Opinion ID: 796898
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Pfalzgraf

Text: 92 Pfalzgraf, like Parrott and Daly, attended the initial meetings with Condon at which the art project was discussed. As the deputy chief coroner, Pfalzgraf was assigned a supervisory role regarding Condon's activities. The district court concluded that a jury could find that Pfalzgraf also acted recklessly because (1) Pfalzgraf was Tobias's supervisor and did not require Tobias to note Condon's presence at the autopsies he witnessed, and (2) Pfalzgraf allowed Condon to witness the autopsy of Brady, during which Condon photographed Brady with a dollhouse ladder propped against his open skull. In his defense, Pfalzgraf explained that he left the room at certain points during the Brady autopsy and that he never saw Condon using any props or taking any propped photographs. He also said that he never had any contact with Condon after the Brady autopsy on August 16, 2000. 93 There is sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude that Pfalzgraf, like Daly and Parrott, knew of Condon's plan to take the offending photographs due to Pfalzgraf's attendance at the initial meetings. Pfalzgraf also would have known of the instructions from the Prosecutor's Office to obscure identifiable features of any bodies photographed for the same reason. Once Parrott assigned Pfalzgraf to work with Condon, however, Pfalzgraf took no steps to ensure that any safeguards were followed and in fact testified that he left Condon alone in the autopsy suite. A factfinder could thus reasonably find that Pfalzgraf wantonly or recklessly permitted Condon to take offending photographs in the course of Brady's autopsy. We therefore conclude that Pfalzgraf's actions, although within the scope of his employment under § 2744.03(A)(6)(a), could be found by a jury to fall within the § 2744.03(A)(6)(b) exception for recklessness. As a result, we affirm the district court's denial of summary judgment as to Chesher's intentional-infliction-of-emotional-distress claim against Pfalzgraf.