Opinion ID: 1294515
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Did the District Court Err in Granting the Directed Verdict?

Text: The district court granted Mercado and the State's directed verdict by concluding the decision to keep the library open was a discretionary function under Iowa Code section 669.14(1) (2001). The question we must decide is whether the district court correctly interpreted section 669.14(1) and applied it to the evidence. The State does not waive its sovereign immunity for actions based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of a state agency or an employee of the state, whether or not the discretion be abused. Iowa Code § 669.14(1). For purposes of determining whether an action is a discretionary function under Iowa Code chapter 669, the Iowa Tort Claims Act, our analysis is effectively identical to a discretionary function analysis under Iowa Code chapter 670 governing the tort liability of governmental subdivisions. Schmitz v. City of Dubuque, 682 N.W.2d 70, 73 (Iowa 2004). Immunity is the exception, and liability is the rule under the tort claims acts. Id. at 74. The discretionary function immunity is an affirmative defense raised by the defendant, and the party asserting immunity has the burden to prove the immunity. Id. at 73. We utilize a two-step test for determining whether a challenged action falls within the discretionary function exception, and thus is entitled to statutory immunity from tort liability. The test requires the court to consider whether the action is a matter of choice for the acting employee and when the challenged conduct involves an element of judgment, to determine whether that judgment is of the kind the discretionary function exception was designed to shield. Iowa Code § 670.4(3); Bellman v. City of Cedar Falls, 617 N.W.2d 11, 19 (Iowa 2000). Anderson concedes Mercado and the State met the first prong of the test. Therefore, we must decide whether the second prong is satisfied. This court has adopted the Supreme Court's holding that the discretionary function exception protects only governmental actions and decisions based on considerations of public policy. Berkovitz v. United States, 486 U.S. 531, 536-37, 108 S.Ct. 1954, 1959, 100 L.Ed.2d 531, 541 (1988); Goodman v. City of Le Claire, 587 N.W.2d 232, 237-38 (Iowa 1998). To determine whether Mercado and the State established Mercado based the decision to keep the library open on considerations of public policy, a review of our recent decisions on this issue is necessary. In Bellman, an accident involving an unattended golf cart killed a young boy during a school safety program. 617 N.W.2d at 15. Someone left the keys in the golf cart's ignition, and several unsupervised children went in the cart. Id. One child stepped on the gas pedal, which released the emergency break and activated the cart's electric motor. Id. The victim was pinned against the side of an ambulance by the golf cart resulting in his death. Id. In deciding whether the school district was immune from suit, we held discretionary function immunity only attaches to governmental decisions and actions based on policy considerations grounded on social, economic, or political reasons. Id. at 19. Because the teacher did not base her decision in supervising the children on such policy considerations, we concluded the school district was not immune. Id. In Doe v. Cedar Rapids Community School District, mothers on behalf of three female students brought an action against a school district for vicarious liability and for the negligent hiring, retention, and supervision of a teacher who allegedly engaged in improper sexual conduct with the three female students. 652 N.W.2d 439, 440 (Iowa 2002). We concluded, the school's judgment concerning this teacher did not involve the permissible exercise of policy judgment. Id. at 444. We further noted the school failed to show any social, political, or economic factors at the heart of the decision to hire, retain, and supervise a particular teacher entitling the decision to protection from judicial review. Id. at 445. The decisions made in supervising the teacher were merely ad hoc decisions based on the circumstances existing at the time the school made the decisions. Id. In Ette, we once again held the discretionary function immunity was not available for a school district. 656 N.W.2d at 70. The controlling question presented in this case was whether the school's decision to send a student home from Texas alone on a long bus trip for a violation of school rules was a judgment call driven by social, economic, or political concerns. Id. at 68. We held it was not, because under the unique facts of the case to do so would nullify the school's duty to supervise this particular student and protect him from reasonably foreseeable risks. Id. at 69. Similarly, in Madden v. City of Eldridge, we held the city was not entitled to discretionary function immunity for failing to inspect an apartment building ceiling that collapsed causing the death of a tenant. 661 N.W.2d 134, 135 (Iowa 2003). We held while safety could be a legitimate policy consideration under certain circumstances, there was no evidence in the record to suggest the building inspector engaged in the required policy analysis before he decided not to inspect drywall. Id. at 139-40 (stating [a]n immune governmental function is `one that weighs competing ideals in order to promote those concerns of paramount importance over the less essential, opposing values' (citations omitted)). We concluded the building inspector made an ad hoc decision, tailored to the particular circumstances before him at the final inspection. Id. at 140. In Graber v. City of Ankeny, the plaintiff, who was injured in an intersection collision, brought an action against the city for failing to properly set the timing of the traffic signals. 656 N.W.2d 157, 159-60 (Iowa 2003). We held the city was not immune based on the discretionary function exception. Id. at 166. We determined there was no evidence anyone of authority balanced any priorities of competing importance. Id. We stated, [t]he mere existence of a sweeping safety consideration does not catapult the city's actions into the zone of immunity for decisions based upon social, economic, or political policy. Id. at 165. In Messerschmidt v. City of Sioux City, a drunk driver struck and injured the plaintiff. 654 N.W.2d 879, 880-81 (Iowa 2002). The plaintiff brought a negligence action against the city alleging the city improperly removed a road barricade. Id. at 881. The city claimed it was immune from liability under the discretionary function immunity exception. Id. After deciding the first prong of the test was satisfied, we then determined the challenged action did not involve policy-making decisions and significant judgment. Id. at 882. Further, we concluded the city had not met its burden to prove considerations based on social, economic, or political policy were involved in its decision to take the barricade down. Id. Finally, in Schmitz we once again found the discretionary immunity exception did not protect the city's decision to add an asphalt overlay to a bike trail without raising the shoulders or grinding off the old asphalt to prevent a one and one-half inch drop-off. 682 N.W.2d at 76. Specifically, we concluded the city produced no evidence that the choice it made with respect to whether the overlay should be done with or without grading of the accompanying shoulders was the sort of decision that the discretionary function immunity intends to protect, i.e., a decision weighing social, economic, or political policies. Id. The common thread running through all these decisions defeating the discretionary function immunity was the record in each of these cases did not show the governmental entity based its actions on the required policy considerations, as distinguished from an action arising out of the day-to-day activities of the business of government. Unless a governmental entity can demonstrate that when it exercised its judgment, it genuinely could have considered and balanced factors supported by social, economic, or political policies, we will not recognize the discretionary function immunity. Graber, 656 N.W.2d at 165. Applying this standard to the present case, we think the district court was correct in concluding Mercado and the State were entitled to immunity under the discretionary function exception. Our review of the record reveals the university had a policy to continue the normal hours of operation for the library during periods of severe weather. The purpose of keeping the library open was to afford the maximum opportunity for students and staff to utilize the library facilities. Keeping the library open furthered the public policy of providing the best college education to its students at a reasonable cost. Persons who desired to use the library for studying or research needed to count on the fact the library would be available to them during its normal hours of operation, except when it would be impossible to keep it open those hours. Mercado's decision not to close the library was consistent with the university's policy to keep the library open during periods of severe weather. Although she did have the authority to close the library if the conditions made it impossible to keep it open, she considered and balanced the same factors used by the university when it formulated its policy. Before Mercado made the decision to keep the library open, she queried the staff on how many persons were using the library facilities. She also ascertained whether there would be sufficient personnel to staff the library if it remained open. She then weighed the number of persons using the library, the adequacy of the staff, and the knowledge that if the weather conditions deteriorated further she could have closed the library against the weather conditions as reported to her by her staff. Balancing all these considerations, she made the decision to keep the library open during its normal hours of operation in spite of the weather and allow the faculty, staff, and students to make their own decision as to whether they wanted to remain in the library that evening. People who were not in the library at the time of Mercado's decision were free to come to the library to study or find an alternate place of study if they felt the weather prohibited them from making the trip to the library. People in the library were free to leave the library upon learning of the weather condition from other students, weather reports available to the users on the internet, or by looking outside and observing the weather conditions first hand. The evidence confirms people entered and exited the library, without incident, after Mercado made the decision to keep the library open. Thus, Mercado not only could have considered and balanced the factors supported by public policy, but did engage in the required public policy analysis before deciding to continue the normal hours of operation for the library during periods of severe weather. Under these circumstances, Mercado and the State are entitled to immunity for keeping the library open that evening under the discretionary function exception.