent evidence to support them." N.C. Gen.Stat. § 143-293 (2003).

N.C. Gen.Stat. § 143-297(2) (2003) requires that a plaintiff filing suit against a state agency provide by affidavit "[t]he name of the department, institution or agency of the State against which the claim is asserted, and the name of the State employee upon whose alleged negligence the claim is based[.]" This Court has previously noted that "[t]he purpose of requiring a claimant to name the negligent employee of the State agency is to enable the agency to investigate the employee involved and not all employees." Davis v. N.C. Dept. of Human Resources, 121 N.C.App. 105, 111, 465 S.E.2d 2, 6 (1995), disc. review denied, 343 N.C. 750, 473 S.E.2d 612 (1996).

Here, plaintiff alleged that Ferguson and Wall were negligent both individually and in their supervision of staff maintaining the ficus tree which fell on plaintiff.

In the case sub judice, a review of the record shows that the Commission examined Ms.

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Related

Nunn v. N.C. Department of Public Safety
741 S.E.2d 481 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2013)
Cherney v. NORTH CAROLINA ZOOLOGICAL PARK
648 S.E.2d 242 (Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2007)
Cherney v. North Carolina Zoological Park
North Carolina Industrial Commission, 2006

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603 S.E.2d 842, 166 N.C. App. 684, 2004 N.C. App. LEXIS 2029, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cherney-v-north-carolina-zoological-park-ncctapp-2004.