City of Cincinnati v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp.

95 Ohio St. 3d 416
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJune 12, 2002
DocketNo. 2000-1705
StatusPublished
Cited by254 cases

This text of 95 Ohio St. 3d 416 (City of Cincinnati v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Cincinnati v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp., 95 Ohio St. 3d 416 (Ohio 2002).

Opinions

Francis E. Sweeney, Sr., J.

{¶ 1} On April 28, 1999, plaintiff-appellant, the city of Cincinnati, filed a complaint against fifteen handgun manufacturers, three trade associations, and one handgun distributor, seeking to hold them responsible under nuisance, negligence, and product liability theories of recovery, for the harm caused by the firearms they manufacture, sell, or distribute.1 The gist of the complaint is that [417]*417appellees2 have manufactured, marketed, and distributed their firearms in ways that ensure the widespread accessibility of the firearms to prohibited users, including children and criminals. Thus, the complaint asserts, due to their intentional and negligent conduct and their failure to make guns safer, appellees have fostered the criminal misuse of firearms, helped sustain the illegal firearms market in Cincinnati, and have created a public nuisance. In its complaint, appellant sought both injunctive relief and monetary damages, including reimbursement for expenses such as increased police, emergency, health, and corrections costs.

2} Rather than file an answer, fifteen of the defendants (“appellees”) moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Civ.R. 12(B)(6). The trial court granted the motions to dismiss, finding, inter alia, that (1) the complaint failed to state a cause of action, (2) the claims were barred by the doctrine of remoteness, and (3) appellant could not recoup expenditures for public services. The trial court further ruled that there was no just cause for delay, and appellant appealed. The court of appeals affirmed on similar grounds. The cause is now before this court upon the allowance of a discretionary appeal.

{¶ 3} This case represents one of a growing number of lawsuits brought by municipalities against gun manufacturers and their trade associations to recover damages associated with the costs of firearm violence incurred by the municipalities. There is a difference of opinion as to whether these cases state a viable cause of action. While some courts have allowed this type of case to go forward against a Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss (White v. Smith & Wesson Corp. [N.D. Ohio 2000], 97 F.Supp.2d 816; Boston v. Smith & Wesson Corp. [2000], 12 Mass.L.Rptr. 225, 2000 WL 1473568), other courts have dismissed or upheld the dismissal of similar lawsuits. See, e.g., Philadelphia v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp. (E.D.Pa.2000), 126 F.Supp.2d 882; Camden Cty. Bd. of Chosen Freeholders v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp. (C.A.3, 2001), 273 F.3d 536; Ganim v. Smith & Wesson Corp. (2001), 258 Conn. 313, 780 A.2d 98. After a thorough review of these cases, we agree with those decisions that permit this type of lawsuit to go beyond the pleadings stage. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals and remand the cause to the trial court.

[418]*418I. Sufficiency of Complaint

{¶ 4} The trial court granted appellees’ Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motions to dismiss and the court of appeals affirmed. In determining whether the motions were properly granted, we must decide whether the complaint states a cause of action under Ohio law.

{¶ 5} The standard for determining whether to grant a Civ.R. 12(B)(6) motion is straightforward. In order for a complaint to be dismissed under Civ.R. 12(B)(6) for failure to state a claim, it must appear beyond doubt from the complaint that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts entitling him to relief. O’Brien v. Univ. Community Tenants Union, Inc. (1975), 42 Ohio St.2d 242, 71 O.O.2d 223, 327 N.E.2d 753, syllabus. Furthermore, “[i]n construing a complaint upon a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, we must presume that all factual allegations of the complaint are true and make all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party.” Mitchell v. Lawson Milk Co. (1988), 40 Ohio St.3d 190, 192, 532 N.E.2d 753. We reiterated this view in York v. Ohio State Hwy. Patrol (1991), 60 Ohio St.3d 143, 144, 573 N.E.2d 1063, and further noted that “as long as there is a set of facts, consistent with the plaintiffs complaint, which would allow the plaintiff to recover, the court may not grant a defendant’s motion to dismiss.” Id. at 145, 573 N.E.2d 1063.

{¶ 6} In addressing the sufficiency of the complaint, we will examine each claim separately. In particular, appellant maintains that it has stated viable causes of action for public nuisance, negligence, and product liability.

A. Public Nuisance

{¶ 7} Appellant alleged in its complaint that appellees have created and maintained a public nuisance by manufacturing, marketing, distributing, and selling firearms in ways that unreasonably interfere with the public health, welfare, and safety in Cincinnati and that the residents of Cincinnati have a common right to be free from such conduct. Appellant further alleged that appellees know, or reasonably should know, that their conduct will cause handguns to be used and possessed illegally and that such conduct produces an ongoing nuisance that has a detrimental effect upon the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Cincinnati.

{¶ 8} Appellees advance several reasons why the complaint does not state a cause of action for public nuisance. First, appellees maintain that Ohio’s nuisance law does not encompass injuries caused by product design and construction, but instead is limited to actions involving real property or to statutory or regulatory violations involving public health or safety. We disagree. The definition of “public nuisance” in 4 Restatement of the Law 2d, Torts (1965) (“Restatement”) is couched in broad language. According to the Restatement, a [419]*419“public nuisance” is “an unreasonable interference with a right common to the general public.” 4 Restatement, Section 821B(1). “Unreasonable interference” includes those acts that significantly interfere with public health, safety, peace, comfort, or convenience, conduct that is contrary to a statute, ordinance, or regulation, or conduct that is of a continuing nature or one which has produced a permanent or long-lasting effect upon the public right, an effect of which the actor is aware or should be aware. Id., Section 821B(2). Contrary to appellees’ position, there need not be injury to real property in order for there to be a public nuisance. As stated in Comment h to Section 821B, “[ujnlike a private nuisance, a public nuisance does not necessarily involve interference with use and enjoyment of land.” Id. at 93.

{¶ 9} Moreover, although we have often applied public nuisance law to actions connected to real property or to statutory or regulatory violations involving public health or safety,3 we have never h.eld that public nuisance law is strictly limited to these types of actions. The court of appeals relied on our decision in Franks v. Lopez (1994), 69 Ohio St.3d 345, 632 N.E.2d 502, to support its view that allegedly defective product designs are not nuisances. However, the Franks decision was strictly limited to the question of whether the allegedly defective design and construction of a roadway intersection and the failure to erect signage or guardrails constituted a nuisance in the context of sovereign immunity.

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Bluebook (online)
95 Ohio St. 3d 416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-cincinnati-v-beretta-usa-corp-ohio-2002.