Feagins v. Waddy
Feagins v. Waddy
Opinion
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 714
Venus Feagins, individually and as next friend of her daughter Tamesha Feagins, a minor, appeals from a summary judgment in favor of defendants Curtis Waddy and George Moore. We affirm.
As Tamesha attempted a practice jump, she felt pain in her left knee. An athletic trainer at the track meet examined Tamesha's knee and wrapped it in ice; she was unable to compete in the high-jump event. It was later determined that Tamesha had torn her anterior cruciate ligament ("ACL"); the tear required surgery to repair.
On April 1, 2005, Feagins, individually and as Tamesha's next friend, sued Waddy and George Moore, the athletic director for Birmingham City Schools, the school system for the City of Birmingham, in the Jefferson Circuit Court. She alleged that Waddy negligently, willfully, wantonly, and in bad faith failed to adequately train and supervise Tamesha in the high jump, *Page 715 resulting in her injury. She also alleged that Waddy and Moore had negligently, willfully, wantonly, and in bad faith failed to notify her of insurance the Birmingham Board of Education had in place that would have been available to pay Tamesha's medical expenses and to notify the insurer of Tamesha's injury. She further sought compensation for the loss of Tamesha's services. Waddy and Moore moved for a summary judgment, arguing that they were entitled to State-agent immunity and that they had no duty to notify the insurer of Tamesha's injury; the trial court entered a summary judgment in their favor on May 9, 2006. Feagins appealed.
"This Court's review of a summary judgment is de novo. Williams v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.,Dow v. Alabama Democratic Party,886 So.2d 72 ,74 (Ala. 2003). We apply the same standard of review as the trial court applied. Specifically, we must determine whether the movant has made a prima facie showing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Rule 56(c), Ala. R. Civ. P.; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama v. Hodurski899 So.2d 949 ,952-53 (Ala. 2004). In making such a determination, we must review the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Wilson v. Brown,496 So.2d 756 ,758 (Ala. 1986). Once the movant makes a prima facie showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact, the burden then shifts to the nonmovant to produce `substantial evidence' as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact. Bass v. SouthTrust Bank of Baldwin County,538 So.2d 794 ,797-98 (Ala. 1989); Ala. Code 1975, ยง12-21-12 ."
"Since [Ex parte] Cranman[,
"A State agent shall be immune from civil liability in his or her personal capacity when the conduct made the basis of the claim against the agent is based upon the agent's
"(1) formulating plans, policies, or designs; or
"(2) exercising his or her judgment in the administration of a department or agency of government, including, but not limited to, examples such as:
"(a) making administrative adjudications;
"(b) allocating resources;
"(c) negotiating contracts;
"(d) hiring, firing, transferring, assigning, or supervising personnel; or
"(3) discharging duties imposed on a department or agency by statute, rule, or regulation, insofar as the statute, rule, or regulation prescribes the manner *Page 716 for performing the duties and the State agent performs the duties in that manner; or
"(4) exercising judgment in the enforcement of the criminal laws of the State, including, but not limited to, law-enforcement officers' arresting or attempting to arrest persons; or
"(5) exercising judgment in the discharge of duties imposed by statute, โ rule, or regulation in releasing prisoners, counseling or releasing persons of unsound mind, or educating students.
"Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the foregoing statement of the rule, a State agent shall not be immune from civil liability in his or her personal capacity
"(1) when the Constitution or laws of the United States, or the
Constitution of this State, or laws, rules, or regulations of this State enacted or promulgated for the purpose of regulating the activities of a governmental agency require otherwise; or"(2) when the State agent acts willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his or her authority, or under a mistaken interpretation of the law."
Giambrone v. Douglas,"We have established a `burden-shifting' process when a party raises the defense of State-agent immunity. Ex parte Wood,
852 So.2d 705 (Ala. 2002). In order to claim State-agent immunity, the [defendants] bear the burden of demonstrating that [the plaintiffs] claims arise from a function that would entitle them to immunity. Wood,852 So.2d at 709 ; Ryan v. Hayes,831 So.2d 21 (Ala. 2002). If the [defendants] make such a showing, the burden then shifts to [the plaintiff], who, in order to deny the [defendants] immunity from suit, must establish that the [defendants] acted willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, or beyond their authority. Wood,852 So.2d at 709 ; Ex parte Davis,721 So.2d 685 ,689 (Ala. 1998). A State agent acts beyond authority and is therefore not immune when he or she `fail[s] to discharge duties pursuant to detailed rules or regulations, such as those stated on a checklist.' Ex parte Butts,775 So.2d 173 ,178 (Ala. 2000)."
This Court addressed a similar issue in Ex parte Nail,
"There is no exception under Cranman for `tortious' conduct unless the State agent `acts willfully, maliciously, fraudulently, in bad faith, beyond his . . . authority, or under a mistaken interpretation of the law.' Cranman,
792 So.2d at 405 . Once a State agent demonstrates that a plaintiffs claims are based on conduct that occurred while the State agent was exercising his judgment, ` "the burden then shifts to the plaintiff to establish that the [State agent] acted in bad faith or with malice or willfulness in order to deny the [State agent] immunity from suit."' [Ex parte] Spivey, [846 So.2d 322 ,333 (Ala. 2002)] (quoting *Page 717 Ex parte Davis,721 So.2d 685 ,689 (Ala. 1998))."
In limited circumstances this Court has held that State-agent immunity does not apply to the actions of a coach. InGiambrone, supra, Douglas, a 29-year-old, 200-pound wrestling coach, wrestled Giambrone, a 15-year-old, 150-pound student, in a challenge wrestling match during practice. While Douglas was performing a wrestling maneuver called a "cement job" on Giambrone, Giambrone suffered a severe spinal-cord injury, which rendered him a quadriplegic. Giambrone's mother, acting individually and on behalf of Giambrone, sued Douglas. Douglas claimed that his actions were protected by State-agent immunity. This Court noted: "A State agent acts beyond his authority and is therefore not immune when he or she `fail[s] to discharge duties pursuant to detailed rules or regulations, such as those stated on a checklist.' Ex parte Butts,
In this case, no evidence refuting Waddy and Moore's summary-judgment motion was properly before the trial court. The record indicates that the trial court instructed Feagins to file a response to the summary-judgment motion on or before May 5, 2006, and that a hearing on the motion was to be held on May 8, 2006. The trial court entered the summary judgment on May 9, 2006, and Feagins did not file her response to the summary-judgment motion until May 10, 2006, a day after the summary judgment was entered. Any response to Waddy and Moore's summary-judgment motion had to be served on the court at least two days before the scheduled hearing. Rule 56(c)(2), Ala. R. Civ. P. Because May 6, 2006, was a Saturday and the hearing was on Monday, the trial court ordered a response by Friday, May 5. The trial court was certainly entitled to disregard Feagins's submission as untimely under Rule 56(c)(2), Ala. R. Civ. P., and nothing in the record indicates that the trial court considered her tardy response. Even assuming that the trial court chose to consider it, however, Feagins's submission fails to create a question of fact that would defeat Waddy and Moore's motion for a summary judgment. Specifically, Feagins failed to properly *Page 718 present the trial court with evidence of the kind that existed in Giambrone, i.e., rules or regulations providing guidance for Waddy. The record does indicate that Feagins attached to her response to the summary-judgment motion what appear to be excerpted pages from the AHSAA rules and regulations. These pages, however, are not authenticated in any manner. "Documents submitted in support of or in opposition to a summary-judgment motion are generally required to be certified or otherwise authenticated; if they are not, they constitute inadmissible hearsay and are not considered on summary judgment." Tanksley v. ProSoft Automation,Inc., [Ms. 1050099, June 1, 2007] ___ So.2d ___, ___ (Ala. 2007). Thus, we will not consider those documents in our analysis.
As was the case in Nall, it is undisputed that Waddy was discharging his duties in educating students by coaching the track team. By selecting which participants would participate in which event, Waddy was exercising his judgment in discharging his duties in educating students, and "we may not second-guess his decision." Ex parte Spivey,
The notice of appeal and docketing statement to this Court indicate that Feagins also appealed the summary judgment entered in favor of Moore. However, Feagins fails to address the summary judgment entered in favor of Moore in her brief to this Court. Feagins does not pursue on appeal her allegation that Waddy and Moore breached a duty to inform the Board of Education's insurer of Tamesha's injury and to notify Tamesha of the availability of insurance to cover her injury. "Issues not argued in a party's brief are waived." Waddell Reed, Inc. v. United Investors Life Ins. Co.,
AFFIRMED.
SEE, LYONS, WOODALL, STUART, SMITH, BOLIN, and PARKER, JJ., concur.
MURDOCK, J., concurs in the result.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Venus Feagins, Individually and as Next Friend of Tamesha Feagins, a Minor v. Curtis Waddy and George Moore.
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published