L. Irizarry v. City of Reading

CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 18, 2023
Docket1371 C.D. 2021
StatusUnpublished

This text of L. Irizarry v. City of Reading (L. Irizarry v. City of Reading) 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
L. Irizarry v. City of Reading, (Pa. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Lizbeth Irizarry, : Appellant : : v. : No. 1371 C.D. 2021 : Submitted: December 9, 2022 City of Reading :

BEFORE: HONORABLE RENÉE COHN JUBELIRER, President Judge HONORABLE CHRISTINE FIZZANO CANNON, Judge HONORABLE STACY WALLACE, Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY JUDGE WALLACE FILED: April 18, 2023

Lizbeth Irizarry (Irizarry) appeals from the order of the Court of Common Pleas of Berks County (trial court) granting the City of Reading’s (City) motion for summary judgment (Motion) and dismissing Irizarry’s complaint (Complaint) with prejudice. On appeal, Irizarry argues the trial court erred in determining there were no genuine issues of material fact regarding several elements of her (a) claim of negligence against the City and (b) asserted exception to governmental immunity. Upon review, we reverse. I. Background On October 13, 2018, Irizarry filed her Complaint against the City in the trial court. Reproduced Record (R.R.) at 3.1 Irizarry alleged she slipped and fell on

1 For future reference, Appellant’s counsel is directed to Pa.R.A.P. 2173, which directs parties to include a lowercase “a” following the page numbers in the reproduced record. September 18, 2017, in a pothole in Court Street, which the City owns and is responsible for maintaining. Id. at 5. Irizarry further alleged the City’s negligent conduct permitted this dangerous condition to exist within Court Street, thereby causing her serious and permanent personal injuries. Id. at 6. In her deposition, Irizarry stated that the incident occurred when she was returning to her car, which she had parked on Court Street, from the Berks County Domestic Relations Office. R.R. at 134-35, 139. Irizarry described the incident by stating “when I went to put my foot to get into the vehicle, my foot twisted. I fell. . . . I held myself with my hand, which I had just had surgery for carpal tunnel. I tried to hold myself with the hand that I had just had surgery. I still fell to the ground.” Id. at 136. Irizarry took photographs of the area of Court Street where she claims she twisted her left foot and then fell. Id. at 138, 140. Irizarry did not report the incident to the City until October 16, 2017. Id. at 155. Irizarry admitted that she did not look at the ground before she put her foot down, stating “one just walks, and one doesn’t look or, you know, pays attention or has to, you know, look every time one steps.” R.R. at 141. Irizarry also explained that she was wearing a brace on her left hand and was carrying her phone and papers in her right hand at the time of her fall. Id. at 140-42. Irizarry deposed Patricia Beisswanger (Beisswanger), who was the City’s risk and safety coordinator in September 2017. R.R. at 222-24. Beisswanger acknowledged the City was responsible for maintaining Court Street in the area in question. Id. at 228. However, Beisswanger admitted the City did not have a street or sidewalk inspection program in 2017 and had not had one for “many, many years.” Id. at 225. Beisswanger reviewed Irizarry’s photographs and admitted they show an area where “the macadam is wearing out” and where the street has “[a]ge

2 deterioration.” Id. Beisswanger completed a claim report with Irizarry on October 16, 2017. Id. at 226. Thereafter, Beisswanger informed members of the City’s streets division about the report and asked them to send a crew to fix any hazards in the area. Id. at 227. Beisswanger remembers driving by the location of Irizarry’s fall the next day, October 17, 2017, and seeing a crew repairing Court Street. Id. at 228. Irizarry also deposed Christopher Elia (Elia), who was a first level supervisor for the City’s streets division. R.R. at 208-09. In September 2017, Elia supervised the City’s “snow plowing, leaf collection, street sweeping, [and] road maintenance.” Id. at 209. Elia admitted the City was responsible for maintaining the area of Court Street at issue and for removing leaves in the area. Id. at 210. Elia also admitted the streets department did not have an inspection process to proactively identify potholes or deteriorated pavement in 2017. Id. In addition, Elia admitted the City does not require streets department employees to report road maintenance issues, even if they observe those issues in the course of their employment. Id. at 212. Instead, the City typically repaired deteriorated streets after it received complaints from the public. Id. The first complaint Elia knew about in the area of Irizarry’s fall was Irizarry’s complaint. Id. After he received Irizarry’s complaint on October 16, 2017, Elia had the streets department repair the area on October 17, 2017. Id. at 211. Irizarry also submitted the expert report of Julius Pereira III (Pereira). Pereira reviewed the Complaint, the City’s responses to Irizarry’s interrogatories, transcripts of the above-described depositions, and color photographs of the area in question. R.R. at 250. Pereira then opined: (a) “[i]t is reasonably foreseeable that people exiting and entering vehicles parked on . . . Court Street would step onto and walk around the vehicle on the asphalt pavement in the street,” (b) the uneven pavement

3 adjacent to the curb caused Irizarry’s fall, (c) the “area of the broken and missing asphalt is approximately 3” wide and 6” long where the top layers of the asphalt pavement has deteriorated and is missing,” (d) “[p]eople stepping down from the sidewalk on the Court Street pavement may not notice the uneven condition and inadvertently step onto it,” (e) “[a]sphalt deterioration is a slow process . . . allow[ing] those responsible for maintaining the street . . . the opportunity to inspect the conditions . . . and to identif[y] the deteriorated conditions,” (f) “[a]ny reasonable inspection of the street by a qualified individual, in the interest of facility safety, would have identified the asphalt was deteriorated resulting in an uneven condition,” and (g) “[t]he [City]’s failure to maintain the subject asphalt pavement . . . violated the requirements of the [City’s] Property maintenance code,” “did not comply with reasonable references for maintaining properties safe[ly],” and “perpetuated conditions that are dangerous to normal pedestrian use.” R.R. at 253-55. After the parties completed discovery, the City filed its Motion, arguing Irizarry “failed to establish grounds for a cause of action (i.e., negligence by the City); and . . . failed to overcome the statutory presumption of governmental immunity.” R.R. at 14. Regarding her negligence claim, the City alleged Irizarry did not present evidence it “breached its duty to maintain the street in a reasonably safer [sic] manner for its intended use,” or that the “allegedly dangerous condition was the actual cause of her injuries.” Id. at 15. Regarding governmental immunity, the City alleged Irizarry failed to plead or prove any exception to governmental immunity because she failed to establish (a) grounds for her negligence claim, (b) the existence of a dangerous condition, (c) the condition created a foreseeable risk of injury, and (d) the City had actual or constructive notice of the condition in sufficient time to act to protect against the condition. Id. at 16-18.

4 The trial court, by order filed November 16, 2021, granted the City’s Motion and dismissed Irizarry’s Complaint with prejudice. Trial Ct. Order, 11/16/21. Irizarry appealed, and the trial court issued an Opinion in Support of its Order pursuant to Pennsylvania Rule of Appellate Procedure 1925(a). Trial Ct. Op., 2/25/22. In its opinion, the trial court determined Irizarry could not establish the City breached its duty to maintain Court Street “in a reasonably safe condition for traveling and parking.”2 Id. at 4.

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L. Irizarry v. City of Reading, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/l-irizarry-v-city-of-reading-pacommwct-2023.