Rodriguez v. Dep't of Transp.
Rodriguez v. Dep't of Transp.
Opinion of the Court
*950While a public entity may be liable for injuries caused by dangerous conditions of public property ( Gov. Code, §§ 830, 835 ),
The present case involves the second element-discretionary approval. Plaintiff Erik Rodriguez contends that a public official's approval of a design does not constitute an exercise of discretionary authority under section 830.6 *951if the official admits that he or she never actually considered whether to utilize the safety feature the plaintiff asserts would have prevented his or her injuries. We reject Rodriguez's contention and affirm the judgment.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On the morning of April 29, 2013, Rodriguez was a passenger in a pickup truck *854that was traveling westbound on State Route 152 (SR 152) toward Los Banos when the truck ran off the road. At the accident location, SR 152 is a four-lane divided expressway with the westbound direction consisting of two 12-foot wide lanes, an eight-foot wide paved right shoulder, and a metal beam guardrail to the right of the outside shoulder. After the truck passed Box Car Road, it veered from the number one (fast) lane, across the number two (slow) lane and paved shoulder, and off the road to the right. The truck struck the end of the guardrail, went over an irrigation canal, and eventually came to rest, catching fire with the occupants still inside. Rodriguez and the driver were injured, and another passenger was killed.
Rodriguez sued the Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for, among other things, maintaining an allegedly dangerous condition of public property. ( § 835.)
Caltrans moved for summary judgment or summary adjudication of issues on the grounds of, inter alia, design immunity under section 830.6 and the absence of evidence of a dangerous condition of public property.
The 1992 plans at the accident site involved installing a metal beam guardrail, widening the roadside to include an 8-foot paved shoulder and three feet of compacted shoulder backing that extended to the north end of the adjacent culvert, and flattening the existing roadside slope. Licensed civil *952engineer Shira Rajendra, the Caltrans project engineer who drafted the 1992 plans, declared that he had discretionary authority to approve the plans, which he exercised by signing them, and he would not have approved the plans had they not met appropriate engineering standards. With respect to the use of rumble strips, Rajendra declared: "I did not consider using rumble strips on the shoulders because at the time I approved the [1992] plans ..., the use of rumble strips was not a common practice. In 1992, there were no standards or policies which addressed or called for the design of shoulder rumble strips. In 1992, the absence of shoulder rumble strips at the subject location met the then existing standards for roadways."
The resident engineer responsible for the construction of the 1992 plans, Michael Honma, declared the project was completed in accordance with the plans Rajendra approved, as evidenced by the "AS BUILT" stamp shown on the applicable plan sheets. Honma explained that rumble strips were not installed because they were not included in the 1992 plans.
*855The 2002 plans consisted of a pavement maintenance project and placement of a seal coat at the accident location, while the 2011 plans involved placing an overlay of the existing asphalt at several specified locations on SR 152, including the accident location. The project engineers for both projects, John Fukano and Jose Alicea II, declared that they exercised their discretionary authority in approving the plans, and that each plan did not include rumble strips because neither engineer received a directive from "District 10 Traffic Safety" to install the strips. The resident engineers on each plan project, Nomer Gutierrez and Sukhminder Deol, declared the projects were completed in according with the plans, as evidenced by the "AS BUILT" stamp shown on the applicable plan sheets, and the plans did not include the addition of rumble strips.
Caltrans's expert, consulting civil engineer Kim Nystrom, opined the absence of rumble strips in all of the plans was reasonable because there was no identified need for them. Caltrans did not widely use shoulder rumble strips in 1992, and they would not have been included in design plans unless there was a documented need for them, such as a history of vehicles running off the road. As for the later plans, the fact rumble strips were not included indicated the district's traffic safety branch did not recommend their use. According to Nystrom, the reasonableness of the plans was further supported by the fact there had not been any collisions at the accident site that involved vehicles departing the roadway to the right and striking either the guardrail or irrigation ditch.
Rodriguez opposed the motion, stating that he had elected to proceed only on the " 'absence of rumble strips' theory of 'dangerous condition' liability [,]"
*953and he was not contesting the first or third elements of design immunity, namely the existence of a causal relationship and reasonableness of the design. On that basis, he asserted only two issues remained: (1) whether there had been discretionary approval of a design plan within the meaning of the statute; and (2) whether the failure to install rumble strips was a dangerous condition.
As to discretionary approval, Rodriguez did not dispute that any of the project engineers had discretionary authority to approve the 1992, 2002, or 2011 plans or that construction conformed to the approved designs. Instead, he argued Caltrans could not establish the discretionary approval element because Rajendra, who approved the 1992 plans, stated in his declaration that he did not consider placing rumble strips on the shoulders. Rodriguez also argued there was a triable issue of fact as to whether the failure to install rumble strips was a dangerous condition. In support, he proferred the declaration of retained expert Edward Ruzak, a civil and traffic engineer, who opined the absence of rumble strips constituted a dangerous condition, as well as evidence of other vehicle collisions. In reply, Caltrans lodged numerous objections to the evidence of other collisions and Ruzak's declaration.
The trial court granted summary judgment in Caltrans's favor on Rodriguez's dangerous condition of public property claim based on design immunity. The trial court noted that Rodriguez had conceded the first and third elements of design immunity, causation and reasonableness. As for the second element, the trial court found the undisputed material facts and supporting declarations of Caltrans engineers Rajendra, Fukano, and Alicea, established discretionary approval of the design plans at the accident location prior to construction, and the design plans approved in 1992, 2002, and 2011, included a paved shoulder and the absence of rumble strips. In addition, Nystrom's declaration *856provided substantial evidence supporting the reasonableness of the design plans. This shifted the burden to Rodriguez to show the existence of a triable issue of material fact, which Rodriguez failed to do, as he did not offer any admissible evidence demonstrating a triable issue of fact on the discretionary approval element. In light of its ruling, the trial court declined to rule on whether the absence of rumble strips constituted a dangerous condition. The trial court also declined to rule on Caltrans's objections because Rodriguez's evidence was not material to the trial court's disposition of the motion, citing Code of Civil Procedure section 437c, subdivision (q). Judgment subsequently was entered in Caltrans's favor. *954DISCUSSION
I. General Principles Governing Design Immunity
"Under the Government Claims Act, '[a] public entity is not liable for an injury,' '[e]xcept as otherwise provided by statute.' " ( Hampton, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 347,
"Even if a dangerous condition is demonstrated, a public entity may still prevail through a variety of statutory immunities, which the public entity may assert as an affirmative defense." ( Gonzales v. City of Atwater (2016)
"Design immunity is often raised on a motion for summary judgment or nonsuit, thereby enabling the trial court to find the defense established as a matter of law. [Citation.] 'The first two elements, causation and discretionary approval, may only be resolved as issues of law if the facts are undisputed.' " ( *857Gonzales, supra, 6 Cal.App.5th at p. 946,
Rodriguez appealed from the judgment entered after the trial court granted Caltrans's summary judgment motion. "A trial court properly grants a motion for summary judgment where 'all the papers submitted show that there is no triable issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.' ( Code Civ. Proc. § 437c, subd. (c).) 'Because this case comes before us after the trial court granted a motion for summary judgment, we take the facts from the record that was before the trial court when it ruled on that motion. [Citation.] " 'We review the trial court's decision de novo, considering all the evidence set forth in the moving and opposing papers except that to which objections were made and sustained.' " [Citation.] We liberally construe the evidence in support of the party opposing summary judgment and resolve doubts concerning the evidence in favor of that party.' " ( Hartford Casualty Ins. Co. v. Swift Distribution, Inc. (2014)
II. Discretionary Approval
The sole element of design immunity at issue here is discretionary approval. This " 'simply means approval in advance of construction by the legislative body or officer exercising discretionary authority.' [Citation.] A detailed plan, drawn up by a competent engineering firm, and approved by a city engineer in the exercise of his or her discretionary authority, is persuasive evidence of the element of prior approval." ( Grenier , supra , 57 Cal.App.4th at p. 940,
Here, Caltrans presented undisputed evidence that the 1992, 2002, and 2011 plans were designed and approved by Caltrans civil engineers, who had *956the discretionary authority to approve the plans. The plans consist of detailed drawings of the accident location, including the absence of rumble strips. This evidence demonstrates the discretionary approval element as a matter of law. (See, e.g., Gonzales, supra, 6 Cal.App.5th at p. 947,
Rodriguez acknowledges this evidence would have been sufficient to establish discretionary approval if not for a statement by the Caltrans engineer who approved the 1992 plans, Rajendra, that he "did not consider using rumble strips on the shoulders." Citing to a sentence in Grenier that "[d]esign immunity does not immunize decisions which were not made," ( Grenier, supra, 57 Cal.App.4th at p. 940,
Our Supreme Court interpreted the discretionary approval element of section 830.6 in Hampton . There, the plaintiffs contended that " 'approv[al]' by one 'exercising discretionary authority' (§ 830.6), requires an exercise of discretion in the sense of an exercise of judgment or choice, and ... 'one cannot truly exercise judgment or make a choice without an awareness of what is to be judged or chosen.' " ( Hampton, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 348,
The Court rejected this contention, as such claims are considered under the reasonableness element of the statute. ( Hampton, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 349,
The Court concluded the structure of the statute as a whole supported this interpretation. As the Court explained, the statute contains a three-part structure: "Under the statute, once causation and approval by an authorized employee or compliance with appropriately adopted standards is established, there is immunity" as long as the trial or appellate court determines there is substantial evidence that "a reasonable public employee could have *859adopted the plan or design or the standards therefor," or "a reasonable legislative body or other body or employee could have approved the plan or design or the standards therefor." ( Hampton, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 350,
The Court concluded that, when considered as a whole, it was "plain that section 830.6 was intended to avoid second-guessing the initial design decision adopted by an employee vested with authority to approve it, except to the extent the court determines that the employee's approval of the design was unreasonable. It is at the reasonableness stage that the court would consider whether an employee, in either knowingly or unknowingly approving a design that deviates from applicable standards, adopted a design that a 'reasonable legislative body or other body or employee could have approved.' (§ 830.6)." ( Hampton, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 351,
In Gonzales, supra,
The rationale of Hampton and Gonzales applies equally here. Both cases establish that under the language of section 830.6, all that is required to establish the discretionary approval element is evidence that an employee with discretionary authority approved the plan or design. Here, Caltrans presented such evidence. That the project engineer also stated he did not consider the use of rumble strips is irrelevant to the discretionary approval element. It is relevant, however, to the reasonableness element, as it is at that stage the court considers whether it is reasonable that an employee, in approving a design without considering a particular design feature, adopted a design that "a reasonable ... employee could have approved." (§ 830.6; Hampton, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 351,
*860Rodriguez asserts Hampton has no application to this case, as it did not address whether the discretionary approval element "is satisfied by the approval of a plan which does not include an allegedly, necessary safety feature because the entity 'did not consider' using the feature one way or the other." While the plaintiffs' argument in Hampton was different, namely that the discretionary approval element could not be satisfied if the official who approved the design did not realize the design deviated from governing standards, the Court's statutory interpretation applies with equal force here, where the plaintiff contends this element cannot be satisfied where the official who approved the design admits he or she did not consider a particular design feature.
Rodriguez states that his " 'real complaint' is that the project engineer never made a decision one way or the other because he 'did not consider rumble strips' at all." He asserts the discretionary approval element does not "speak to, nor immunize, failures to decide, only decisions actually made." In his view, design immunity is vitiated if the employee with discretionary authority to approve a plan or design admits he or she failed to consider the particular feature or design, the absence of which a plaintiff later alleges made the property dangerous.
*959Rodriguez's view of what constitutes a design decision, however, is too narrow. Here, the design decision made in 1992 was to construct a bare paved shoulder at the accident location. The wisdom of this decision, and whether the project engineer should have considered whether to install rumble strips, is reviewed, not at the discretionary approval stage, but at the reasonableness stage. To conclude otherwise "would implicate the adequacy of the deliberative process at the discretionary approval stage and would lead a jury into just the sort of second-guessing concerning the wisdom of the design that the statute was intended to avoid." ( Hampton, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 350,
Rodriguez's reliance on Cameron v. State of California (1972)
Unlike the plan in Cameron , which did not include the alleged dangerous feature-uneven banking on a curve in the road-the plans here did include the alleged dangerous feature-a paved roadway shoulder absent rumble strips. Therefore, *861a decision was proved-to build the road with a bare shoulder. Caltrans presented evidence that the engineer with discretionary authority approved the plans and the shoulder was constructed in conformity with them. Thus, the evidence established the shoulder that was actually constructed was the result of or conformed to a design approved by the employee vested with discretionary authority, which provided a basis for concluding any liability for injuries caused by the absence of rumble strips was immunized by section 830.6.
This is consistent with another case Rodriguez relies on, Grenier, supra,
Citing Anderson v. City of Thousand Oaks (1976)
Finally, contrary to Rodriguez's assertion, we do not hold that a public entity is entitled to design immunity any time an employee with authority signs off on a plan and another employee or engineer attests the plan is reasonable. Instead, we merely hold where, as here, an employee with discretionary authority signs off on a plan that includes the injury-producing feature, and it was reasonable to do so, design immunity applies. This is not a situation, as in Castro v. City of Thousand Oaks (2015)
The judgment is affirmed. Costs on appeal are awarded to Caltrans.
WE CONCUR:
POOCHIGIAN, J.
DETJEN, J.
Statutory references are to the Government Code unless otherwise indicated.
Rodriguez also alleged a cause of action for premises liability against Caltrans, and named San Luis Canal Company as an additional defendant.
In his opposition to the summary judgment motion, Rodriguez abandoned the other two grounds on which Caltrans brought the motion-that he could not prove that Caltrans failed to maintain the guardrail and that Caltrans could not be sued for premises liability.
Section 830.6 provides, in relevant part: "Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the plan or design of a construction of, or an improvement to, public property where such plan or design has been approved in advance of the construction or improvement by the legislative body of the public entity or by some other body or employee exercising discretionary authority to give such approval or where such plan or design is prepared in conformity with standards previously so approved, if the trial or appellate court determines that there is any substantial evidence upon the basis of which (a) a reasonable public employee could have adopted the plan or design or the standards therefor or (b) a reasonable legislative body or other body or employee could have approved the plan or design or the standards therefor."
"Neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable under this chapter for an injury caused by the plan or design ... where such plan or design has been approved ... by some ... employee exercising discretionary authority to give such approval or where such plan or design is prepared in conformity with standards previously so approved...." (§ 830.6, italics added).
The parties also address an issue the trial court did not decide, namely whether SR 152 at the accident location constituted a dangerous condition. We do not reach the issue, however, because even if there was a dangerous condition, Caltrans is immune from liability under section 830.6.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.