Lewis ex rel. P.L. v. Mitchell

188 So. 3d 698, 2015 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 160, 2015 WL 4389321
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJuly 17, 2015
Docket2140139
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 188 So. 3d 698 (Lewis ex rel. P.L. v. Mitchell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lewis ex rel. P.L. v. Mitchell, 188 So. 3d 698, 2015 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 160, 2015 WL 4389321 (Ala. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

MOORE, Judge.

This court’s opinion of May 22, 2015, is withdrawn, and the following is substituted therefor. ■

Melissa Lewis, as mother and next friend .of P.L., a minor, appeals from a summary judgment entered by the DeKalb Circuit Court (“the trial court”) in favor of Stuart Mitchell. -We reverse and remand.

Procedural History

On December 18, 2013, Lewis filed an amended complaint against Mitchell, a teacher at Plainview School, alleging that Mitchell had committed assault and battery against her son, P.L., who was a student at Plainview School, and that Mitchell had negligently and wantonly injured P.L. On January 21, 2014, Mitchell answered Lewis’s amended complaint, asserting, among other things, that he was entitled to state-agent immunity for his actions in using corporal punishment to discipline P.L.

Mitchell filed a motion for a summary judgment, along with a brief and evidentia-ry materials in support thereof. Mitchell argued, among other things, that he was entitled to state-agent immunity. See Ex parte Cranman, 792 So.2d 392 (Ala.2000).1 Thereafter, Lewis filed a brief, along with evidentiary materials in support thereof, in opposition to Mitchell’s summary-judgment motion. Subsequently, Mitchell filed a reply in further support of his summary-judgment motion.

On October 2, 2014, the trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of Mitchell, specifically finding that Mitchell was entitled to state-agent immunity. On October 21, 2014, Lewis filed her notice of appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court; that comí transferred the appeal to this [700]*700court pursuant to § 12-2-7(6), Ala.Code 1976.

Standard óf Review .
“Our standard of review for á summary judgment is as follows:
“ ‘We review the trial court’s grant or denial of a summary-judgment motion de novo, and we use the ■ same standard used by the trial court to determine whether the evidence presented to the trial court presents a genuine issue of material fact. Bockman v. WCH, L.L.C., 943 So.2d 789 (Ala.2006). Once the summary-judgment movant shows there is no genuine issue of material fact, the non-movant must then present substantial evidence creating a genuine, issue of material fact. Id. “We review the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmovant.” 943 So.2d at , 795. We review questions of law de novo. Davis v. Hanson Aggregates Southeast, Inc., 952 So.2d 330 (Ala.2006).’ ”

Lloyd Noland Found., Inc. v. HealthSouth Corp., 979 So.2d 784, 793 (Ala.2007) (quoting Smith v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 952 So.2d 342, 346 (Ala.2006)).

Discussion

On appeal, Lewis argues that Mitchell exceeded the scope of his authority in administering corporal punishment to P.L. and, therefore, that he was not ’entitled to state-agent immunity. She specifically argues that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether Mitchell acted in accordance with the policy set forth by the DeKalb County Board of Education (“the board”).

“ ‘A State agent shall be immune from civil liability in his or her personal capacity when the conduct made the basis of the claim against the agent is based upon the agent’s
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“ ‘(5) exercising judgment in the discharge of duties imposed by statute, rule, or regulation in .... educating students.
“‘Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the foregoing statement of the rule, .a State agent shall not be immune from civil liability in his or her personal capacity
“ ‘(1) when the Constitution or laws of the United States, or the Constitution of this State, or laws, rules, or regulations of-this State enacted or promulgated for the purpose of regulating the activities of a governmental agency require otherwise; or
“ ‘(2) when .the State agent acts willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or under a mistaken interpretation of the law.’ ,
“Ex parte Cranman, 792 So.2d 392, 405 (Ala.2000) (plurality opinion) (adopted by [the Alabama Supreme] Court in Ex parte Butts, 775 So.2d 173 (Ala.2000)).”

Ex parte Monroe Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 48 So.3d 621, 625 (Ala.2010).

In Ex parte Monroe County Board of Education, our supreme court-held that, because a teacher “did not adhere to the [Moni’oe County Board of Education’s] policy, she exceeded the scope of her authority, and she was not entitled to a summary judgment based on State-agent immunity.” 48 So.3d at 628. In the present case, Mitchell maintained that he had used corporal punishment on P.L. because of P.L.’s failure to complete his homework; Mitchell also maintained that he had similarly punished three other students. P.L., however, testified in his deposition that Mitchell had used corporal punishment on him because he had failed a test. Statements from the other three students confirmed P.L.’s testimony. Charles Warren, [701]*701the superintendent of the board, testified that a teacher’s use of corporal punishment on a student for making a bad grade on a test is a violation of the board’s policies. Ronald Bell, the • principal of Plainview School, as well as Mitchell himself, agreed that corporal punishment is not authorized for making a bad grade.

'We also note that, although Mitchell maintained that he had used “moderate” force in accordance with the board’s policy, Lewis introduced a photograph of P.L.’s injuries that had resulted from the imposition of the corporal punishment. Bell testified that the board’s policies do not authorize a teacher to use the amount of force it would take to result in the bruising reflected in that photograph. Warren and Bell both testified that, if the bruising reflected in the photograph had been caused by the child’s mother, they would have been obligated to report the incident to the Department of Human Resources as suspected child abuse.

Because Lewis presented evidence indicating that Mitchell had used corporal punishment in violation of the board’s policy, we conclude that there was a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether Mitchell “exceeded the scope of [his] authority, and [that he, therefore,] was not entitled to a summary judgment based on State-agent immunity.” Ex parte Monroe Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 48 So.3d at 628.

On application for rehearing, Mitchell argues that this court did not consider whether he was entitled to schoolmaster or statutory immunity. We note that the trial court did not enter the summary judgment in Mitchell’s favor on either of those bases. However, Mitchell did present arguments on each of those types of immunity in support of his summary-judgment motion. “[T]his court will .affirm a trial court’s judgment on any valid legal ground supported by the record.” Barrett v. Roman, 181 So.3d 364, 374 (Ala.Civ.App.2015). However, we conclude that Mitchell was not entitled to a summary judgment on the basis of either schoolmaster or.statutory immunity.

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188 So. 3d 698, 2015 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 160, 2015 WL 4389321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-ex-rel-pl-v-mitchell-alacivapp-2015.