Rogers v. Kazee

460 N.E.2d 1149, 10 Ohio App. 3d 139, 10 Ohio B. 190, 1983 Ohio App. LEXIS 11120
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 16, 1983
Docket82AP-726, -774 and -803
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 460 N.E.2d 1149 (Rogers v. Kazee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. Kazee, 460 N.E.2d 1149, 10 Ohio App. 3d 139, 10 Ohio B. 190, 1983 Ohio App. LEXIS 11120 (Ohio Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

McCormac, J.

Dennis Rogers, plaintiff-appellant, commenced an action in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas against defendants, John P. Kazee and Eva R. Campbell. Rogers alleged that, on September 19,1980, at 1:20 a.m., Kazee negligently drove his automobile into a car driven by Rogers proximately causing him injuries and damage to his vehicle. He sought punitive damages based upon Kazee’s intoxication. Rogers’ cause of action against Campbell was based upon an allegation that Campbell negligently entrusted her vehicle to Kazee.

Defendant Campbell answered denying that she had entrusted her vehicle to Kazee.

Campbell moved for summary judg *140 ment, supported by her affidavit and the affidavit of her daughter, Carol Kazee. The depositions of Eva Campbell, Carol Kazee and John Kazee were also submitted to the court to be considered in its ruling upon the motion for summary judgment.

The trial court granted summary judgment for Eva Campbell finding that there was no genuine issue of fact and that Campbell had not entrusted her vehicle to Kazee and, alternatively, that even if Carol Kazee had negligently entrusted the vehicle to her husband, John Kazee, there was no proximate cause as Kazee’s use of the vehicle was an intervening and superseding cause.

Kazee consented to a $75,000 judgment against him.

Rogers has appealed the granting of summary judgment in favor of Campbell, asserting, as his first assignment of error, that there were genuine issues of material fact and that Campbell was not entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

A summary judgment shall not be rendered unless it appears from the evidence properly submitted that reasonable minds can come to but one conclusion and that conclusion is adverse to the party against whom the motion for summary judgment is made, such party being entitled to have the evidence construed most strongly in his favor. Civ. R. 56(C).

There were some conflicts in the testimony of John Kazee, Carol Kazee and Eva Campbell. Those conflicts must be resolved in favor of Dennis Rogers as it is outside the province of summary judgment to resolve issues of credibility. Duke v. Sanymetal Products Co. (1972), 31 Ohio App. 2d 78 [60 O.O.2d 171].

Eva Campbell is the mother of Carol Kazee and was the mother-in-law of John Kazee. At the time of the accident, John and Carol Kazee owned two automobiles. On September 18, 1980, one of their automobiles was in a repair shop and the other automobile was used during the day by John Kazee for work. Eva Campbell picked up her daughter, Carol Kazee, to take her to a funeral home; afterwards, Campbell loaned her automobile to Carol to drive home that evening. Carol was to return the automobile to her mother the next morning. Campbell had no discussion with her daughter concerning the use of the car by Carol’s husband, John Kazee. Eva Campbell knew that John Kazee had a drinking problem, through a discussion with her daughter, and that he had been convicted of driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol about three years previous.

When Carol Kazee returned to her home about 6:30 p.m., driving her mother’s automobile, John Kazee was there drinking a beer. That was his third beer since leaving work at 5:00 p.m. Shortly thereafter, Carol and John Kazee went to a funeral home. Carol voluntarily gave John the keys to drive her mother’s automobile, it being nicer than their car. The trip to the funeral home and back was made without incident and prior to John Kazee being under the influence of alcohol. After the Kazees arrived home, John still had the keys to Campbell’s automobile. Although there was disputed testimony, according to John, he then proceeded to drive Campbell’s automobile without protest by his wife, allegedly to check the status of the repair of the automobile in the shop. John then proceeded to drink at a bar or bars and collided with Rogers at 1:20 a.m. on September 19, 1980 while John was under the influence of alcohol.

There was evidence that Campbell had allowed her automobile to be driven by John before, without her express permission, but there was no evidence that John had ever operated Campbell’s automobile while he was under the influence of alcohol. Campbell had never left the car overnight with the Kazees previously. Campbell had some knowledge that John had driven his own *141 automobile while under the influence of alcohol.

Campbell expressly entrusted her automobile to her daughter. Her daughter was a licensed operator, as was John Kazee. Campbell had no reason to believe that her daughter would allow John to operate her mother’s automobile while John Kazee was under the influence of alcohol, even though there was evidence from which it can be inferred that Carol had implied authority to allow John to drive Campbell’s automobile for a family purpose.

The issue is whether a trier of fact could find from this evidence that it was negligent for Campbell to entrust the automobile to her daughter without specifically telling her daughter not to entrust the automobile to her husband, because her husband might operate the automobile while under the influence of alcohol.

Liability for negligent entrustment arises from the act of entrusting a motor vehicle, “* * * with permission to operate the same, to one whose incompetency, inexperience or recklessness is known or should have been known by the owner.” Williamson v. Eclipse Motor Lines, Inc. (1945), 145 Ohio St. 467 [31 O.O. 156], paragraph two of the syllabus.

The entrustment by Campbell of her automobile to her daughter was not negligent unless it is held that she should have known that her daughter might entrust the automobile to Kazee who would then drive it while under the influence of alcohol.

There is evidence from which it can reasonably be inferred that Eva Campbell knew her daughter might allow John Kazee to drive the automobile. According to John’s testimony, he had previously driven the automobile for a family purpose without the express permission of Campbell.

There is no evidence that John had ever used his mother’s-in-law automobile for other than a family purpose, or that he had ever used it before when he was under the influence of alcohol.

When Eva Campbell entrusted the automobile to her daughter, she did so knowing that the Kazees had a car which was operable and which at that time was being used by John Kazee and presumably would be used by him if he went out on his own, drinking that evening.

Liability can be imposed on a car owner for the negligent actions of an en-trustee of the original entrustee if it can be shown that the original entrustment was negligent. Deck v. Sherlock (1956), 162 Neb. 86, 75 N.W. 2d 99. However, in Deck, the owner entrusted his car to a person who had been drinking and was going to a bar to do more drinking with another person who was driving the car in an intoxicated condition when the accident occurred. In Deck, the original entrustment was negligent and liability applied for the subsequent negligent entrustment.

The facts in this case significantly differ from the facts of Deck.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
460 N.E.2d 1149, 10 Ohio App. 3d 139, 10 Ohio B. 190, 1983 Ohio App. LEXIS 11120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rogers-v-kazee-ohioctapp-1983.