Minahan v. Western Washington Fair Ass'n

73 P.3d 1019, 117 Wash. App. 881
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 29, 2003
DocketNo. 28884-2-II
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 73 P.3d 1019 (Minahan v. Western Washington Fair Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Minahan v. Western Washington Fair Ass'n, 73 P.3d 1019, 117 Wash. App. 881 (Wash. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

Bridgewater, J.

Karen M. Minahan was severely injured when a car driven by a grossly intoxicated driver struck her multiple times. Before the accident, Minahan was working at a high school dance at the Western Washington Fair Association’s fairgrounds. When the accident occurred, Minahan was loading equipment into her employer’s vehicle, which was legally parked on 9th Avenue in Puyallup. A fairgrounds employee had instructed Minahan’s employer to load from that location. Minahan sued her employer, the School District, and the Association. The superior court denied the defendants’ summary judgment motions, which claimed that legal causation was lacking. We hold that the superior court’s denial was improper because the defendants owed Minahan no duty under her premises, lessor, and employer liability theories, which defeats legal cause under those theories. And as to Minahan’s claim alleging an unreasonably dangerous activity, we hold again that the superior court erred. The claimed dangerous activity bore a relationship too remote and insubstantial to Minahan’s injury to support legal cause. We reverse.

FACTS

On the evening of June 16, 1997, the Puyallup School District (School District) hosted a high school dance at the Western Washington Fair Association (Association) fairgrounds. The School District leased the fairgrounds’ Expo Hall for the event and selected Alan Bettcher, a discjockey from Celebrations Entertainment, for the evening’s music. Bettcher hired Minahan, his mother, to help out at the [886]*886dance. Minahan’s employment was for a small sum and lasted only the evening of June 16.

Bettcher and Minahan arrived early to unload equipment and set up. They approached the fairgrounds on 9th Avenue, which borders the northern portion of the fairgrounds, and they sought entrance. They found no knowledgeable official and, consequently, Bettcher parked along 9th Avenue. The spot was a legal parking space near the Expo Hall and Gold Gate.1

Shortly thereafter, Bettcher spoke with Wes Hanson, a fairgrounds event attendant. Bettcher said that he needed to enter the fairgrounds through the service gate so that he could unload. Hanson responded that he did not have the gate keys and that Bettcher should unload from his parking spot on 9th Avenue, which Bettcher had initially selected. Bettcher’s vehicle remained in that spot throughout the night.

At about 6:45 p.m., Sandra Skrivan began drinking at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Lodge in Puyallup. Skrivan, who weighed 127 pounds, drank 17 or 18 mixed drinks in a five-hour period. She eventually left the lodge, got in her car, and started driving home. She strayed from her usual route and drove down 2nd Street, toward 9th Avenue. Unfortunately, Skrivan’s trip home coincided with the end of the dance at the fairgrounds.

At their parking spot on 9th Avenue, Bettcher and Minahan were finishing up loading the equipment back into Bettcher’s vehicle. With the task nearly complete, Minahan stood behind the vehicle preparing to load the last small box when Skrivan, approaching from 2nd Street, turned left onto 9th Avenue. Skrivan’s turn was well wide of the vehicle lane and she struck Minahan, pinning her between the two vehicles. Minahan never saw Skrivan’s car coming. After the initial impact, Skrivan put her car in reverse, backed up, shifted to drive, and struck Minahan again. Skrivan repeated the same tragic sequence yet again, a third time. After Skrivan backed up from the third impact, Hanson, [887]*887who saw the accident, was able to take the keys out of the ignition.

Minahan’s injuries were severe. Her right leg was amputated above the knee; she suffered severe damage to her left leg; she was in a coma for three weeks and hospitalized for two months because of cerebral, pulmonary, and leg injuries; and she has since had approximately 25 operations.

Skrivan pleaded guilty to vehicular assault (RCW 46.61.522(l)(a) or (b)). Minahan settled with Skrivan and the Fraternal Order of Eagles without filing suit. She sued the Association, the School District, and Bettcher, alleging unsafe conditions, failures to warn, and negligence. The defendants filed motions for partial summary judgment to establish that Skrivan and the Fraternal Order of Eagles proximately caused Minahan’s damages. The superior court granted the motions. The defendants also filed motions for summary judgment of dismissal, contending that their actions did not proximately cause Minahan’s damages. The superior court denied these motions. The defendants sought discretionary review, which we granted.

ANALYSIS

“Summary judgment is appropriate ‘if the pleadings, depositions, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.’ ” Hartley v. State, 103 Wn.2d 768, 774, 698 P.2d 77 (1985) (citing Herskovits v. Group Health Coop, of Puget Sound, 99 Wn.2d 609, 613, 664 P.2d 474 (1983)). “[W]hen reasonable minds could reach but one conclusion, questions of fact may be determined as a matter of law.” Hartley, 103 Wn.2d at 775. On a summary judgment motion, we take the position of the trial court, and we assume facts in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Wilson v. Steinbach, 98 Wn.2d 434, 437, 656 P.2d 1030 (1982).

To prove each of her several negligence theories, Minahan must establish duty, breach, injury, and proximate cause. See Pedroza v. Bryant, 101 Wn.2d 226, 228, 677 [888]*888P.2d 166 (1984). The breach of a duty must be shown to have proximately caused the injury. Petersen v. State, 100 Wn.2d 421, 435, 671 P.2d 230 (1983).

Proximate cause has two elements: cause in fact and legal cause. Hartley, 103 Wn.2d at 777. Here, the defendants dispute legal cause. “The focus in the legal causation analysis is whether, as a matter of policy, the connection between the ultimate result and the act of the defendant is too remote or insubstantial to impose liability. A determination of legal liability will depend upon ‘mixed considerations of logic, common sense, justice, policy, and precedent.’ ” Schooley v. Pinch’s Deli Mkt., Inc., 134 Wn.2d 468, 478, 951 P.2d 749 (1998) (quoting King v. City of Seattle, 84 Wn.2d 239, 250, 525 P.2d 228 (1974)). Legal cause is a question of law for the court to decide. Kim v. Budget Rent A Car Sys., 143 Wn.2d 190, 204, 15 P.3d 1283 (2001).

These well-established rules have spawned a serious point of contention in this case: whether we may analyze proximate cause without addressing duty. The defendants ask us to hold, as a matter of law, that drunken driving as egregious as Skrivan’s may be the only proximate cause of a plaintiff’s injuries.2 They ask us to premise this holding solely on a public policy that abhors drunken driving. Although we agree with their policy choice, the defendants’ proposed rule paints with too broad a stroke and ignores competing, established principles of causation.

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Minahan v. Western Washington Fair Ass'n
73 P.3d 1019 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2003)

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73 P.3d 1019, 117 Wash. App. 881, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/minahan-v-western-washington-fair-assn-washctapp-2003.