Jorisch v. Rhythm Festival, Inc.

544 S.E.2d 459, 247 Ga. App. 470, 2001 Fulton County D. Rep. 340, 2001 Ga. App. LEXIS 9
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJanuary 5, 2001
DocketA00A2122
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 544 S.E.2d 459 (Jorisch v. Rhythm Festival, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jorisch v. Rhythm Festival, Inc., 544 S.E.2d 459, 247 Ga. App. 470, 2001 Fulton County D. Rep. 340, 2001 Ga. App. LEXIS 9 (Ga. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Phipps, Judge.

Paula Jorisch brought this negligence action against Rhythm Festival, Inc. (Rhythm) and Handicapped Driver Services, Inc. (HDS). Jorisch must use a wheelchair because she has cerebral palsy. While Rhythm was transporting Jorisch in a van which it had rented from HDS, the system securing Jorisch’s wheelchair failed. As a result, the wheelchair toppled over. Jorisch sued to recover for personal injuries.

[471]*471The trial court granted HDS’s motion for directed verdict. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Rhythm. Although Jorisch was represented by counsel at trial, she filed this pro se appeal after her motion for new trial was denied. She contends that the court erred in finding a federal regulation promulgated under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) inapplicable, in directing a verdict in favor of HDS, and in instructing the jury on contributory negligence. We find no error and affirm.

Jorisch attended a weekend music festival sponsored by Rhythm. Rhythm provided transportation for the disabled in a specially equipped van rented from HDS. Kathryn McKee drove the van. Throughout the weekend, McKee positioned Jorisch’s wheelchair so that it was facing the rear of the van. According to Jorisch, her wheelchair rocked from side to side with such unusual force that she had to be held in place by a Rhythm employee while she was a passenger in the van. Jorisch testified that she therefore asked to be transported in another vehicle, but none was available. While the HDS van was being used to take Jorisch to the airport at the end of the festival, her wheelchair fell backward and landed on an adjacent wooden seat. Jorisch averred that the Rhythm employee who had been holding her had gone to the front of the van to give the driver directions. In her testimony, McKee denied that Jorisch’s wheelchair had ever been rocking sideways or that Jorisch had to be held in place during operation of the van.

HDS’s van is equipped with a wheelchair tie-down system which includes two tracks running from the front to the rear of the van. Wheelchairs are held to one track or the other with a strap which has a clip and spring on one end and two hooks on the other end. The hooks are fastened to the wheelchair and the clip is attached to the track, causing the spring and strap to tighten. Jorisch’s wheelchair toppled over because the clip became unattached from the track. McKee described this to Jorisch as a mechanical failure or defect.

Michael Dresdner, HDS’s owner, purchased the van’s wheelchair securement system from Creative Controls, Inc. (CCI). The system came equipped with lap belts and shoulder harnesses, but HDS installed only the lap belts. In her complaint, Jorisch charged HDS with negligence in failing to install the shoulder harnesses and in certain other regards. She charged Rhythm with negligence in failing to secure her properly in the van.

1. HDS has filed a motion to dismiss this appeal as to it, on grounds that Jorisch filed the appeal following denial of her motion for new trial and did not challenge the grant of HDS’s motion for directed verdict in her new trial motion. Because a party on appeal is [472]*472not limited to the grounds urged in her motion for new trial,1 HDS’s motion to dismiss is denied.

Additionally, HDS argues that, in her enumeration of errors, Jorisch has not properly preserved the issues she seeks to raise on appeal. In considering whether Jorisch has preserved issues for appellate review,

we are guided by the general rule that “(p)ro se pleadings are held to less stringent standards than pleadings that are drafted by lawyers” ([cit.]), and by the statutory provision that “(w)here it is apparent from the notice of appeal, the record, the enumeration of errors, or any combination of the foregoing . . . what errors are sought to be asserted upon appeal, the appeal shall be considered in accordance therewith notwithstanding . . . that the enumeration of errors fails to enumerate clearly the errors sought to be reviewed.” [Cit.]2

We review the issues raised by Jorisch in accordance with these standards.

2. The first issue for decision is whether the trial court erred in granting HDS’s motion in limine to exclude evidence concerning or reference to an ADA regulation requiring the provision of shoulder harnesses for wheelchair users.

(a) In resolving this issue, we are presented with highly technical questions concerning interpretation of regulations enforcing the ADA. These regulations are codified in Parts 37 and 38 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The purpose of Part 37 is to implement the transportation provisions of Titles II and III of the ADA.3 The purpose of Part 38 is to provide minimum guidelines and requirements for accessibility standards in Part 37 for transportation vehicles required to be accessible by the ADA.4

The regulation at issue, 49 CFR § 38.23 (d) (7), was promulgated under Title III of the ADA. Section 38.23 (d) (7) provides, among other things, that entities which provide or operate designated transportation services or systems must furnish a shoulder harness as well as a seat belt for each wheelchair provided in vehicles used to transport disabled passengers. The initial question is whether HDS is an entity which provides transportation services or operates a transportation system within the meaning of the regulations set [473]*473forth in Part 37.

In enacting the ADA, Congress provided:

No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of specified public transportation services provided by a private entity that is primarily engaged in the business of transporting people and whose operations affect commerce.5

Section 37.21 (a) (2) of Title 49 of the regulatory code enforces this provision of the ADA by applying Part 37 to “[a]ny private entity that provides specified public transportation.” Section 37.3 defines “[sjpecified public transportation” as meaning “transportation by bus, rail, or any other conveyance (other than aircraft) provided by a private entity to the general public, with general or special service (including charter service) on a regular and continuing basis.”

Section 37.21 (a) (3) of Title 49 applies Part 37 to “[a]ny private entity that is not primarily engaged in the business of transporting people but operates a demand responsive or fixed route system.” Section 37.3 defines “[d]emand responsive system” as meaning

any system of transporting individuals, including the provision of designated public transportation service by public entities and the provision of transportation service by private entities, including but not limited to specified public transportation service, which is not a fixed route system.

Section 37.3 defines “fixed route system” as one “on which a vehicle is operated along a prescribed route according to a fixed schedule.” Under 49 CFR § 37.23 (d),

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
544 S.E.2d 459, 247 Ga. App. 470, 2001 Fulton County D. Rep. 340, 2001 Ga. App. LEXIS 9, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jorisch-v-rhythm-festival-inc-gactapp-2001.