Opinion ID: 1666801
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: liability of the state of louisiana

Text: A. RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR In his tentative oral findings of fact, apparently dictated immediately after the matter was submitted, the trial judge concluded that no showing had been made to establish liability of the State based on respondeat superior. Although the court of appeal did not address the respondeat superior question, we feel compelled to do so. Conn was an employee of Pinecrest State School, which was under the supervision of Louisiana Department of Health and Human Resources, a state agency. The question arises whether, at the time of the accident, while returning to his employer-furnished home on the school grounds after normal working hours, he was within the course and scope of his employment. The test to be applied was whether he was performing some function for his employer and for which he was employed. LSA-C.C. art. 2320; Orgeron v. Sweatman, 367 So.2d 1199 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1978), writ denied, Cheramie v. Sweatman, La., 371 So.2d 615. More specifically, the inquiry is whether the employee's tortious conduct was so closely connected in time, place and causation to his employment duties as to be regarded a risk of harm fairly attributable to the employer's business, as compared with conduct motivated by purely personal considerations entirely extraneous to the employer's interests. LeBrane v. Lewis, 292 So.2d 216, 218 (La. 1974). The resolution of this issue, as we view it, depends to a large extent on whether Conn, employed as an electrician, was on duty after working hours at the time of the Saturday night accident, regardless of the fact that he was returning to his employer-furnished house located on the school grounds. In this connection Conn testified that he was paid a monthly salary, lived on the grounds, and was subject to 24-hour call if emergencies arose. Normal working hours for electricians were 7:30 a. m. to 4 p. m., Monday through Friday. Although there were other electricians employed by the school, only Conn and Donald Guadagnoli, the electrician foreman, lived on the school grounds in housing provided by Pinecrest. According to Conn, he was on call every Saturday and Sunday, except when arrangements were made for other people to be on call. He described on call as being available for emergency calls after 4 p. m. and being able to respond to an emergency within 30 minutes of the call. This required informing his wife or others where he could be located in the event he was not at home. He stated that on the night of the accident, he was on call and was returning home for that purpose. According to Guadagnoli, however, he was on duty on the weekend of the accident, while Conn had the weekend off. Guadagnoli testified that another electrician had worked on Saturday from 7:30 to 4 p. m. and Guadagnoli's on-call duty for emergencies commenced at 4 p. m. The foreman stated that he had received and responded to two calls on that evening. He explained that the electricians who lived on the grounds are not necessarily on call on a 24-hour basis. The agreement among them was that each would work every third or fourth weekend. He further testified there were two or three other electricians in addition to Conn and himself. Conn disagreed with Guadagnoli's testimony that Conn had not been on duty on the fateful Saturday night. Coates Stuckey, the school administrator, corroborated Guadagnoli's testimony. He stated that employees who lived on the grounds were not expected to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. According to Stuckey, usually the electrician foreman and the electrician living on the grounds reached an understanding that one or the other would be on call during off hours. In the trial judge's tentative findings, he accepted Guadagnoli's testimony regarding whether Conn was on call on the night of the accident. This finding obviously is based on a credibility determination. Considering Conn's activities on November 12th, together with Guadagnoli's testimony and its corroboration by Stuckey, we are led to conclude, as did the trial judge, that Conn was not on duty on the date of the accident. Having so concluded, we find no error in the trial court's rejection of liability against the State based on respondeat superior. B. FAILURE TO PROVIDE SUPERVISION AND PROTECT DECEDENT In Hunt v. Bogalusa Medical Center, 303 So.2d 745, 747 (La.1974), this Court, setting forth the care required to be exercised toward a patient, stated: A hospital is bound to exercise the requisite amount of care toward a patient that the particular patient's condition may require. It is the hospital's duty to protect a patient from dangers that may result from the patient's physical and mental incapacities as well as from external circumstances peculiarly within the hospital's control. A determination of whether a hospital has breached the duty of care it owes to a particular patient depends upon the circumstances and the facts of that case. We accept the State's argument that recent legislation amending the Louisiana Mental Health Law reflects legislative resolve to provide involuntary treatment that is at once `medically appropriate' and `least restrictive of the patient's liberty'. [3] Nevertheless, we conclude under the circumstances of this case that the State failed to provide proper supervision and care to protect Roy Daniels from danger. The risk of injury by vehicles is within the ambit of the duty of care and supervision the Pinecrest State School owed this particular resident. According to Stuckey, there are approximately 2100 residents and 1700 employees at Pinecrest. There are paved and blacktopped roads traversing the approximately 300-acre grounds. Vehicles enter and leave the school grounds through one entrance, and the balance of the area is completely fenced. Stuckey testified that a security officer is at the gate from 7 a. m. to 4 p. m., seven days a week. After 4 p. m., the entrance to the school grounds is unattended and open, permitting vehicles to enter and leave at any time, as there actually was no gate at the entrance. One patrol car makes rounds of the area after 4 p. m., and makes routine checks of the entrance. Significantly, Stuckey testified that the school did have problems in the nature of people driving too fast on the grounds. The purpose of the patrol was to curtail this driving at excessive speeds, and there were speed limit signs posted throughout the school grounds. Stuckey also testified there were mercury vapor lights along the streets that operated on a photo-electric switch, going on at sundown and off at sunrise. Eddie Gaspard, a security officer at Pinecrest, stated that the sign at the gate merely stated Drive Carefully. It did not indicate that pedestrians had the right-of-way. According to Gaspard, there was a traffic sign in the area of the accident which stated, Stop for Pedestrians in Crosswalk. He testified that classes on safety were conducted and that in some areas of the school grounds there were sidewalks, but in others there were none. There were no safety bumps on the street to force vehicular traffic to maintain a slower speed. Residents were given the right-of-way over vehicular traffic and patients generally were allowed to roam freely around the campus grounds. According to Gaspard, Pinecrest depends to a large extent on the discretion of adult drivers. Gaspard also testified that he knew Roy and was aware that Roy had a habit of walking in the middle of the street. He had cautioned Roy on several occasions to get on the sidewalk or to walk on the side of the street, particularly when he was pulling his wagon or riding a bicycle. He stated that he had never talked about Roy's dangerous habit to persons responsible for Roy's privileges and responsibilities. Coates Stuckey and Peter Chandler (the assistant superintendent and director of psychological services at the institution) explained that the extent of the privileges and supervision accorded to each resident is determined by a committee. This committee is usually composed of a physician, a social worker, a pathologist and a staff representative living on the school grounds. Chandler described the school as a free-open environment, conducive to and leading to a more rapid improvement. He stated that residents had freedom to move as they willed. Based on his observations of Roy, Chandler did not feel that additional supervision or restrictions were required for him. He pointed out that Roy had permission to go off the school grounds. According to Chandler, Roy was in the upper population group which required less supervision, but he did not have total freedom. He had a work responsibility, was assigned to a job, and was supervised within limits. According to Chandler, merely because a resident violated traffic safety regulations did not necessarily mean he should be more closely supervised. Chandler did state, however, that if a patient habitually walked into the street, or disregarded the vehicular traffic, he might require an attendant or an escort. Royce Eznak, the recreation supervisor, testified he knew Roy and had watched Roy on the night of the accident as he left the dance to transport the records. Roy was alone and unescorted. The distance he had to cross between the recreation hall and the office was approximately three or four blocks. According to Eznak, some patients were brought to and from the recreation hall in buses. Those who walked traveled in groups supervised by employees. Eznak testified that, had he seen Roy pulling the wagon in the middle of the street prior to the accident that evening, he would have attempted to supervise, lead or help him. Significantly, Eznak testified that on the night of the accident, an employee had preceded Roy by bus in order to open the gate at the entrance of the office where the records were stored. The employee went by bus. Roy walked unescorted. Stuckey described Roy as one who had a great love for people, liked to be included in things, was quick to learn, and took pride in his work. All things considered, Stuckey stated, Roy had an unusual mechanical aptitude. Stuckey indicated that Roy did not require an escort. He had been allowed to leave Pinecrest unescorted, in the daytime, on three separate occasions. On other occasions, he had been permitted to leave the school grounds accompanied either by an employee or by his family. Stuckey testified that Roy was not capable of living in society away from Pinecrest without supervision. Neither Roy nor other residents were permitted to be off campus after dark, unescorted. The Pinecrest school grounds were an open environment, in which vehicles had complete and unrestricted freedom to enter in evenings, and there were 1700 employees who had access and use of these streets. There were no protective street barriers to reduce the vehicular speed. Moreover, the school failed to provide an escort to, or to supervise at night, a patient known to have a seven and one-half year old mentality and a habit of walking in the middle of the street. Considering all these circumstances, we are led to conclude, as did the trial judge and the court of appeal, that the state school violated its duty to Roy by failing to provide adequate supervision for his safety. Although we recognize the therapeutic value of encouraging residents to be more self-reliant, the scope of the school's duty encompassed the risk that Roy might be struck by an automobile while walking unescorted at night on the school grounds. The injury was foreseeable, regardless of whether or not the driver was intoxicated. Accordingly, we conclude the trial judge and the court of appeal were correct in finding the State of Louisiana liable.