Vallandigham v. Clover Park School District No. 400

79 P.3d 18, 119 Wash. App. 95, 2003 Wash. App. LEXIS 2656
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedNovember 12, 2003
DocketNo. 30301-9-II
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 79 P.3d 18 (Vallandigham v. Clover Park School District No. 400) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vallandigham v. Clover Park School District No. 400, 79 P.3d 18, 119 Wash. App. 95, 2003 Wash. App. LEXIS 2656 (Wash. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

Bridgewater, J.

Jeanette Vallandigham and Melinda Clarke, special education instructors at Woodbrook Middle School, sued Clover Park School District (Clover Park) for injuries caused by a handicapped student who had a history of aggression. They sued under the deliberate intention exception to the Industrial Insurance Act (chapter 51.24 RCW), but the trial court granted summary judgment in Clover Park’s favor. Vallandigham and Clarke appeal, al[98]*98leging that issues of material fact exist as to whether Clover Park willfully disregarded its actual knowledge of their certain injury. We affirm the trial court’s judgment, holding that no issue of material fact exists on the issue of willful disregard. Clover Park took many steps to alleviate the risk posed by the student, and for us to hold these measures inadequate would wrongly introduce a negligence standard into the deliberate intention exception.

R.M. was born January 4, 1986. He is an autistic child with a seizure disorder and the cognitive ability of a two- to three-year-old. He transferred to the Clover Park School District in 1995. Throughout his time in Clover Park, R.M. exhibited aggressive behavior and inflicted injuries of varying severity on students and staff.

R.M. was 13 years old when he began the 1999-2000 school year. During that year, R.M.’s aggression increased, and he inflicted injuries on a more regular basis. His instructors during the year were Vallandigham and Clarke.1 On October 26, 1999, while Vallandigham tried to intervene in one of R.M.’s attacks, he shoved her, causing her to fall backwards, hit her head, and lose consciousness. The next day, October 27, R.M. bit Clarke’s right breast while she tried “to distract his attention away from the other students.” 3 Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 459. The bite broke the skin and left a bruise. R.M. remained in Vallandigham and Clarke’s class for most of the remainder of the school year. During this time, Vallandigham and Clarke suffered various injuries. R.M. left middle school for Lakes High School in the 2000-01 school year.

Vallandigham and Clarke received Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) benefits for their injuries, but they sought additional damages against Clover Park in a suit filed in Pierce County Superior Court. They claimed, under RCW 51.24.020, that Clover Park deliberately intended their injury. On Clover Park’s motion, the trial court [99]*99granted summary judgment against Vallandigham and Clarke.

When reviewing an order of summary judgment, we engage in the same inquiry as the trial court. Wilson v. Steinbach, 98 Wn.2d 434, 437, 656 P.2d 1030 (1982). Summary judgment is appropriate only if the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, and admissions on file demonstrate the absence of any genuine issues of material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c). A question of fact may be determined as a matter of law when reasonable minds could reach but one conclusion. Graff v. Allstate Ins. Co., 113 Wn. App. 799, 802, 54 P.3d 1266 (2002), review denied, 149 Wn.2d 1013 (2003).

“In a summary judgment motion, the burden is on the moving party to demonstrate that there is no genuine issue as to a material fact and that, as a matter of law, summary judgment is proper.” Atherton Condo. Apartment-Owners Ass’n Bd. of Dirs. v. Blume Dev. Co., 115 Wn.2d 506, 516, 799 P.2d 250 (1990). The burden then shifts to the nonmoving party to set forth specific facts sufficiently rebutting the moving party’s contentions and disclosing the existence of a material issue of fact. Seven Gables Corp. v. MGM/UA Entm’t Co., 106 Wn.2d 1, 13, 721 P.2d 1 (1986). We consider all facts submitted and all reasonable inferences from them in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Wilson, 98 Wn.2d at 437.

Industrial insurance normally provides the exclusive remedy for an employee injured in the course of his or her employment. Ch. 51.24 RCW; Birklid v. Boeing Co., 127 Wn.2d 853, 855, 904 P.2d 278 (1995). That exclusivity principle, however, is not absolute. RCW 51.24.020 provides that, “[i]f injury results to a worker from the deliberate intention of his or her employer to produce such injury, the worker . . . shall have the privilege to take under this title and also have cause of action against the employer as if this title had not been enacted, for any damages in excess of compensation and benefits paid or payable under this title.”

[100]*100Throughout much of the Industrial Insurance Act’s (IIA) history, “deliberate intention” meant an assault or battery. Birklid, 127 Wn.2d at 861-62; see, e.g., Perry v. Beverage, 121 Wash. 652, 209 P. 1102, 214 P. 146 (1922). But our Supreme Court broadened the exception’s scope in Birklid. There, the court held that “the phrase ‘deliberate intention’. . . means the employer had actual knowledge that an injury was certain to occur and willfully disregarded that knowledge.” Birklid, 127 Wn.2d at 865.

The plaintiffs’ deliberate intention suit theorized that the facts, viewed in a light favorable to them, show so many aggressive episodes and injuries by R.M. that Clover Park actually knew that the plaintiffs would certainly be injured. The claim continues that Clover Park willfully disregarded its actual knowledge by failing to take effective remedial measures to prevent the injuries.

I. Actual Knowledge of Certain Injury

Under RCW 51.24.020, disregard of a known risk of harm or carelessness is not sufficient; although evidence of actual intent to injure is unnecessary, there must be evidence that the employer knew of and ignored certain, rather than potential, harm. Birklid, 127 Wn.2d at 865; Henson v. Crisp, 88 Wn. App. 957, 961, 946 P.2d 1252 (1997), review denied, 135 Wn.2d 1010 (1998); Goad v. Hambridge, 85 Wn. App. 98, 104, 931 P.2d 200, review denied, 132 Wn.2d 1010 (1997). Evidence of negligent or even grossly negligent acts that have a substantial certainty of producing injury is insufficient. Folsom v. Burger King, 135 Wn.2d 658, 664-65, 958 P.2d 301 (1998).

Birklid and Baker v. Schatz, 80 Wn. App. 775, 912 P.2d 501, review denied, 129 Wn.2d 1031 (1996), concerned workers suffering from illnesses related to on-the-job chemical exposure.

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79 P.3d 18, 119 Wash. App. 95, 2003 Wash. App. LEXIS 2656, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vallandigham-v-clover-park-school-district-no-400-washctapp-2003.