Vadaj v. French

89 N.E.3d 73, 2017 Ohio 1370
CourtCourt of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County
DecidedApril 13, 2017
DocketNos. 104699; 104701
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 89 N.E.3d 73 (Vadaj v. French) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vadaj v. French, 89 N.E.3d 73, 2017 Ohio 1370 (Ohio Super. Ct. 2017).

Opinion

TIM McCORMACK, J.:

{¶ 1} Plaintiffs-appellants Robin and Mark Vadaj appeal the trial court's granting of summary judgment in favor of defendants-appellees Shane M. French and Michael W. Toomey. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Procedural History and Substantive Facts

{¶ 2} On July 4, 2013, Robin and Mark Vadaj, members of Olde River Yacht Club in Cleveland, Ohio, were on their boat that they kept docked at the club. They had come to the club to watch the city of Cleveland's fireworks show that evening from their boat. After the fireworks show ended, at approximately 11:30 p.m., the Vadajes retired to their cabin and went to bed.

{¶ 3} Mrs. Vadaj alleged that she and her husband were awakened at approximately 3:00 a.m. by the sound of an "explosion." The Vadajes got out of bed and proceeded to the stairs to exit the cabin. They did not turn on any lights, as they normally would do upon getting out of bed. Mr. Vadaj ascended the stairs and went to the back deck of the boat. Mrs. Vadaj stated that the explosion startled her. She jumped up out of bed, began to run up the stairs, and she hit her left foot on a step, causing a metatarsal fracture. She explained *76that she did not see the step because it was dark. Mrs. Vadaj stated that she did not know what the loud sound was until she was out of the boat's cabin and on the deck.

{¶ 4} Once on the deck, Mrs. Vadaj was able to determine that the source of the sound was fireworks being set off in a grassy picnic area near the boat docks. She observed two people in the picnic area setting off fireworks in a "fairly hard" rain. The two individuals were later identified as defendants-appellees French and Toomey. The Vadajes allege that the picnic area was approximately 20 feet from their boat; however, French and Toomey contend that the fireworks were ignited more than 40 feet from the Vadajes' boat. Mrs. Vadaj stated in her deposition that because it was raining so hard, one of the fireworks landed on the boat's aft deck.

{¶ 5} The Vadajes filed a complaint against French and Toomey for the injury Mrs. Vadaj incurred in hitting her foot on the stairs in her boat's cabin, as well as a claim of the loss of consortium allegedly suffered by Mr. Vadaj.1 French and Toomey filed motions for summary judgment, which the trial court granted. The Vadajes now appeal the trial court's judgment, contending that there are genuine issues of material fact that remain to be litigated and the trial court erred in granting the defendants-appellees' motions.

Summary Judgment

{¶ 6} Summary judgment is appropriate when: (1) there is no genuine issue of material fact, (2) the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and (3) after construing the evidence most favorably for the party against whom the motion is made, reasonable minds can reach only a conclusion that is adverse to the nonmoving party. Civ.R. 56(C). Once a moving party satisfies its burden, the nonmoving party may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of the moving party's pleadings; rather, it has a reciprocal burden of setting forth specific facts demonstrating that there is a genuine triable issue. State ex rel. Zimmerman v. Tompkins , 75 Ohio St.3d 447, 449, 663 N.E.2d 639 (1996).

{¶ 7} We review the trial court's judgment de novo. Telecom Acquisition Corp. I v. Lucic Enters. , 2016-Ohio-1466, 62 N.E.3d 1034, ¶ 86, citing Grafton v. Ohio Edison Co. , 77 Ohio St.3d 102, 105, 671 N.E.2d 241 (1996).

Law and Analysis

{¶ 8} The Vadajes allege on appeal that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of both French and Toomey. In support, the Vadajes claim that there is a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether French and Toomey owed a duty to the Vadajes and whether the defendants-appellees' actions caused Mrs. Vadaj's injury. The Vadajes also claim that French's and Toomey's violation of the Ohio Administrative Code is evidence of negligence and, therefore, summary judgment was improper. In response, appellees assert that they owed no duty to the Vadajes. They also assert that their actions were not the proximate cause of Mrs. Vadaj's injury; rather, Mrs. Vadaj's own negligence caused her injury.

{¶ 9} In order to establish negligence between private parties, a party must show (1) a duty owed, (2) a breach of that duty, and (3) an injury proximately resulting from that breach. Texler v. D.O. Summers Cleaners & Shirt Laundry Co. , 81 Ohio St.3d 677, 680, 693 N.E.2d 271 (1998) ; Menifee v. Ohio Welding Prods., Inc. , 15 Ohio St.3d 75, 77, 472 N.E.2d 707 (1984). A trial court properly grants summary *77judgment in a negligence action "[w]hen the defendants, as the moving parties, furnish evidence which demonstrates the plaintiff has not established the elements necessary to maintain [a] negligence action." Feichtner v. Cleveland , 95 Ohio App.3d 388, 394, 642 N.E.2d 657 (8th Dist.1994), citing Keister v. Park Centre Lanes , 3 Ohio App.3d 19, 443 N.E.2d 532 (5th Dist.1981).

{¶ 10} The absence of any one of the elements necessary to maintain a negligence action renders a plaintiff's claim of negligence insufficient as a matter of law. Hairston v. Gary K. Corp. , 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 87199, 2006-Ohio-5566

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

Related

Mowry v. United States
N.D. Ohio, 2023
Winkler v. Win Win Aviation, Inc.
339 F. Supp. 3d 772 (S.D. Ohio, 2018)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
89 N.E.3d 73, 2017 Ohio 1370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vadaj-v-french-ohctapp8cuyahog-2017.