Welch v. Sudbury Youth Soccer Ass'n

901 N.E.2d 1222, 453 Mass. 352, 2009 Mass. LEXIS 33
CourtMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
DecidedMarch 9, 2009
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 901 N.E.2d 1222 (Welch v. Sudbury Youth Soccer Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Welch v. Sudbury Youth Soccer Ass'n, 901 N.E.2d 1222, 453 Mass. 352, 2009 Mass. LEXIS 33 (Mass. 2009).

Opinion

Spina, J.

On April 10, 1998, Dustin Welch, twelve years old, was a participant in a soccer program run by the Sudbury Youth Soccer Association, Inc., and the Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association, Inc. (collectively, the associations), both of which are duly organized Massachusetts nonprofit corporations. The youth soccer team on which Welch played held practices and [353]*353participated in organized matches on Haskell Field in the town of Sudbury. In conjunction with the soccer program, the associations acquired metal goal posts and nets that were used for both practices and organized matches. Welch was injured when a goal post flipped over and struck him on the right leg, causing it to fracture.2

On December 14, 2006, Welch commenced a negligence action against the associations, alleging that they owed him a duty to maintain the goal posts in a safe and secure condition while he participated in their soccer program, and to warn him of the danger that existed if the goal posts were not properly anchored to the ground. Welch asserted that the associations committed a breach of these duties by failing to properly secure the goal posts and by failing to warn him of the possible consequent danger to his safety. Further, Welch alleged that as a result of the associations’ careless and negligent conduct, he was seriously injured. The associations filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Mass. R. Civ. P. 12 (c), 365 Mass. 754 (1974), contending that they were entitled to immunity under G. L. c. 231, § 85V, which governs the tort liability of a nonprofit association conducting a sports program. 3 A judge in the Superior Court agreed, and granted judgment on the pleadings for the associations. Welch appealed, and we transferred the case from the Appeals Court on our own motion. For the reasons that follow, we now affirm.

A motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to rule 12 (c) is a challenge to the legal sufficiency of a complaint. See Selectmen of Hanson v. Lindsay, 444 Mass. 502, 509 (2005). “A defendant’s rule 12 (c) motion is ‘actually a motion to dismiss . . . [that] argues that the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.’ ” Jarosz v. Palmer, 436 Mass. 526, [354]*354529 (2002), quoting J.W. Smith & H.B. Zobel, Rules Practice § 12.16 (1974).4 In deciding such a motion, all factual allegations pleaded by the nonmoving party must be accepted as true, and contravening assertions by the moving party are to be taken as false. See Jarosz v. Palmer, supra at 529-530; Minaya v. Massachusetts Credit Union Share Ins. Corp., 392 Mass. 904, 905 (1984). “Judgment on the pleadings may be entered if a plaintiff fails to present sufficient facts in the complaint to support the legal claims made.” Flomenbaum v. Commonwealth, 451 Mass. 740, 742 (2008).

The present case is simply one of statutory construction and application. General Laws c. 231, § 85V, provides, in relevant part: “[N]o nonprofit association conducting a sports or a sailing program . . . shall be liable to any person for any action in tort as a result of any acts or failures to act . . . in conducting such sports program.”5 However, this immunity is not absolute. Nonprofit associations conducting sports programs are subject to liability for, among other things, “acts or failures to act relating to the care and maintenance of real estate which such . . . nonprofit associations own, possess or control and which is used in connection with a sports program and or any other nonprofit association activity.” G. L. c. 231, § 85V (iii).

It is a canon of statutory construction that “statutory language should be given effect consistent with its plain meaning and in light of the aim of the Legislature unless to do so would achieve [355]*355an illogical result.” Sullivan v. Brookline, 435 Mass. 353, 360 (2001). See O’Brien v. Massachusetts Bay Transp. Auth., 405 Mass. 439, 443-444 (1989). Words are to be accorded their ordinary meaning and approved usage. See Pyle v. School Comm. of S. Hadley, 423 Mass. 283, 286 (1996). Where, as here, the language of a statute is clear and unambiguous, it is conclusive as to the intent of the Legislature. See id. at 285. The plain and unambiguous language of G. L. c. 231, § 85V, reveals a legislative intent to limit the tort liability of a nonprofit association with respect to its conduct in running a sports program. Cf. Sharon v. Newton, 437 Mass. 99, 110 (2002) (Legislature has “made the judgment that the elimination of liability for negligence in nonprofit sports programs is necessary to the encouragement and survival of such programs”).

As an initial matter, Welch contends that the provisions of § 85V are not applicable to his negligence action because he was neither a participant nor a spectator in an organized game or practice at the time he was injured. We disagree.

The applicability of § 85V is not based on the particular status of the individual who is injured, whether that person be a sports program participant, a spectator, or a bystander. The statute provides that “no nonprofit association conducting a sports . . . program . . . shall be hable to any person for any action in tort as a result of any acts or failures to act in . . . conducting such sports program” (emphasis added). G. L. c. 231, § 85V. The use of the words “any person” demonstrates that the focus of this statutory language is not on the status of the party bringing the tort action. Rather, the relevant consideration is whether that party was injured by any act or failure to act by a nonprofit association while conducting a sports program. Section 85V confers immunity on a nonprofit association in such circumstances, subject to certain exceptions, one of which we now consider.

Welch contends that the real estate exception set forth in G. L. c. 231, § 85V (iii), precludes the associations from enjoying immunity from liability for his injuries. He argues that the associations were negligent in their care and maintenance of Haskell Field by allowing a dangerous condition — improperly secured soccer goals — to exist on the property. Further, Welch continues, this dangerous condition created a public nuisance, [356]*356which, in turn, caused him to suffer serious harm. In Welch’s view, the establishment and maintenance of this nuisance subjected the associations to liability for his injuries, and the immunity provisions of § 85V did not protect them from such liability. We disagree.

Contrary to Welch’s argument, the present case is not analogous to those where we have concluded that, under the common law, a landowner generally owes a duty of reasonable care to prevent activities or conditions on his land that would create a public nuisance, such as the release of hazardous waste onto the property, and can be held liable for the consequences of his failure to abate the nuisance. See, e.g., Nassr v. Commonwealth, 394 Mass. 767, 774-776 (1985), and cases cited. Cf. Sullivan v. Brookline, 416 Mass. 825, 827 (1994) (“The duty owed by a property owner to someone lawfully on the owner’s premises is one of reasonable care in the circumstances”); Aylward v. McCloskey, 412 Mass.

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Bluebook (online)
901 N.E.2d 1222, 453 Mass. 352, 2009 Mass. LEXIS 33, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/welch-v-sudbury-youth-soccer-assn-mass-2009.