Seronde v. Bnsf

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedOctober 26, 2017
Docket1 CA-CV 16-0385
StatusUnpublished

This text of Seronde v. Bnsf (Seronde v. Bnsf) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Seronde v. Bnsf, (Ark. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE

SARAH DEL SERONDE, et al., Plaintiffs/Appellants,

v.

BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY, et al., Defendants/Appellees.

No. 1 CA-CV 16-0385 FILED 10-26-2017

Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County Nos. CV2011-010945 CV2011-010947 (Consolidated) The Honorable Arthur T. Anderson, Judge

AFFIRMED

COUNSEL

Pottroff Law Office, Manhattan, KS By Robert Pottroff Co-Counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellants

Schneider & Onofry PC, Phoenix By Luane Rose Co-Counsel for Plaintiffs/Appellants

Thorpe Shwer PC, Phoenix By William L. Thorpe, Bradley Shwer, Adam T. Reich Counsel for Defendants/Appellees SERONDE et al. v. BNSF Decision of the Court

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Judge Jennifer B. Campbell delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Michael J. Brown and Judge Margaret H. Downie joined.

C A M P B E L L, Judge:

¶1 The driver and members of the deceased passenger’s family (collectively, “the Serondes”) sued BNSF Railway Company (“BNSF”), alleging its negligence caused a car-train collision resulting in their damages. The superior court granted summary judgment for BNSF, ruling as a matter of law it did not breach the standard of care it owed to the vehicle occupants. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶2 Tsinijinni Jean Seronde (“Jean”) was driving on I-40 with his mother, Ella Seronde. Attempting to bypass a traffic jam on the interstate, Jean pulled off and traveled approximately 10 miles south, eventually leaving the paved road and continuing down a gravel road. Jean was following several other vehicles also attempting to bypass the interstate gridlock. After driving over a cattle guard, Jean encountered a railroad crossing marked with a STOP sign and crossbuck sign (“the Crossing”). He stopped and looked in both directions before proceeding through the Crossing.

¶3 Immediately after traversing the railroad tracks, Jean turned left following the vehicle in front of him and proceeded along a railroad right-of-way running parallel to the tracks. The group reached an impassable wash approximately one mile east of the Crossing and the vehicles turned around and drove back the way they had come.

¶4 As Jean led the line of cars back toward the Crossing, a BNSF train approached from behind. The train crew saw the cars approximately one mile before the Crossing and began sounding the train’s horn. Jean testified that he did not hear the horn and could only see the dust trail emanating from the other vehicles in his rear-view mirror. When Jean approached the Crossing, he slowed his vehicle, but failed to stop and ensure the tracks were clear before entering. As Jean drove onto the tracks,

2 SERONDE et al. v. BNSF Decision of the Court

the train collided with his car. Jean suffered injuries and his mother Ella was killed in the collision.

¶5 The superior court granted summary judgment for BNSF, ruling federal law preempted the Serondes’ allegations that the train failed to slow as it approached the Crossing.1 This court affirmed that ruling, but reversed the dismissal of the Serondes’ negligence claim insofar as it alleged BNSF had provided inadequate markings and warning devices at the Crossing because the superior court had not addressed that claim. See Seronde v. BNSF Ry. Co., 1 CA-CV 14-0166, 2015 WL 1516534, at *4, ¶ 16 (Ariz. App. April 2, 2015) (mem. decision).

¶6 On remand, BNSF again moved for summary judgment, asserting that because Jean and Ella were trespassers at the time of the collision, its only duty was to avoid willfully and wantonly injuring them and it had satisfied that duty. The Serondes maintained Jean and Ella were not trespassers, but either licensees or invitees to whom BNSF owed a duty of reasonable care. The superior court granted summary judgment for BNSF, ruling as a matter of law that Jean and Ella were trespassers and BNSF had not breached the duty of care it owed them. The Serondes timely appealed.

¶7 The Serondes argue the superior court erred in ruling BNSF did not owe a duty of reasonable care to Jean and Ella. They contend, at minimum, that a material question of fact exists regarding the duty BNSF owed to Jean and Ella.

DISCUSSION

¶8 This court reviews entry of summary judgment de novo, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the party against whom the court entered judgment. Williamson v. PVOrbit, Inc., 228 Ariz. 69, 71, ¶ 11 (App. 2011). “We will affirm summary judgment only if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the party seeking judgment is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Id.

¶9 To establish BNSF’s negligence, the Serondes were required to prove (1) the existence of a duty recognized by law requiring BNSF to conform to a certain standard of care, (2) BNSF’s breach of that standard, (3) a causal connection between BNSF’s conduct and the Serondes’ injury, and (4) actual damages. Gipson v. Kasey, 214 Ariz. 141, 143, ¶ 9 (2007).

1Ella’s children brought a wrongful-death claim against BNSF. Jean sued separately for personal injuries and the cases were consolidated.

3 SERONDE et al. v. BNSF Decision of the Court

Because the superior court ruled, as a matter of law, on the elements of duty and breach, we confine our analysis to those issues.

I. Duty

¶10 Whether a defendant owes a duty of care to the plaintiff is a legal question the court decides based on the parties’ relationship or other statutory and public policy considerations. Id. at 145-46, ¶¶ 19-25. Under Arizona common law, a landowner’s duty to persons coming onto his or her premises is based on the status of the visitor. In the case of a trespasser, a person “who enters or remains upon land in the possession of another without a privilege to do so,” see Restatement (Second) of Torts (“Restatement”) § 329 (1965), the landowner’s duty is only to refrain from willfully or wantonly disregarding the person’s safety. Webster v. Culbertson, 158 Ariz. 159, 161 (1988) (citation omitted). In contrast, in the case of an invitee—a person who enters the land because the landowner held the premises out as open to the public, see Restatement § 332—the landowner has an affirmative duty to use reasonable care to make the premises safe for the invitee’s use. Markowitz v. Arizona Parks Bd., 146 Ariz. 352, 355 (1985).2

¶11 The superior court ruled that Jean and Ella were trespassers as a matter of law. It also ruled that BNSF, as the landowner, owed them a duty to avoid willfully or wantonly injuring them and, as a matter of law, did not breach its duty. See Beesley v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 430 F. Supp. 2d 968, 970 (D. Ariz. 2006) (“a landowner owes no duty toward a trespasser except not to willfully or wantonly injure him after discovering his peril”). Although the Serondes admitted BNSF owns the land on which the collision occurred, they argue that an exception to the trespasser rule applies because BNSF either (1) knew that trespassers regularly used the Crossing and acquiesced to that behavior, or (2) invited and induced Jean and Ella to use the Crossing. As a result, they argue Jean and Ella were no

2 A third category, a licensee, is “a person who is privileged to enter or remain on land only by virtue of the possessor’s consent.” Hicks v. Superstition Mtn. Post No. 9399, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S., 123 Ariz. 518, 521 (1979) (quoting Restatement § 330).

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Seronde v. Bnsf, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seronde-v-bnsf-arizctapp-2017.