Grana v. Runyon

District Court, District of Columbia·Decided March 30, 2020·No. Civil Action No. 2018-2293·Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

)

MARIA JESUS GRANA, et al. )

)

Plaintiffs, )

)

v. ) Civil Action No. 18-2293 (ABJ)

)

DAVID ALAN RUNYON, )

)

Defendant. )

____________________________________)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Plaintiffs Maria Jesus Grana (“Grana”) and her husband Fernando Gomez (“Gomez”), both citizens of Spain, brought this case against defendant David Alan Runyon. They allege that during their vacation in Washington, D.C., defendant negligently struck Grana with his car when she attempted to cross the street. Compl. [Dkt. # 1-1] ¶ 9.

On June 18, 2019, plaintiffs moved for partial summary judgment on liability. Pls.’ Mot.

for Partial Summ. J. [Dkt. # 10] (“Pls.’ Mot.”); Pls.’ Mem. of Law in Support of Mot. for Partial Summ. J. [Dkt. # 10-1] (“Pls.’ Mem. of Law”). On July 2, 2019, defendant opposed the motion and cross-moved for partial summary judgment on Claim II of plaintiffs’ complaint. Def.’s Mem. in Opp. to Pls.’ Mot. [Dkt. # 11] (“Def.’s Opp.”); Def.’s Cross-Mot. for Partial Summ. J. [Dkt. # 12] (“Def.’s Cross-Mot.”).

For the reasons stated below, the Court will grant plaintiffs’ partial motion for summary judgment, and it will grant defendant’s partial motion for summary judgment.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs are residents of Spain and have lived there all their lives. Pls.’ Statement of Undisputed Material Facts [Dkt. # 10-2] (“Pls.’ SUMF”) ¶¶ 1–2. 1 For their 25th wedding anniversary, they decided to join a twenty-one-day group tour to North America, in which they would visit New York City, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Colorado, Las Vegas, and San Francisco. Id. ¶¶ 3, 5.

On July 22, 2015, after spending four days visiting New York City, Niagara Falls, Toronto, and the Amish country, the group arrived in Washington. Id. ¶ 6. The next day, plaintiffs took a tour of Arlington National Cemetery, the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol, and the Air and Space Museum. Id. ¶ 7. The guided tour ended in the afternoon, and plaintiffs had the rest of the day free. Id. ¶ 8. They decided to head back to their hotel. Id.

1 Local Rule of Civil Procedure 7(h)(1) requires that the party submitting a motion for summary judgment attach a statement of material facts as to which that party contends there is no genuine issue, with specific citations to those portions of the record upon which the party relies. LCvR 7(h)(1). Plaintiffs have complied with this rule. The party opposing the motion must, in turn, submit a statement of genuine issues enumerating all material facts which the party contends are at issue and thus require litigation. Id. When the party opposing the motion fails to do this, the court may take all facts alleged by the movant as admitted. Id. As the District of Columbia Circuit has emphasized, “[Local Civil Rule 7(h)(1)] places the burden on the parties and their counsel, who are most familiar with the litigation and the record, to crystallize for the district court the material facts and relevant portions of the record.” Jackson v. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, 101 F.3d 145, 151 (D.C. Cir. 1996), citing Twist v. Meese, 854 F.2d 1421, 1425 (D.C. Cir. 1988). Here, defendant has failed to submit a statement of facts in dispute and has failed to oppose plaintiffs’ statement of undisputed material facts. But, defendant’s affidavits and memorandum of law identify material facts that he claims are genuinely in dispute. Thus, to the extent that defendant’s memorandum of law and his supporting exhibits fail to contest plaintiffs’ statement of facts, the Court will “assume that the facts identified by [plaintiffs] in [their] statement of material facts are admitted.” LCvR 7(h)(1). However, the Court is not granting summary judgment against defendant on the grounds that any issue has been “conceded.” Winston & Strawn, LLP v. McLean, 843 F.3d 503, 505 (D.C. Cir. 2016). The Court is making its own assessment of the record.

Around 3:00 PM on July 23, 2015, plaintiffs crossed 16th Street, NW, at Scott Circle. Id.

¶ 11. They stopped at the intersection and saw that they had fourteen seconds left to cross, so they both entered the intersection. Id. When Grana entered the crosswalk, she heard the motor of a car. She maintains that the car hit her upper left leg, which caused her to spin around and land on the hood of the car with both hands. Id. ¶¶ 11–13.

Defendant was the driver of the car. He had just finished his work day at 2:30 PM and was headed to Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Maryland, to visit his hospitalized mother. Pl.’s SUMF ¶ 17. He entered the right lane on 16th street, NW, and drove up to Scott Circle, where he intended to make a right turn on Massachusetts Avenue, NW. Id. ¶ 20. At the circle, he stopped at a red light and looked right but did not see anyone. Aff. of David Alan Runyon [Dkt. # 12-1] ¶ 3 (“Runyon Aff.”); Deposition of David Alan Runyon [Dkt. # 10-8] (“Runyon Dep.”) at 57:3– 15. He then looked left, and while doing so, he lifted his foot off the brake. Runyon Dep. at 59:8– 19, 60:18–20. When he turned his head right again, he saw pedestrians in front of his vehicle, and he immediately slammed his foot on the brake. Id. at 61:1–5.

Defendant testified that when Grana put her hands on the hood of his car, he immediately put the car in park and realized that he had “perhaps” hit one of them. Runyon Dep. at 61–62. He got out of his car, saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Id. Grana started crying, and her husband took her from the street to the sidewalk so she could sit in the shade. Pls.’ SUMF ¶ 31. Defendant called the police, Runyon Dep. at 67, and a police officer appeared on the scene within minutes. Id. The officer took statements from those present. Police Report [Dkt. # 10-5] at 5.

Grana was transported to George Washington University Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Physician’s Report [Dkt. # 10-7] at 2. She was given

crutches and the choice to have surgery in the United States or back home in Spain. Plaintiffs opted to go back to Spain, ending their twenty-one-day trip sixteen days early.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). The party seeking summary judgment “bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986) (internal quotation marks omitted). To defeat summary judgment, the non-moving party must “designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Id. at 324 (internal quotation marks omitted).

The mere existence of a factual dispute is insufficient to preclude summary judgment.

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247–48 (1986). A dispute is “genuine” only if a reasonable fact-finder could find for the non-moving party; a fact is “material” only if it is capable of affecting the outcome of the litigation. Id. at 248; Laningham v. U.S. Navy, 813 F.2d 1236, 1241 (D.C. Cir. 1987). In assessing a party’s motion, the court must “view the facts and draw reasonable inferences ‘in the light most favorable to the party opposing the summary judgment motion.’” Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 378 (2007) (alterations omitted), quoting United States v. Diebold, Inc., 369 U.S. 654, 655 (1962) (per curiam).

ANALYSIS

I. The Court will grant plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment on liability.

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