Ratcliff v. Division of Highways

23 Ct. Cl. 148
CourtWest Virginia Court of Claims
DecidedJanuary 28, 2000
DocketCC-96-472
StatusPublished

This text of 23 Ct. Cl. 148 (Ratcliff v. Division of Highways) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ratcliff v. Division of Highways, 23 Ct. Cl. 148 (W. Va. Super. Ct. 2000).

Opinion

BAKER, JUDGE:

Claimants Fred and Nettie Ratcliff brought a claim for property damage and Lawrence Ratcliff brought a claim for personal injury to his son, Benjamin Ratcliff, both of which claims occurred as a result of hillside slippage on County Route 29/9 (also known as Webb Road) in Crum, Wayne County. County Route 29/9 is a road owned and maintained by respondent in Wayne County. The Court is of the opinion to deny the property damage claim and to award the personal injury claim for the reasons more fully stated below.

The incident giving rise to the property damage claim occurred on September 7 through 12, 1994. County Route 29/9 is an off-shoot road of the Tolsia Highway in Wayne County. The road is a local service route of secondary priority with a single twelve foot lane. In 1978, claimants Fred and Nettie Ratcliff moved to [149]*149property located on. County Route 29/9 where they reside1 in a manufactured home with an addition on the front. There is a porch on the front of the house. During 1990 the hillside along the road began to slip. The hillside slip ended up against the side of claimants’ manufactured home. This hillside slip caused damage to their manufactured home. Then, the road was cleaned and repaired by respondent and later in 1990 steel pilings were installed in an attempt to stabilize the hillside. During t hat ye ar t here w as a r ain s torm after w hich t he s teel p ilings f ell o nto a building owned by claimants, destroying it. The hillside also fell against the house. Where the road first slipped, it pushed the house in, nudging it against the floor. Respondent straightened the step of the road, but did not remove the slip. According to respondent’s DisForce supervisor, Jim Alford, the steel pilings installed had failed because the weight from the hillside slide above the road caused the steel to fail and bend allowing dirt or sloughage to slip into claimants’ yard.2 Claimants were compensated $700.00 by respondent at that time for the damages to their property.

Sometime prior to September 7, 1994, the hillside in the area again slipped. During an investigation by Ben Savilla, an investigator for respondent, information provided by the Federal Mine Reclamation indicated that the hillside slippage was caused by mine subsidence from a nearby mine. The investigator went to the site, took photographs and did sightings of how the. hillside slip had moved off of the State’s right-of-way. Since the expense of core sampling outweighed its benefits, core s ampling w as n ot u tilized. The s lope o f t he h illside s lip a ppeared t o b e a gradual twenty feet. The bank appeared to be eight to nine feet high and the hillside was determined to be twelve to thirteen feet from the bottom of the bank to the top of the bank. The front porch is approximately twelve to fifteen feet from the hillside. Asixto eightfootby ten foot building and a fourroom house arealsoonthe property.3

From September 7 through 12, 1994, respondent again effected repairs to the road. After the failure of the piling wall, respondent’s DisForce elected to relocate the roadway into the hillside which would provide a more stable environment. The operation conducted by respondent was more of a removal. The hillside had slipped onto the blacktop. Earth and rock had to be removed. [150]*150Respondent used tracks, a track loader and excavator to complete the job. Both the hillside slip and the steel pilings were removed. The road itself was moved back into the h illside a nd s tabilized in o rder toa llow f or t he flow oft raffle. R espondent removed the wet, unstable material that had slid and replaced it with dry material. When the blacktop was removed, stone was placed on the dirt in order to stabilize the road. Eventually, the road was moved about a lane inside the hill towards the ditch line to reposition the road away from where it had slipped over the hillside. After the work was completed, respondent cleaned the area and made sure no sloughage was left on the hillside above or below the loose material for slide prevention. This work performed by respondent in September 1994 appeared to have stabilized the road.

Currently, the hillside slip is ten feet at one spot, and about four feet at another spot. The slip contains dirt, rocks of different sizes, and a few trees. As a result of respondent’s past road repairs, the slip was pushed further down the hillside. Even after necessary road repairs, this hillside slippage continued. Claimants’ manufactured home was once again damaged. The floor had to be replaced, new sills were installed under the floor, and new siding was put on the house. The cost to claimants was estimated at $2,000.00. No appraisals or valuations have been made of the property or the manufactured home. Claimants had grade work completed on their property by a friend from Dunlow about three months prior to the June 23, 1999, hearing. A small grader was used to landscape the front yard and a two to six foot path was cut out of the slide. Because the hillside slip continues, claimants are unable to use their property in a normal manner. They are in constant fear of the area around the slip.

The incident giving rise to the personal injury claim occurred on September 15, 1994. Benjamin Ratcliff is the son of claimant Lawrence Ratcliff, and the grandchild of claimants Fred and Nettie Ratcliff. On the day in question, Benjamin Ratcliff, who is now eight years of age, but was about three years old at that time, was playing in his grandparent’s yard on County Route 29/9 about one and one-half feet from the porch. During the period of September 7-12, 1994, respondent had taken out part of the hillside slip. On this particular date of the incident an oblong rock, about three to four pounds with sharp edges, fell about six feet from the top side of the hill striking Benjamin Ratcliff in the forehead about three inches above his nose. This incident occurred about four feet from the porch.

Claimant Nettie Ratcliff witnessed the accident. Claimant Lawrence Ratcliff was not present at the time of the accident, but was informed of the accident by his mother and came to the scene within five minutes. When claimant Lawrence Ratcliff saw that his son was cut and bleeding, he immediately took him to Three Rivers Medical Center in Louisa, Kentucky. At Three Rivers Medical Center Benjamin Ratcliff received stitches and medication. The medical expenses incurred were paid by his medical card.

[151]*151Before the incident, Benjamin Ratcliff had no pre-existing injures. He now appears to suffer from two to three severe headaches per week, which last about an hour. At the onset of a headache, Benjamin Ratcliff requires Motrin or Children’s Tylenol to relive his headache pain. He has a knot on his forehead about the size of a nickel and a scar from the stitches. Also, Benjamin Ratcliff is nearsighted and requires glasses. The last time he had been seen by a physician was two months prior to the June 23, 1999, hearing. At the request of the Court, Benjamin Ratcliff was examined by Dr. Tommasina Papa-Rugino, a pediatric and adult neurologist. Dr. Papa-Rugino ordered an MRI which was performed upon the infant and a report of the results of the MRI was provided to her. She then issued a clinical report in which she stated “that the prognosis of post traumatic headaches is usually excellent and the headaches only persist for a short period of time.

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Related

Bailey v. Division of Highways
20 Ct. Cl. 55 (West Virginia Court of Claims, 1994)

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Bluebook (online)
23 Ct. Cl. 148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ratcliff-v-division-of-highways-wvctcl-2000.