Crisman v. PIERCE COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION

60 P.3d 652
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 31, 2002
Docket27830-8-II
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 60 P.3d 652 (Crisman v. PIERCE COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crisman v. PIERCE COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION, 60 P.3d 652 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

60 P.3d 652 (2002)

Donald W. CRISMAN and Tami Sue Crisman, Appellants,
v.
PIERCE COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT NO. 21, political subdivision of the State of Washington; and John W. Burgess, Respondents.

No. 27830-8-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

December 31, 2002.

*653 Dan Matthew Albertson, Tacoma, for Appellants.

Arthur Hutchings McKean, Aiken St. Louis & Siljeg PS, Michael Alexander Patterson, Karen Adell, Lee Smart Cook, Seattle, for Respondents.

ARMSTRONG, J.

Donald Crisman ran for Pierce County Fire District 21 Commissioner against incumbent Robert Skaggs in 1997. After he lost, Crisman sued the District and its Executive Director, claiming that the Director coerced district employees to campaign for Skaggs. Crisman alleged claims under Washington's Public Disclosure Act, chapter 42.17 RCW, and the federal Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He also alleged that the District was negligent in hiring the Director. The trial court granted summary judgment for the District and its Director, and Crisman appeals. We affirm.

FACTS

In 1994, the Pierce County Fire Protection District 21 Commissioners hired John Burgess as Fire District Executive Director. Robert Skaggs was a District 21 Commissioner and took part in Burgess' hiring. The Commissioners were aware that Burgess had been previously dismissed as Pierce County Fire Marshall, but they were apparently not aware of the details of Burgess' troubled employment history.

In 1997, Crisman ran for Fire District 21 Commissioner against incumbent Robert Skaggs. Skaggs defeated Crisman.

During the election, Crisman filed a complaint with the Washington Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), alleging that Burgess and the District used staff to work on Skaggs' campaign. The PDC dismissed the complaint, concluding that Burgess and other employees had been campaigning on their own time, out of uniform, and did not use district facilities. But in a later internal review, the District found that Burgess had *654 intimidated and coerced district employees to campaign on Skaggs' behalf.

In this action, Crisman seeks damages for negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the tort of outrage, denial of civil rights, and other tortious conduct.

ANALYSIS

I. Negligent Hiring Claim

We review a summary judgment de novo. Mains Farm Homeowners Ass'n v. Worthington, 121 Wash.2d 810, 813, 854 P.2d 1072 (1993). Like the trial court, we consider all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Mason v. Kenyon Zero Storage, 71 Wash.App. 5, 8-9, 856 P.2d 410 (1993). Absent a genuine issue as to any material fact, the moving party is entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law. Condor Enters., Inc. v. Boise Cascade Corp., 71 Wash.App. 48, 54, 856 P.2d 713 (1993). Summary judgment is proper "only if reasonable persons could reach only one conclusion from all of the evidence." Hansen v. Friend, 118 Wash.2d 476, 485, 824 P.2d 483 (1992).

An employer may be liable for harm caused by an incompetent or unfit employee if (1) the employer knew, or in the exercise of ordinary care, should have known that the employee was unfit; and (2) retaining the employee was a proximate cause of the plaintiff's injury. Carlsen v. Wackenhut Corp., 73 Wash.App. 247, 252-53, 868 P.2d 882 (1994) (citing Peck v. Siau, 65 Wash.App. 285, 288, 827 P.2d 1108 (1992); Guild v. Saint Martin's Coll., 64 Wash.App. 491, 498-99, 827 P.2d 286 (1992)). The employer's duty, however, is limited to foreseeable victims, and then only "to prevent the tasks, premises, or instrumentalities entrusted to an employee from endangering others." Betty Y. v. Sameeh Al-Hellou, Gibson and Wise Real Estate Investments, Inc., 98 Wash.App. 146, 149, 988 P.2d 1031 (1999), review denied, 140 Wash.2d 1022, 10 P.3d 403 (2000) (citing Niece v. Elmview Group Home, 131 Wash.2d 39, 48, 929 P.2d 420 (1997)).

In Carlsen, a part-time security guard at a Tacoma Dome rock concert attacked a teenage female concert goer. Carlsen, 73 Wash.App. at 248-49, 868 P.2d 882. We held the employer could be liable for assault because: (1) the assault occurred on the work premises; (2) the guard was on the job when he contacted the victim; and (3) the victim approached the guard for information because of the guard's position. See generally Carlsen, 73 Wash.App. at 256-57, 868 P.2d 882 (the victim felt comfortable asking a security guard to escort her under the bleachers). Thus, the guard's job enabled and was closely connected to the assault. Carlsen, 73 Wash.App. at 256, 868 P.2d 882.

In Betty Y., the employer hired a manual laborer to rehabilitate vacant apartments. Betty Y., 98 Wash.App. at 148, 988 P.2d 1031. The laborer befriended a young neighborhood boy and later assaulted the boy. Betty Y., 98 Wash.App. at 148, 988 P.2d 1031. We concluded that the employer was not liable because the laborer was: (1) not hired to work with potential victims; (2) the rape did not occur on the work premises; and (3) most importantly, the job duties did not facilitate or enable the defendant to commit the rape. Betty Y., 98 Wash.App. at 150, 988 P.2d 1031.

Crisman argues that Fire District 21 hired Burgess without adequately investigating his background. And, according to Crisman, if the district commissioners had inquired, they would have learned that Burgess was not competent to manage district operations.

Crisman, however, fails to explain how the District's alleged misconduct proximately caused his harm. The Commissioners hired Burgess to serve as the District's chief administrative officer. As such, he was responsible for the day-to-day fire district operations. While the work situation fortuitously provided Burgess the opportunity to coerce employees into campaign activities, campaigning was not part of Burgess' duties or fire district operations. If the Commissioners had more thoroughly investigated Burgess' employment history, they would have learned that Burgess was fired from his previous job as Pierce County Fire Marshall and he had questionable management skills. But these management problems did not harm Crisman.

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Bluebook (online)
60 P.3d 652, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crisman-v-pierce-county-fire-protection-washctapp-2002.