Hammel v. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation

955 F. Supp. 2d 1205
CourtDistrict Court, D. Oregon
DecidedJune 28, 2013
DocketNos. 3:12-cv-00706-MO, 3:12-cv-00708-MO, 3:12-cv-00709-MO, 3:12-cv-00710-MO
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 955 F. Supp. 2d 1205 (Hammel v. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hammel v. Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation, 955 F. Supp. 2d 1205 (D. Or. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MOSMAN, District Judge.

Near midnight on April 24, 2010, bus operator Sandi Day struck five people in a crosswalk while driving a Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (“TriMet”) bus. Two of those people died, and the other three were injured. It was the worst bus/pedestrian collision in TriMet history.

Plaintiffs have filed parallel state court and federal court actions. In the state court actions, plaintiffs seek many millions of dollars in damages based on claims for products liability, negligence, and wrongful death. (Pope Decl. [60] Exs. 5-6, 19.) Those actions are set for trial later this summer. Here, plaintiffs assert claims against Ms. Day and TriMet under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of their substantive due process rights. (Am. Compls. [42-44, 45].)

After careful consideration of the parties’ pleadings and arguments, I find that [1209]*1209Ms. Day did not deprive plaintiffs of their substantive due process rights and, alternatively, that she is entitled to qualified immunity. In addition, I find that municipal liability may not attach in the absence of individual liability in these consolidated actions. Therefore, Ms. Day’s motion for summary judgment [64] is GRANTED, TriMet’s motion for summary judgment [67] is GRANTED, and plaintiffs’ motion for partial summary judgment [58, 62] is DENIED.

LEGAL STANDARD

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). In determining whether a genuine issue of material fact exists, the court must view all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). On cross-motions for summary judgment, the court “evaluated] each motion separately, giving the nonmoving party in each instance the benefit of all reasonable inferences.” ACLU of Nev. v. City of Las Vegas, 333 F.3d 1092, 1097 (9th Cir.2003).

DISCUSSION

I. Individual Liability

A. Facts

On April 24, 2010, Ms. Day arrived for work around 3:00 p.m. and began her run on the No. 9 bus line at 5:56 p.m. (Eden Decl. [66] Ex. 1 at 20.) Sometime before midnight, Ms. Day picked up an elderly male passenger who requested to be dropped off near his home in the Pearl District. Ms. Day agreed to make a courtesy stop at an established bus stop on the No. 17 bus line, just east of NW Glisan’s intersection with NW Broadway. (Id. [66] Ex. 1 at 21-24.) This stop was not on her regular bus line, but TriMet policy permitted evening courtesy stops.

Before making the courtesy stop, Ms. Day dropped off her only other passenger on NW Sixth Avenue near the intersection with NW Flanders. She then continued north on NW Sixth Avenue and made a left-hand turn onto NW Glisan. Ms. Day made her courtesy stop at the bus shelter on the northern curb of NW Glisan, just thirty-two feet short of the intersection with NW Broadway. (Id. [66] Ex. 1 at 25-27; Thompson Decl. [100] Ex. 19 at 3-4.)

Although it was late, there was significant foot traffic in the area at that time because a show at a nearby comedy club had just ended. (Thompson Decl. [100] Ex. 13 at 5; Hysmith Decl. [101] ¶¶ 4-9.) However, visual obstructions on the left side of the bus made it difficult for Ms. Day to see pedestrians crossing NW Broadway to her left. These obstructions included a steel and fiberglass pillar, referred to as the “A-pillar,” and an exterior rearview mirror set, consisting of a ten-inch by eleven-inch flat mirror above a six-inch diameter convex mirror. (Thompson Decl. [100] Exs. 7-9.)

After the elderly male passenger exited the bus, Ms. Day waited for 'the traffic signal to turn green. In this area, NW Glisan was a one-way street with two westbound lanes, and NW Broadway was a two-way street with one northbound and two southbound lanes. There was one car in each of NW Glisan’s two lanes that were also waiting at the traffic signal. (Hysmith Decl. [101] Ex. 28.) When the signal turned green, a third car approached from behind Ms. Day’s bus in the second lane to her left. Ms. Day waited for the two cars ahead of her to move through the intersection and for the third car approaching [1210]*1210from behind to pass her on the left. (Id. [101] Ex. 30.) She then accelerated left across both lanes of NW Glisan onto NW Broadway at twelve to fourteen miles per hour. (Thompson Decl. [100] Ex. 14 at 27-28.) Although Ms. Day scanned the area to her left, she did not see a group of five pedestrians in the crosswalk. (Eden Decl. [66] at 28-30.) Sadly, as Ms. Day completed her turn, she struck all five. Jenee Hammel and Danielle Sale died at the scene of the accident. Ryan Hammel, Jamie Hammel, and Erik Gittings were injured but survived.

B. Constitutional Torts

Section 1983 provides a private right of action for “the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws” of the United States. 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To state a claim under § 1983, a plaintiff must allege two essential elements: (1) that a federal constitutional or statutory right was violated; and (2) that the alleged violation was committed by a person acting under the color of state law. Devereaux v. Abbey, 263 F.3d 1070, 1074 (9th Cir.2001). Here, plaintiffs claim that Ms. Day violated their right to travel and their right to be free from deliberate indifference to life. (Am. Compl. [43] ¶¶ 37-43.) I will analyze these substantive due process claims as independent bases for § 1983 liability.

1. Right to Travel

Plaintiffs’ less developed claim is that Ms. Day interfered with their fundamental right to travel on public streets and sidewalks. The circuits are split as to whether the Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to intrastate travel. Compare Johnson v. City of Cincinnati, 310 F.3d 484, 498 (6th Cir.2002) (recognizing a fundamental right to travel locally through public spaces and roadways and therefore striking down an ordinance barring drug convicts from “drug exclusion zones”) with Wright v. City of Jackson, 506 F.2d 900, 902-03 (5th Cir.1975) (finding no fundamental right to intrastate travel and therefore upholding an ordinance that required city employees to live within the city). The Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit have declined to decide the issue. See Memorial Hosp. v. Maricopa Cnty., 415 U.S. 250, 255-56, 94 S.Ct. 1076, 39 L.Ed.2d 306 (1974); Nunez v.

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Bluebook (online)
955 F. Supp. 2d 1205, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hammel-v-tri-county-metropolitan-transportation-ord-2013.