Snilsberg v. Lake Washington Club

614 N.W.2d 738, 2000 Minn. App. LEXIS 767, 2000 WL 1015882
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 25, 2000
DocketC1-00-75, C5-00-323
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 614 N.W.2d 738 (Snilsberg v. Lake Washington Club) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Snilsberg v. Lake Washington Club, 614 N.W.2d 738, 2000 Minn. App. LEXIS 767, 2000 WL 1015882 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

OPINION

EDWARD J. PARKER, Judge. *

In these consolidated appeals, Tara Snilsberg appeals the district court order granting summary judgment to respondents Beetch, Bloomer, and the club. She argues that primary assumption of the risk does not apply and that Beetch, Bloomer, and the club owed her duties of care and warning directly, and are also subject to vicarious liability for the conduct of the caretaker, Jonathan Rausch. Rausch appeals from the denial of his motion for summary judgment, claiming that primary assumption of the risk applies to preclude all of Snilsberg’s claims against all defendants. The district court certified the question, raised in Rausch’s appeal, of “whether primary assumption of the risk as to the Plaintiff necessarily bars all claims against all Defendants named in this action.”

FACTS

On July 17, 1997, after consuming alcohol with friends inside the cabin of her host, the caretaker at the Lake Washington Club, Tara Snilsberg dove off a dock in the dark and struck her head on the bottom of'the lake. As a result of the accident, Snilsberg, who was then 19, became paralyzed from the neck down.

The Lake Washington Club, an unincorporated association, occupied improved beachfront property on Lake Washington that included three docks, two of which were used for club members’ boats. Snils-berg was diving off the third dock, known as the caretaker’s dock, when she was injured. The caretaker’s dock was shorter than the others and was used as a service dock. The club grounds also included a pavilion, a tool shed, and the caretaker’s cabin. Ellsworth B. Beetch and Harlan H. Bloomer were members, directors, and officers of the club at the time of the accident.

The club published a spring newsletter each year listing'its general rules, of operation, including a rule prohibiting alcohol on club property. There were no rules or signs restricting swimming or diving on club premises. Beetch testified .in a deposition that diving was discouraged because the water was too shallow.

Each summer the club employed a caretaker. For the summer of-.1997, it'was Jonathan Rausch, who was 26 at the time and maintained a separate painting business. As caretaker, Rausch’s duties included emptying garbage, mowing the lawn, cleaning and raking the beach, cleaning restrooms, and phoning the appropriate club member if there was a problem with a boat. He had no scheduled hours and could complete his duties at any time of day. He was paid a salary for the summer and, as part of his compensation, lived in the caretaker’s cabin.

*742 The cabin was considered the caretaker’s private residence, and Rausch was free to entertain guests there. Although there was a rule prohibiting alcohol on club grounds, the caretaker was free to have alcohol in the cabin. The record contains a copy of a 1989 letter to members stating that the no-alcohol rule was to be enforced by the caretaker. In a deposition, one board member, Robert Fitterer, testified that it was understood that the caretaker’s duties included enforcing club rules, including the no-alcohol rule. The other board members testified they did not believe the caretaker was responsible for enforcing club rules.

Tara Snilsberg’s grandfather was an active member of the club and rented a slip at the club for his boat. Since her childhood, she had frequented the club during the summer. Snilsberg was at the club nearly every day during the summer of 1997, and she began dating Rausch in June or July of that year.

There was testimony that Snilsberg was a strong swimmer and had been on her school’s diving team. In her deposition, she testified she had not gone swimming in the club’s swimming area since she was a small child, but earlier that summer she had waded into the club’s swimming area up to her waist. Also earlier that summer, while working on a boatlift with Rausch, she was in the water near the end of the caretaker’s dock. Snilsberg also stated in her deposition that she knew, as a matter of common sense, it. was hazardous to dive into shallow water.

The night of the accident was not Snils-berg’s first experience drinking alcohol. She had two underage-consumption violations and had consumed alcohol several other times. She had voluntarily consumed alcohol at a party at Rausch’s cabin earlier that summer.

On July 17, 1997, Snilsberg and Rausch left the club in the evening to go out to dinner. Beetch saw them as they left for dinner and testified in his deposition that they did not appear intoxicated. At dinner they split one glass of beer. They returned to the club later that night and joined a group of friends. In the cabin with the group, Snilsberg consumed two or three mixed drinks and “a couple of shots” of hard liquor. She testified she wanted to fit in with Rausch and the crowd. At some point, someone suggested they go swimming or skinny-dipping. In her deposition, Snilsberg said she had been skinny-dipping with Rausch and another friend once before in her grandfather’s pool.

A group including Snilsberg went toward the water around the caretaker’s dock. Snilsberg testified in her deposition that she recognized the effects of alcohol and felt intoxicated when she went down toward the water. There was conflicting testimony about whether Rausch, who entered the water ahead of Snilsberg, dove in headfirst off the dock or simply jumped into the water.

Snilsberg was the last to enter the water. She said in her deposition that she did not try to gauge the water’s depth because, unclad, she was trying to enter the water as quickly as possible. A witness from the party testified that no one appeared obviously intoxicated and that she saw no one pressure Snilsberg to drink. In her deposition, Snilsberg acknowledged that she used poor judgment or no judgment in diving into the water.

Snilsberg filed a five-count personal-injury complaint against Rausch, the club, Ellsworth Beetch, Harlan Bloomer, and John and Jane Roe, as members of the club; she alleged negligence by all parties and claimed the club and its members were vicariously liable for Rausch’s conduct.

Following extensive discovery and a hearing, the district court granted summary judgment for Beetch, Bloomer, and the club and denied summary judgment for Rausch. The court found that Snils-berg: “was vastly familiar with the land and water comprising the Lake Washington Club premises,” “was familiar with the *743 water at the edge of the dock from which she dove and understood its depth,” “knew that diving into shallow water was dangerous,” “was an experienced diver,” and “demonstrated poor judgment or no judgment when she chose to dive off the dock;” that Snilsberg’s judgment “was affected by her intoxication;” that there was a fact question as to whether Rausch supplied alcohol to Snilsberg at the caretaker’s cabin; that the party that night was outside the scope of Rausch’s employment; and that Beetch, Bloomer, and the club breached no duty of care to Snilsberg.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
614 N.W.2d 738, 2000 Minn. App. LEXIS 767, 2000 WL 1015882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/snilsberg-v-lake-washington-club-minnctapp-2000.