Couto-Pressman v. Richards

63 A.3d 856, 2012 WL 7782480, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 72
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMarch 21, 2013
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 63 A.3d 856 (Couto-Pressman v. Richards) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Couto-Pressman v. Richards, 63 A.3d 856, 2012 WL 7782480, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 72 (Pa. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Judge LEAVITT.

Deborah Couto-Pressman (Couto-Pressman) appeals two orders of the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County (trial court) that dismissed her tort complaint with prejudice. In granting summary judgment to defendants Kenneth and Virginia Richards (collectively the Richards) and to The City of Allentown (City), the trial court concluded that Couto-Press-man’s evidence was inadequate to show that her fall on the Richards’ property was caused by a dangerous condition of the property or that the City knew, or should have known, that a hazard existed. Discerning no error, we affirm the trial court.

Couto-Pressman alleged that she was injured when she attended a yard sale at the Richards’ home. She was advised by Kenneth Richards that there were additional items for sale in the backyard. Because the gate to the backyard was blocked by sale items, Couto-Pressman walked around the side of the house to get to the backyard. While walking through the Richards’ side yard, Couto-Pressman slipped and fell.

[858]*858Concrete curbing, constructed by the City, edges the street that runs in front of the Richards’ property but not along the street that runs along the side of the Richards’ house. There, railroad ties have been placed end to end to serve as a curbing to the street. Between these railroad ties are gaps several inches wide.1 There is no sidewalk between this curbing and the Richards’ side yard.

When Couto-Pressman slipped in the Richards’ side yard, her foot got stuck between two railroad ties; she suffered a fracture in her right lower leg and ankle joint. Couto-Pressman had surgery to repair the breaks and faces additional surgery. She was in a cast for six weeks and underwent physical therapy for 14 weeks; the stress of this accident brought on an episode of shingles. Couto-Pressman, a nurse, continues to suffer pain, which has limited her ability to work. She filed a tort claim against the Richards and the City seeking damages for her injuries.

In her complaint, Couto-Pressman asserted that the defendants were negligent in several ways. The Richards failed to install a proper sidewalk and curbing on the side of their property. In addition, they failed to warn Couto-Pressman about the danger presented by the spaces between the railroad ties. The City was negligent in failing to provide safe walkways and curbing; permitting the Richards to maintain a dangerous condition on their property; failing to inspect the Richards’ property; and failing to enforce certain statutes and ordinances. At the close of discovery, the defendants each moved for summary judgment.

The Richards based their motion on Couto-Pressman’s testimony that she slipped and fell and only then did her ankle hit the railroad tie. The railroad tie did not cause her to fall, and Couto-Press-man could not even testify with certainty that her foot became stuck between the railroad ties. Accordingly, the Richards argued that Couto-Pressman did not produce evidence to show that the gap between the railroad ties constituted a dangerous condition. Their duty to an invitee extended only to harm caused by a condition on the land they knew to present an unreasonable risk. Because there was no showing that they knew or should have known that the railroad ties that bordered their side yard were likely to cause harm, they did not violate their duty of care to Couto-Pressman.

In support of its motion, the City argued that Couto-Pressman had the burden of proving that a dangerous condition existed in its right-of-way and that it had notice of such dangerous condition. Couto-Press-man’s evidence failed to prove either a dangerous condition existed or the City’s notice thereof.

In response, Couto-Pressman argued that there was a factual dispute about the condition of the property that precluded summary judgment. She noted that she could not enter the Richards’ backyard from the street at the rear of the property because of a wooden ornament placed by the Richards in front of a curb cut. She also pointed to the expert report of Patrick M. Sewards, M.D., who opined that her fractures were a result of her foot becoming trapped or lodged in some fixed structure. Couto-Pressman argued that her injury was caused by the fact that her foot got stuck between the railroad ties. As to the City, Couto-Pressman showed that its employees had been at the property in [859]*8592003 and 2004 installing and repairing concrete curbing. They should have noticed the railroad ties in its right-of-way, which were not a proper curbing material, and reported it to their superiors.

The trial court granted summary judgment. It found that there was no evidence to prove that a dangerous condition existed on the Richards’ property. In her deposition, Couto-Pressman testified that she was walking on damp grass when she slipped and only then did she make contact with the wooden railroad ties. She did not recall if her foot got lodged between the ties. Couto-Pressman’s sole expert on the property’s condition was a surveyor, and he merely confirmed that the railroad ties were located in the City’s right-of-way. The surveyor did not opine that the railroad ties and their placement were inherently dangerous. In addition, the City was immune from suit by reason of the act known as the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act, 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 8541-8542.

The legislature has provided exceptions to governmental immunity under the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act. Two exceptions relevant to Couto-Press-man’s action are those permitting a plaintiff to recover damages for dangerous conditions in a street or sidewalk. 42 Pa.C.S. § 8542(b)(6)(i), (7).2 To meet either exception, the plaintiff must establish that a dangerous condition existed and the local agency had knowledge of it. The trial court held that Couto-Pressman did not meet either exception. First, she did not prove that railroad tie curbing, with spaces between the ties, constituted a dangerous condition. Second, the City had no notice of the allegedly dangerous condition.

On appeal to this Court, Couto-Press-man raises five issues.3 First, she claims that the trial court ignored “genuine issues of material fact related to the location and existence and notice of a dangerous condition and the manner or mechanism of injury.” Couto-Pressman’s Brief at 4. Second, she argues the trial court erred in holding [860]*860that she was contributorily negligent, which is an issue for a jury, not the court. Third, she contends the trial court failed to consider her evidence that the Richards were in violation of local ordinances and, thus, showed a breach of duty of care. Fourth, she claims that the trial court failed to address other theories of negligence. Finally, she states that the trial court neglected to consider the failure of the Richards to make their property safe for the yard sale.

We begin with a review of the duty of care owed by the defendants to Couto-Pressman. An owner of land has a duty of care to business invitees that has been summarized as follows:

A possessor of land is subject to liability for physical harm caused to his invitees by a condition on the land, if but only if, he:
(a) knows or by the exercise of reasonable care would discover the condition, and should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk to such invitees, and

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Bluebook (online)
63 A.3d 856, 2012 WL 7782480, 2013 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 72, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/couto-pressman-v-richards-pacommwct-2013.