Wiersma v. City of Long Beach

106 P.2d 45, 41 Cal. App. 2d 8
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 1, 1940
DocketCiv. 12034
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 106 P.2d 45 (Wiersma v. City of Long Beach) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wiersma v. City of Long Beach, 106 P.2d 45, 41 Cal. App. 2d 8 (Cal. Ct. App. 1940).

Opinion

YORK, P. J.

It appears from a review of the record herein that prior to July 29, 1937, the City of Long Beach entered into an agreement whereby it leased space in its municipal auditorium to the respondent Jack E. Daro, who was licensed to conduct wrestling matches in the City of Long Beach by the state athletic commission under the fictitious name of Long Beach Wrestling Association.

On July 29, 1937, the appellant purchased a ticket for a wrestling match to be conducted on that date in said municipal auditorium. Inside the auditorium a ring had been erected which was elevated about four feet above the floor in the form of a square, the sides of which were protected by ropes. Appellant occupied a ringside seat near the southeast corner of the ring, and during the course of a wrestling exhibition between Myron Cox and defendant La Verne Bax *11 ter, the latter, suddenly and, apparently without provocation, jumped from the ring at the southwest corner thereof, and running toward appellant deliberately struck him over the head with a chair, inflicting painful injuries upon him.

Thereafter, appellant brought the instant action to recover damages for such injuries against his assailant Baxter (who defaulted and against whom judgment was rendered by the trial court), and joined as defendants the respondents herein, to wit: City of Long Beach, Pacific Indemnity Company, Jack B. Daro, doing business as the Long Beach Wrestling Association, and Don W. McDonald. Trial was had before a jury and at the conclusion of appellant’s case, the court directed a verdict in favor of said respondents. Prom the judgment entered pursuant to said verdict, this appeal is prosecuted, as well as from the order by which appellant’s motion for a new trial was denied.

Since appellant has not seen fit to file a supplement to his opening brief setting forth his points separately and under appropriate headings, as was suggested by this court in its opinion denying respondents’ motion to dismiss this appeal, our review of the record must necessarily be limited to a determination of the propriety of the trial court’s action in directing a verdict in favor of the respondents.

With respect to the City of Long Beach, the trial court sustained its objection to the admission in evidence of the agreement between its city manager and respondent Daro concerning the concession for wrestling exhibitions in the municipal auditorium, but by stipulation of counsel for appellant and said city, which was joined in by counsel for Daro, it was agreed that on July 29, 1937, “the city, as a city, permitted the Long Beach Wrestling Association to hold wrestling matches in the auditorium at a rental basis upon a percentage of the gate receipts”.

It is here urged by respondent city in support of the directed verdict that (1) the pleadings and proof failed to show that appellant complied with section 338 of the city charter which provides that all claims for damages must be presented to the city council and filed with the city clerk within six months after the occurrence for which the damages arose. (Stats. 1921, p. 2151.) (2) There is a total lack of evidence to show that respondent city had any responsibility for ap *12 pellant’s injuries (a) under the doctrine of respondeat superior, or (2) landlord and tenant.

The evidence presented by appellant at the trial of this cause in April, 1938, affecting the City of Long Beach maj1' be summarized briefly as follows: City owned the auditorium and in 1936 leased it to respondent Daro for one year. On the evening of July 29, 1937, said city permitted respondent Daro to hold wrestling matches in the auditorium “at a rental basis upon a certain percentage of the gate receipts”. No claim or demand was presented to the city clerk or the city council prior to the filing of the instant action. On January 27, 1938, a copy of the summons and complaint was filed with the city clerk of the City of Long Beach, who presented it to the city council on January 28, 1938.

Since the presentation of a claim is a condition precedent to the filing of suit for damages against the city (Bancroft v. City of San Diego, 120 Cal. 432, 439 [52 Pac. 712]), no cause of action accrued in favor of appellant until after the filing of such claim (Bigelow v. City of Los Angeles, 141 Cal. 503, 507 [75 Pac. 111] ; Spencer v. City of Los Angeles, 180 Cal. 103, 119 [179 Pac. 163] ; Western Salt Co. v. City of San Diego, 181 Cal. 696, 697 [186 Pac. 345); therefore, the original complaint filed by appellant on August 21, 1937, which failed to allege that prior thereto a claim had been presented pursuant to said section 338 of the city charter, was insufficient to state a cause of action against respondent city. And this is true despite the fact that appellant was permitted to file an amendment to his complaint during the trial in April, 1938, alleging compliance with the provisions of said section 338, supra, by presenting on January 27, 1938, to the city clerk for filing with the city council a copy of the complaint and summons which had originally been filed five months prior thereto. This holding finds support in the decision in the case of Turney v. Shattuck, 96 Cal. App. 590, where it is said at page 596 [274 Pac. 442], “If a party has no cause of action at the time of the institution of his action, he cannot maintain it by filing a supplemental complaint founded on matters which have subsequently occurred.” See, also, Kirk v. Culley, 202 Cal. 501, 507 [261 Pac. 994], and authorities there cited.

At the trial herein it was stipulated that respondent Daro was licensed to conduct wrestling matches in Long Beach under the name of Long Beach Wrestling Association; that *13 respondent McDonald was Daro’s manager; and it was proved that defendant La Verne Baxter was wrestling in the ring at the municipal auditorium on the evening in question, but under whose authority he was wrestling there is an entire lack of proof.

The only connection respondent city had with the transaction under consideration was through its ownership of the municipal auditorium, and even though it had been established that respondent city was liable for the acts of defendant Baxter within the scope of his employment, said city could not be bound under the doctrine of respondeat superior for the reason that a master is not responsible for the wilful torts of his servants. (Lane v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 33 Cal. App. (2d) 169, 173 [91 Pac. (2d) 160], citing Stevenson v. Southern Pacific Co., 93 Cal. 558, 563 [29 Pac. 234, 27 Am. St. Rep. 223, 15 L. R. A. 475].)

While the concession agreement is doubtless sufficient to establish the relation of landlord and tenant between respondents city and Daro, nevertheless, a landlord cannot be held liable for the torts of a tenant. In the case of Meloy v. City of Santa Monica, 124 Cal. App. 622, 628 [12 Pac.

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Bluebook (online)
106 P.2d 45, 41 Cal. App. 2d 8, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wiersma-v-city-of-long-beach-calctapp-1940.