Rumsey v. Salt Lake City

400 P.2d 205, 16 Utah 2d 310, 1965 Utah LEXIS 546
Utah Supreme Court·Decided March 22, 1965·No. 10181·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinions

WADE, Justice.

Respondent Elbert B. Rumsey brought this action against the appellant Salt Lake City for personal injuries sustained in a swimming pool operated by the City. This appeal is from a jury verdict and judgment thereon in favor of Elbert B. Rumsey.

Appellant seeks reversal of the judgment on three grounds: (1) The failure of respondent Rumsey to plead and prove that the Wasatch Springs Plunge, the swimming pool in which the accident occurred, was operated by the appellant City in a proprietary capacity. (2) That respondent did not prove that the defective condition of the diving board from which respondent was attempting to dive when the accident occurred was the proximate cause of said accident. (3) The court committed prejudicial error in allowing the taking of additional evidence after the verdict of the jury was rendered. This evidence pertained to the issue of whether the Wasatch Springs Plunge was operated in a proprietary or governmental capacity.

Respondent Rumsey alleged in his complaint that he paid an admission fee to swim in the Wasatch Springs Plunge which [312] was operated by appellant Salt Lake City. He further alleged that the City was negligent in failing to have the diving hoard in a proper and safe condition and in failing to have a lifeguard present to assist him when he lost his balance and fell because of the slickness of the end of the board from which he was attempting to dive. The City answered, averring that the complaint failed to state a cause of action upon which relief could be granted, generally denied respondent’s allegations and for its affirmative defenses pleaded that respondent was guilty of contributory negligence and had assumed the risk.

A pre-trial hearing was held and in the pre-trial order among the exceptions which were not left for determination at the trial of pleaded issues there appears the following: “1. The parties agree that the plaintiff at the time of his claimed injuries was a business invitee.”

At the close of the trial the City moved for a directed verdict which was denied. After the jury returned a verdict in favor of respondent, the City moved for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the same grounds it had moved for a directed verdict, that is, that the evidence was insufficient to sustain a verdict and because the plaintiff had failed to plead and prove that the Wasatch Springs Plunge was operated by the City in a proprietary rather than a governmental capacity. In reply, the respondent then moved the court to-clarify or amend the judgment or grant a new trial on the question of governmental immunity. This motion was supported by the affidavit of respondent’s counsel that the question of sovereign immunity was discussed at the pre-trial conference, and in view of the holdings of this court in two other cases involving the same operation of the Wasatch Springs Plunge by the City, the City admitted that the operation was in a proprietary capacity and therefore sovereign immunity was not an issue in the case.1 For this reason, plaintiff did not offer any proof concerning this issue. The City did not controvert respondent’s affidavit to the effect that the issue of sovereign immunity had been discussed and abandoned at the pre-trial hearing.

The court denied the City’s motion but granted respondent’s motion. The case was reopened for the purpose of submitting testimony on the issue of sovereign immunity only. Testimony was elicited from Mr. Rumsey, respondent herein. The City’s commissioner of parks, and the manager of the Wasatch Springs Plunge also testified. The uncontradicted testimony of the witnesses revealed that although the City operated other swimming pools in connection with its parks for which no charge was made for admission, the Wasatch Springs [313] Plunge was the only swimming pool not operated by the City in connection with its parks and for which an admission fee ■competitive with other swimming pools operated by private business was charged and on which fee federal and state taxes were collected. In fact it was admitted by its manager who has held that position for approximately 21 years that its operation had not materially changed during that time.

It is the City’s contention that respondent failed to state a good cause of action because he failed to allege sufficient facts charging it with acting in a proprietary capacity, citing Wade v. Salt Lake City2 as authority. That case involved the operation by the City of a municipal airport. We there held that under our statutes the operation of a municipal airport was a governmental activity and therefore the court did not err in granting a summary judgment even though the plaintiff was precluded from introducing evidence as to the nature and extent of the businesslike activities of those running the airport. We there pointed out that under statutes such as ours which grant cities the right to supervise airports generally in “an atmosphere of government control that either precludes proprietary operation thereof, or prevents it, absent legislative sanction * * * ” any use other than governmental must be pleaded and be free from legislative inhibition. However, this court has held that the operation of a swimming pool is not such an enterprise as can be engaged in by a city only in a governmental capacity. Whether such activity is being operated by a city in a governmental or proprietary capacity depends upon the manner in which it is operated. Operated in a manner in which it is, and in competition with swimming pools operated for profit by private individuals, it is operated in a proprietary capacity, if not, “it” may be found to be operated in a governmental capacity.3

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Rumsey v. Salt Lake City, 400 P.2d 205, 16 Utah 2d 310, 1965 Utah LEXIS 546 (Utah 1965).

400 P.2d 205 (Rumsey v. Salt Lake City) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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Rumsey v. Salt Lake City
400 P.2d 205 (Utah Supreme Court, 1965)