Stahl v. Cocalico School District

47 Pa. D. & C.3d 529, 1986 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 40
CourtPennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County
DecidedJuly 11, 1986
Docketno. 1 of 1986
StatusPublished

This text of 47 Pa. D. & C.3d 529 (Stahl v. Cocalico School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Lancaster County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stahl v. Cocalico School District, 47 Pa. D. & C.3d 529, 1986 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 40 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1986).

Opinion

ECKMAN, P.J.,

Presently before the court are the preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer filed by defendant, Cocalico School District.

Plaintiff, Doris A. Stahl, administratrix of the estate of Michael J. Wilson, deceased, instituted this action by filing a complaint on January 2, 1986, to which defendant filed the instant preliminary objections on January 15, 1986. Briefs having been filed by the parties, the matter is ready for disposition.

When ruling upon the sufficiency of a demurrer, this court is guided by wefi-established principles.

“A demurrer by a defendant admits all relevant facts sufficiently pleaded in the complaint and all inferences fairly deducible therefrom for the purposes of testing the legal sufficiency of the challenged pleading.” Duffee v. Judson, 251 Pa. Super. Ct. 406, 409, 380 A.2d 843 (1977).

Moreover, “[t]o sustain preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer, it must appear with certainty that, upon the facts averred, the law will not permit recovery by plaintiff.” Schott v. Westinghouse Electric Corp., 436 Pa. 279, 291, 259 A.2d 443 (1969).

Presently, the complaint asserts wrongful death1 and survival2 claims arising from the death of Michael J. Wilson, a minor. Decedent was killed on April 22, 1984, in a fall from the roof of the Cocalico [531]*531Middle School located at South Fourth and South Sixth Streets, Denver Borough, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Decedent utilized a trash dumpster to gain access to a low section of the school roof and, while attempting to retrieve a ball on the roof, fell over the edge of the roof of one building, through a skylight located on a lower roof and onto the ground floor of the school building. Plaintiff alleges that decedent’s fall and subsequent death were caused by: the negligence of defendant in negligently situating the dumpster in the immediate vicinity of a low roof where children could utilize it to gain access to the roof; negligently supervising the playground during the time the dumpster was located next to the building; and negligently maintaining the skylight with which children come into contract when retrieving balls from the school roof.

Defendant argues that, upon the facts averred, the law will not permit recovery by plaintiff because the instant circumstances do not constitute an exception to the tort immunity conferred upon local agencies by the Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act.3 We agree.

Section 8541 of the act, supra, provides:

“Except as otherwise provided in this subchapter, no local agency shall be liable for any damages on account of any injury to a person or property caused by any act of the local agency or an employee thereof or any other person.”

A school district is a local agency as defined by the act. Vince by Vince v. Ringgold School District, 92 Pa. Commw. 598, 499 A.2d 1148 (1985); [532]*532Auerbach v. Council Rock School District, 74 Pa. Commw. 507, 459 A.2d 1376 (1983). Therefore defendant is immune from liability to plaintiff unless plaintiff comes within one of the exceptions of the act.

In support of her position that defendant is not immune from liability, plaintiff relies on sections 8542(b)(2) and (3) of the act, supra, which state, inter alia:

“(b) Acts which may impose liability. — The following acts by a local agency or any of its employees may result in the imposition of liability on a local agency:

“(2) Care, custody or control of personal property. — The care, custody or control of personal property of others in possession or control of the local agency. The only losses for which damages shall be recoverable under this paragraph are those property losses suffered with respect to the personal property in the possession or control of the local agency.

“(3) Real property. — The care, custody or control of real property in the possession of the local agen- . cy, except that the local agency shall not be liable for damages on account of any injury süstained by a person intentionally trespassing on real property in the possession of the local agency. ”

A simple reading of the personal-property exception reveals that only property losses suffered with respect to personal property in the control of the local agency are recoverable thereunder. The instant case does not seek to recover property losses suffered with respect to personal property in the local agency’s possession or control, but rather seeks damages arising out of personal injuries suffered by decedent. Therefore, the personal-property excep[533]*533tion does not apply in the instant case and does not abrogate the immunity afforded defendant by the act, supra.

We also find the real-property exception equally inapplicable. First, we note that the real-property exception “does not waive immunity as to any unfortunate incident solely because it occurs on government-owned premises.” Vann v. Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia, 76 Pa. Commw. 604, 607, 464 A.2d 684 (1983); Wimbish v. School District of Penn Hills, 59 Pa. Commw. 620, 430 A.2d 710 (1981). The section must be read, as a narrow exception to a general legislative grant of immunity and construed to apply only in situations where the local agency’s negligence makes the government-owned property unsafe for the activities for which it is regularly used, for which it is intended to be used, or for which it may be reasonably foreseen to be used. Vann v. Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia, supra. Where the harm arises from acts or circumstances which are not reasonably foreseeable, an action under section 8542(b)(3) is not permitted. Vann, supra. (Action not permitted, where harm caused by violent criminal acts on unlighted school property was not reasonably foreseeable.) In no event is the exception to be interpreted to impose a standard of liability on the local agency higher than that to which private landowners are held. Vann, supra, 76 Pa. Commw. 608.

Instantly, it was necessary for Michael J. Wilson to deliberately climb on top of the dumpster in order to gain access to the roof. Then it was necessary for him to cross the roof in order to be in a position to fall off the roof of the building onto the lower roof of another building, where he plunged through the skylight.

[534]*534Under these facts, we do not believe that the local agency’s alleged negligence made the school property unsafe for the activities for which it was regularly used, for which it was intended to be used, or for which it may be reasonably foreseen to be used. Vann, supra.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Duffee v. Judson
380 A.2d 843 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1977)
Schott v. Westinghouse Electric Corp.
259 A.2d 443 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1969)
Frank v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
506 A.2d 1015 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1986)
Bethay v. Philadelphia Housing Authority
413 A.2d 710 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1979)
Porreca v. Atlantic Refining Co.
168 A.2d 564 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1961)
Whigham v. Pyle
302 A.2d 498 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1973)
Dumanski v. City of Erie
34 A.2d 508 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1943)
Krepcho Et Ux. v. Erie
21 A.2d 461 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1941)
Williams v. Overly Manufacturing Co.
34 A.2d 52 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1943)
Wimbish v. School District
430 A.2d 710 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1981)
Auerbach v. Council Rock School District
459 A.2d 1376 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Vann v. Board of Education
464 A.2d 684 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Sickafuse v. Commonwealth, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review
464 A.2d 689 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1983)
Vince v. Ringgold School District
499 A.2d 1148 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
47 Pa. D. & C.3d 529, 1986 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 40, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stahl-v-cocalico-school-district-pactcompllancas-1986.