Zachel v. Mahaney

6 Ohio App. Unrep. 201
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 13, 1990
DocketCase No. L-89-187
StatusPublished

This text of 6 Ohio App. Unrep. 201 (Zachel v. Mahaney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zachel v. Mahaney, 6 Ohio App. Unrep. 201 (Ohio Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

ABOOD, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas which granted summary judgment in favor of appellee Oregon Board of Education ("the Board) and appellee Judith K. Mahaney and dismissed appellants' complaint.

Appellants have appealed setting forth the following assignments of error:

"I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING DEFENDANT, JUDITH MAHANEY’S, MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT. MATERIAL ISSUES OF FACT EXIST WHICH NEED TO BE RESOLVED BY THE TRIER OF FACT AS TO WHETHER THIS DEFENDANT WAS NEGLIGENT; WHETHER THE PLAINTIFF WAS NEGLIGENT; WHETHER EITHER PARTY'S NEGLIGENCE WAS A PROXIMATE CAUSE OF PLAINTIFF'S INJURIES; AND IF APPROXIMATE, THE PERCENTAGE WHICH SHOULD BE APPORTIONED TO EITHER PARTY’S NEGLIGENCE IN PROXIMATELY CAUSING PLAINTIFF'S INJURIES.

"II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING DEFENDANT, OREGON BOARD OF EDUCTION'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON THE BASIS THAT:

"(1) THE BOARD WAS IMMUNE FROM LIABILITY UNDER THE RECREATIONAL USER IMMUNITY STATUTE (O.R.C. §1533.181)

"(2) THE BOARD WAS IMMUNE FROM LIABILITY UNDER THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION IMMUNITY STATUTE (O.R.C. 2744.02)

"(3) THE BOARD OWED NO DUTY TO PLAINTIFF, STEPHEN ZACHEL."

The undisputed facts giving rise to this appeal are as follows. On September 1, 1987, at approximately 6:00 p.m., appellant Steven Zachel, then fifteen years old, was involved in an accident while driving a motorcycle/dirt bike on the Board's property at Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio. Steven was traveling south on a two-lane service drive at the school which runs along the east side of the football stadium and dead-ends into a parking lot. Mahaney was traveling east along a one-lane roadway which runs along the south side of the football stadium and was intending to turn north onto the two-lane service drive. The one-lane drive curves north and empties into the service drive, and, on the inside of the curve, approximately eight to ten feet back from the road behind a fence there is a stand of evergreen trees. The accident occurred at the intersection of the two roadways. As a result of the accident Steven is paralyzed from his chest down and is permanently disabled.

On November 13, 1987, appellants Linda and Steven Zachel filed a complaint against appellee, Mahaney and appellee, the Oregon Board of Education. The complaint alleged that appellee Mahaney had negligently driven her vehicle into the path of Steven's motorcycle and that the Board had maintained a nuisance on the Clay High School property by allowing a growth, of evergreen trees which prevented the drivers in the area where appellee Mahaney had been driving from seeing vehicles approaching from the north. The complaint also alleged that the Board was negligent and careless in the manner in which it maintained the premises in light of the expected uses of the two roads involved. On January 27, 1988, appellee Mahaney filed her answer and on February 9,1988, appellee Board filed its answer.

On February 28, 1989, the Board filed its motion for summary judgment setting forth bases on which it asserted it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on appellants' complaint. In support of its motion for summary judgment the Board argued first that at the time of the accident Steven was a recreational user of the school property and therefore the Board was entitled to immunity pursuant to R.C. 1533.181. In support [203]*203of this assertion the Board offered the deposition testimony of Joseph Toth, an administrative assistant for Oregon Schools. Toth testified that in 1987 he was in charge of the buildings and the grounds for the Oregon School System and that at that time he had been aware that people used the service road on which Steven was riding his dirt bike and that after regular school hours the school grounds were often used by the general public including bicycle riders, children, neighbors and students: The Board also offered Steven's deposition testimory in which he acknowledged that he had operated his dirt bike on the Clay High School property at least once previously, about one and one-half months before the accident. Also attached to appellee Board's motion for summary judgment was the affidavit of Larry D. Wadsworth who was employed as the freshman football coach in August 1987. Wadsworth stated that on September 1,1987, he was conducting football practice on a field at the east side of the stadium between 3:15 or 3:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. when he saw Steven riding his dirt bike at high speeds on the gravel area behind the stadium and through the fields behind the field on which they were practicing Also attached to the Board's motion for summary judgment was the affidavit of Rod Ashter, the wide receiver coach for the Varsity Football Team at Clay High School. Ashter stated that on September 1, 1987, he was coaching the varsity team on its practice field behind the stadium and that he observed Steven operating his dirt bike in the school parking lot, on the service drive, through the football practice field and on other fields bordering Corduroy Road for a period of over an hour. The Board also submitted the affidavit of Ray Waldendzak, the Oregon Fire Chief and a member of the Oregon Board of Education. Waldendzak also stated that on September 1,1987, he observed appellant riding his dirt bike on the school property through the parking lots and along the lanes, occasionally doing "wheelies."

Appellee Board argued next that it was entitled to summary judgment on appellants' complaint because it was immune from liability pursuant to R.C. Chapter 2744 which grants political subdivisions immunity from tort liability. The Board argued that it was not guilty of maintaining a nuisance by planting or permitting evergreens to grow along the service road or by failing to place stop sign at the junction of the stadium road and the service drive. The Board submitted that these acts were within the discretionary planning and enforcement powers of its employees and therefore none of the exceptions to the immunity set forth in R.C. Chapter 2744 were applicable

The Board also argued that if the trial court determined that it was not entitled to recreational user immunity or immunity pursuant to R.C. Chapter 2744 then, under the theory of premises liability, appellant Steven Zachel should at most be afforded the status of a licensee The Board submitted that as a licensor it is not liable to a licensee for ordinary negligence and owes no duty to a licensee except to refrain from wantonly, willfully, or intentionally injuring him.

Finally, the Board assertedthat, based upon the uncontradicted evidence in the record, appellant was clearly guilty Of negligence to a greater degree than the combined negligence of both appellees and was, therefore, precluded from any recovery.

On March 9, 1989, appellee Mahaney filed her motion for summary judgment. In support of her motion Mahaney incorporated, in part, the arguments of the Board. Mahaney also argued the record demonstrated .that the accident was caused solely by Steven's reckless operation of the motorbike and that there was no evidence in the record which would raise a genuine issue of fact as to any wrongful conduct on her part.

March 27, 1989, appellants filed their memorandum in opposition to both motions for summary judgment. In opposition to the Board's motion for summary judgment appellants argued that R.C.

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Bluebook (online)
6 Ohio App. Unrep. 201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zachel-v-mahaney-ohioctapp-1990.