Opinion ID: 1248252
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: special relationship liability

Text: Courts have recognized that a special relationship between an individual and a government entity can, in certain situations, give rise to liability. Few courts have attempted to formulate any general rule. One exception is the Supreme Court of Minnesota, which, in Cracraft v. City of St. Louis Park, 279 N.W.2d 801 (Minn.1979), outlined four factors, any one of which could give rise to governmental liability: (1) actual knowledge of the dangerous condition; (2) reasonable reliance by the plaintiff on the municipality's specific representation and conduct which caused the plaintiff to forego alternative conduct for his protection; (3) a statute which creates mandatory acts on the part of the municipality which are clearly for the protection of a specific class of persons, rather than for the public in general; and (4) failure of the municipality to use due care to avoid increasing the risk of harm. Applying these guidelines, the court in Cracraft found a building inspector not liable for his failure to discover a drum of flammable liquid which subsequently exploded and injured three students on school property. Another exception is the Washington Supreme Court, which, in Bailey v. Town of Forks, 108 Wash.2d 262, 737 P.2d 1257 (1987), formulated these conditions which would give rise to liability: (1) a legislative enactment shows an intent to protect a particular class; (2) governmental agents have actual knowledge of a statutory violation and fail to take corrective action when they have a duty to do so and when the plaintiff is within the protected class; (3) governmental agents fail to exercise reasonable care after assuming a duty to warn or aid a particular plaintiff; (4) a plaintiff has a particular relationship to a governmental agent different from the general public and relies on explicit assurances given by the agent or inherent in the duty vested in the governmental agency; and (5) the governmental agency is operating in a proprietary rather than a governmental function. [13] Based on this analysis, the court in Bailey found the municipality to be liable for a police officer's negligence in failing to arrest an intoxicated driver who negligently caused serious injuries to the plaintiff in an automobile accident a few minutes later. Other courts, [14] like New York, do not attempt to define what relationship may give rise to a special duty which creates liability. In Sorichetti v. City of New York, 65 N.Y.2d 461, 492 N.Y.S.2d 591, 482 N.E.2d 70 (1985), liability was imposed on the city for injuries a father inflicted on his infant daughter. The child's mother had secured a protective order against the father and had contacted the police about his drinking and abusive conduct on a number of occasions, including the day the child was severely physically abused. In finding liability, the court's test was fact-specific: In the present case, we hold that a special relationship existed between the City and Dina Sorichetti which arose out of (1) the order of protection; (2) the police department's knowledge of Frank Sorichetti's violent history, gained through and verified both by its actual dealings with him, the existence of the order of protection, and its knowledge of the specific situation in which the infant had been placed; (3) its response to Josephine Sorichetti's pleas for assistance on the day of the assault; and (4) Mrs. Sorichetti's reasonable expectation of police protection. 65 N.Y.2d at 469, 492 N.Y.S.2d at 596, 482 N.E.2d at 75. [15] It is apparent that most jurisdictions now accept the premise that if a special relationship exists between a local governmental entity and an individual which gives rise to a duty to such individual, and the duty is breached causing injuries, then a suit may be maintained against such entity.
It does not appear that we have had occasion to discuss the public duty doctrine in our cases. This may be because until our decision in Long v. City of Weirton, 158 W.Va. 741, 214 S.E.2d 832 (1975), municipal governmental immunity foreclosed suit, and there was little occasion to utilize the doctrine. [16] The same is true of other local governmental entities that had immunity before it was removed judicially. Gooden v. County Comm'n, ___ W.Va. ___, 298 S.E.2d 103 (1982) (county commissions); Ohio Valley Contractors v. Board of Educ., ___ W.Va. ___, 293 S.E.2d 437 (1982) (county boards of education). Prior to the abolition of municipal governmental immunity, we followed the general rule that a municipality or other local governmental body could be held liable if it performed a proprietary act in a negligent fashion. E.g., Gallagher v. City of Westover, 167 W.Va. 644, 280 S.E.2d 330 (1981) (collecting surface waters and casting them on plaintiff's lot); Adkins v. City of Hinton, 149 W.Va. 613, 142 S.E.2d 889 (1965) (negligent maintenance of city dump); Hatten v. Mason Realty Co., 148 W.Va. 380, 135 S.E.2d 236 (1964) (sewer line negligently maintained); Ward v. County Court, 141 W.Va. 730, 93 S.E.2d 44 (1956) (negligently maintaining boats at public park); Harrison v. McOwen, 126 W.Va. 933, 30 S.E.2d 740 (1944) (quarrying activity by city damaged adjoining land); Ashworth v. City of Clarksburg, 118 W.Va. 476, 190 S.E. 763 (1937) (negligently maintaining public swimming pool); Warden v. City of Grafton, 99 W.Va. 249, 128 S.E. 375 (1925) (negligently maintaining swimming pool); Jordan v. City of Benwood, 42 W.Va. 312, 26 S.E. 266 (1896) (collecting surface waters and casting them on plaintiff's lot). See generally Annot., Liability of County for Torts in Connection with Activities which Pertain, or Are Claimed to Pertain, to Private or Proprietary Function, 16 A.L.R.2d 1079 (1951). It must be emphasized that in each of the foregoing cases the liability of the local governmental entity was tested by the same standard as a private corporation: before the entity could be held liable, it had to be found negligent. Courts in other jurisdictions have continued this distinction even when they recognize the public duty doctrine. If the activity is of a proprietary nature and the local governmental entity is found to be negligent, an action may be maintained. E.g., Leger v. Kelley, supra ; Stigler v. City of Chicago, supra ; E. Eyring & Sons Co. v. City of Baltimore, supra ; Irwin v. Town of Ware, 392 Mass. 745, 467 N.E.2d 1292 (1984); Stemen v. Coffman, supra ; Fiduccia v. Summit Hill Constr. Co., supra . We have also recognized that a legislative enactment may affix liability on a city for the protection of a particular class. The most common illustration is W.Va. Code, 17-10-17, which requires municipal corporations and county commissions to keep streets and sidewalks in good repair. This statute specifically provides a right to recover damages for those injured. [17] E.g., Long v. City of Weirton, supra ; Burdick v. City of Huntington, 133 W.Va. 724, 57 S.E.2d 885 (1950); Parsons v. Roane County Court, 92 W.Va. 490, 115 S.E. 473 (1922). As we have earlier pointed out, there is no such explicit language in the City's building code providing for a cause of action. In this case, there is no showing of any special relationship giving rise to a duty to the plaintiffs. The fact that the City failed to make an inspection of the plaintiffs' apartment for possible fire violations is insufficient to create a duty. In the present case, there was no issue of fact to be resolved. The case turned on a pure question of law. Under Rule 56(c) of the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure: `A motion for summary judgment may only be granted where there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.' Syllabus Point 2, Mandolidis v. Elkins Indus., Inc., 161 W.Va. 695, 246 S.E.2d 907 (1978). Syllabus Point 3, Thomas v. Raleigh General Hospital, ___ W.Va. ___, 358 S.E.2d 222 (1987). Consequently, we conclude that the trial court was correct in granting the motion for summary judgment. Its ruling is, therefore, affirmed. Affirmed.