Pfenning v. Lineman

922 N.E.2d 45, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 164, 2010 WL 502750
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 12, 2010
DocketNo. 27A02-0905-CV-444
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 922 N.E.2d 45 (Pfenning v. Lineman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Pfenning v. Lineman, 922 N.E.2d 45, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 164, 2010 WL 502750 (Ind. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinions

OPINION

DARDEN, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Cassie E. Pfenning appeals the trial court's entries of summary judgment in favor of Joseph E. Lineman; Whitey's 31 Club, Inc. ("Whitey's"), an Indiana corporation; Marion Elks Country Club Lodge #195 (the "Elks"), a fraternal organization; and the Estate of Jerry A. Jones (collectively, the "Defendants").1

We affirm.

[49]*49ISSUE

Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the Defendants.

FACTS

The facts most favorable to Pfenning as the non-moving party indicate that Whitey's, a bar, sponsored a golf seramble at the Elks' golf course in Marion on August 19, 2006. Whitey's enlisted golfers by posting sign-up sheets in the bar. It also provided sign-up sheets for volunteers to serve beverages from golf carts. The forty-five dollar entrance fee covered the costs of green fees, prizes, golf carts, and beverages. The Elks did not sponsor the event but merely supplied the golf carts and beverages, including beer, for the event. Jerry Jones, Pfenning's grandfather, signed up to drive a beverage cart.

The morning of the seramble, Jones invited the then-sixteen-year-old Pfenning to ride in a beverage cart with him during the tournament. With her mother's permission, Pfenning agreed to join Jones.

Upon arriving at the golf course, Jones retrieved a beverage cart for his and Pfen-ning's use and brought it to where Pfen-ning was waiting, in front of the elubhouse. The cart had a large cooler in the back for drinks but no roof or windshield. Pfen-ning received no instructions regarding how or where to operate the cart; she was unfamiliar with golf etiquette and had been to a golf course only onee before in 1997. Pfenning initially did not assist in loading the cart's cooler with beverages and did not meet the other two beverage cart operators out on the course during the seram-ble.

Prior to the start of the seramble, Jones decided to join one of the teams playing in the seramble as it was short a player. He therefore left Pfenning with his sister, Lottie Kendall. Kendall and Pfenning drove the beverage cart together for a short period of time until Kendall also decided to play in a foursome. Christie Edwards, a Whitey's employee, therefore took Kendall's place in the beverage cart. Pfenning drove the cart, and Edwards dispensed the beverages to the seramble's participants.

Approximately three hours into the tournament, Lineman, a participant in the scramble, hit a drive from the 16th hole's tee. The ball traveled straight for approximately sixty to seventy yards before "turn[ing] directly left.2 (App. 69)2 As Lineman followed the ball's trajectory, he observed the roof of a golf cart, belonging to another foursome, in the ball's path. Pfenning, who was driving the beverage cart on a cart path near the 18th hole, did not hear any warning regarding the ball's approach. - After traveling more than two hundred feet, the ball struck Pfenning in the mouth, causing injuries to her mouth, jaw, and teeth.

On February 7, 2007, Pfenning filed a complaint against the Defendants. She alleged as follows:

22. The Defendants failed to exercise reasonable care for the safety of [Pfen-ning] by failing to provide her with a beverage cart that contained a canopy or a windshield to provide [her] with some measure of protection from the risks associated with being struck by a flying golf ball.
23. The Defendants failed to exercise reasonable care for the safety of [Pfen-ning] by failing to provide her with any warnings, any information or any safety instructions prior to sending her onto a [50]*50golf course that was full of golfers (most of which were drinking aleohol) to dispense beverages.
24. The Defendants negligently failed to exercise reasonable care for the safety of [Pfenning] while she was on the premises of the [Elks'] golf course.
25. As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants' negligent - conduct, [Pfenning] suffered painful and permanent injuries and incurred significant medical and dental expenses. Several of [her] teeth were destroyed and her teeth remain missing and/or disfigured. [She] will incur significant dental expenses in the future.
26. As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants negligent conduct, [Pfenning] suffered mental and emotional pain and anguish.
27. As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants' negligent conduct, [Pfenning]'s ability to function as a whole person has been impaired. The quality of [her] life has been significantly diminished as a result of the Defendants' negligent conduct.

(App. 54-55).

The Elks, Lineman, and Jones filed motions for summary judgment and memo-randa in support thereof on February 4, 2009. Whitey's filed a motion for summary judgment on February 10, 2009.

Pfenning filed a memorandum in opposition to the Defendants' motions for summary judgment on March 4, 2009. The trial court held a hearing on the motions for summary judgment on March 12, 2009. During the hearing, Pfenning raised the issue of Jones' purported negligent supervision. On April 27, 2009, the trial court entered its orders, granting the Defendants' motions for summary judgment.

DECISION

Pfenning asserts that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the Defendants. Specifically, she contends that 1) the Defendants owed her a duty; and there exists genuine issues of material fact regarding whether 2) Lineman's conduct was reckless; 3) Jones, Whitey's, and the Elks were negligent in their supervision of her; and 4) the Elks and Whitey's breached a duty of reasonable care owed to her under the theory of premises liability.

When reviewing a grant or denial of summary judgment, our well-settled standard of review is the same as it was for the trial court: whether there is a genuine issue of material fact, and whether the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Landmark Health Care Assocs., L.P. v. Bradbury, 671 N.E.2d 113, 116 (Ind. 1996). Summary judgment should be granted only if the evidence sanctioned by Indiana Trial Rule 56(C) shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party deserves judgment as a matter of law. Ind. T.R. 56(C); Blake v. Calumet Const. Corp., 674 N.E.2d 167, 169 (Ind. 1996). "A genuine issue of material fact exists where facts concerning an issue which would dispose of the litigation are in dispute or where the undisputed facts are capable of supporting conflicting inferences on such an issue." Scott v. Bodor, Inc., 571 N.E.2d 313, 318 (Ind.Ct.App. 1991).

All evidence must be construed in favor of the opposing party, and all doubts as to the existence of a material issue must be resolved against the moving party. Tibbs v. Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc., 668 N.E.2d 248, 249 (Ind. 1996).

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Related

Pfenning v. Lineman
947 N.E.2d 392 (Indiana Supreme Court, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
922 N.E.2d 45, 2010 Ind. App. LEXIS 164, 2010 WL 502750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pfenning-v-lineman-indctapp-2010.