St. Pierre v. Town of Plainfield
St. Pierre v. Town of Plainfield
Opinion
The issue raised in this appeal is whether municipal immunity is abrogated by either the proprietary function exception of General Statutes § 52- 557n 1 or the identifiable person, imminent harm exception. Specifically, we must decide whether there is municipal immunity when a town charges a nominal fee to a private group for reserved use of a public pool and an individual group member slips and falls on accumulated water in the vicinity of that pool. The plaintiff, David L. St. Pierre, appeals from the judgment rendered in favor of the named defendant, the town of Plainfield, 2 after concluding that no exception to the defendant's general immunity applied. 3 The plaintiff claims that the trial court improperly concluded that the defendant was immune from liability because (1) the defendant derived a special corporate profit or pecuniary benefit through its operation of the pool, or (2) the plaintiff constituted an identifiable person subject to imminent harm. We disagree with each of these claims and, accordingly, affirm the judgment of the trial court. The following undisputed facts and procedural history are relevant to this appeal. The plaintiff filed this negligence action against the defendant and Eastern Connecticut Rehabilitation Center, Inc. (Eastern); see footnote 2 of this opinion; to recover for injuries he allegedly sustained in an August 26, 2011 fall on wet steps after participating in an aqua therapy session. This session was conducted by Eastern in a pool owned by the defendant, which is located in the defendant's town hall building. The plaintiff alleged that he slipped and fell on the steps, which were covered with approximately one-quarter inch of water, on his way to the men's locker room. None of the defendant's employees witnessed the incident, nor had there been any previous complaints about the condition of the steps.
Since 1994, Eastern, through its manager Penny Allyn, had reserved the pool two to three times per week for one hour sessions to provide aqua therapy services to its rehabilitation patients. Since 2006, Eastern has paid the defendant $50 per reserved hour for the exclusive use of the pool during the sessions. 4 Participation in the aqua therapy program ranged from two to seven individuals per session. During the reserved times, the defendant provided a lifeguard and remained responsible for the cleaning and general maintenance of the pool. There was no formal contract between the defendant and Eastern. Rather, a one page form letter generally used to make reservations provides the rules of pool use, in addition to listing the usage fee, the time of the reservation, and the party making the reservation.
Eastern is not the only program that utilizes the pool. Myra Ambrogi, the defendant's recreation director, stated in her affidavit that the pool is generally open to the public as well as for organizations that pay the usage fee. Activities held at the pool include swim lessons, open swim periods, and exercise classes.
In discussing the pool's financials, Ambrogi stated in her affidavit that the costs of operating the pool for the fiscal year from July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2012, were $81,315.42 and that total revenue of $75,605.96 was taken in during the same time frame, including the fees from Eastern. Thus, the pool operated at a loss of $5709.46. Ambrogi's figures included operational costs such as the lifeguards' salaries, instructor fees, equipment, pool chemicals and cleaning supplies, but did not include electricity, heat, water, maintenance employees' salaries, or consumable supplies.
The plaintiff filed this action on August 19, 2013, alleging that the defendant had been negligent in various ways and that the plaintiff had been injured as a result. On January 30, 2015, the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, claiming that municipal immunity applied to preclude the plaintiff's action because any acts or omissions alleged by the plaintiff involved judgment or discretion, the operation of the pool was a governmental function, and no exception to discretionary act immunity had been shown. The plaintiff objected, arguing that municipal immunity did not attach because the defendant's operation of the pool constituted a proprietary function and, in the alternative, that the identifiable person, imminent harm exception to immunity applied. In an August, 2015 memorandum of decision, the trial court agreed with the defendant that it was immune from liability. As to the proprietary function exception, the trial court concluded that the defendant's operation of a municipal pool was a governmental function and did not create a profit for the defendant. In regard to the identifiable person, imminent harm exception, the trial court concluded that the plaintiff was not an identifiable person given his voluntary presence at the aqua therapy program and that the water on and around the pool surfaces did not qualify as an imminent harm. This appeal followed. 5
On appeal, the plaintiff does not contest that the allegedly negligent acts of the defendant are discretionary in nature and, therefore, are generally entitled to immunity. See
Haynes
v.
Middletown
,
We begin with the standard of review and applicable law. "The standard of review of a trial court's decision granting summary judgment is well established. Practice Book § 17-49 provides that summary judgment shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, affidavits and any other proof submitted show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact
and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. In deciding a motion for summary judgment, the trial court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.... The party moving for summary judgment has the burden of showing the absence of any genuine issue of material fact and that the party is, therefore, entitled to judgment as a matter of law.... Our review of the trial court's decision to grant the defendant's motion for summary judgment is plenary.... On appeal, we must determine whether the legal conclusions reached by the trial court are legally and logically correct and whether they find support in the facts set out in the memorandum of decision of the trial court." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Cefaratti
v.
Aranow
,
I
The plaintiff claims first that the proprietary function exception applies to abrogate the defendant's immunity. The proprietary function exception is codified in § 52-557n (a) (1) (B), which provides in relevant part: "Except as otherwise provided by law, a political subdivision of the state shall be liable for damages to person or property caused by ... negligence in the performance of functions from which the political subdivision derives a special corporate profit or pecuniary benefit ...." (Emphasis added.) The plaintiff contends that the defendant derived a special corporate profit or pecuniary benefit from the operation of its municipal pool because it rented that pool to Eastern, a for-profit entity, for a fee. We disagree.
In
Considine
v.
Waterbury
,
To determine whether the defendant is subject to such liability in the present case, we analyze whether the defendant derives a special corporate profit or pecuniary benefit from the function of operating its pool, in other words, whether that function is proprietary. 8
We previously have concluded that, "[i]f a municipality is acting only as the 'agent or representative of the state in carrying out its public purposes';
Winchester
v.
Cox,
[
Historically, we have concluded that operating a municipal pool constitutes a governmental function.
Hannon
v.
Waterbury
,
The General Statutes support Hannon 's holding. General Statutes § 7-130b authorizes municipalities to create recreational authorities or departments. Such bodies are "deemed to be ... instrumental[ities] exercising public and essential government functions to provide for the public health and welfare ...." 9 General Statutes § 7-130d. Municipal recreational authorities or departments are statutorily empowered to construct and operate a variety of projects; see General Statutes § 7-130d (c) ; including, specifically, "swimming pools." General Statutes § 7-130a (d).
The plaintiff claims that the nature of the use of the pool in this case is distinguishable from that at issue in Hannon . Specifically, he argues that the defendant here is renting the pool to Eastern for use in its business, but the defendant city in Hannon served children and individuals via swim lessons. In the plaintiff's view, rental of municipal property to a private party is a proprietary action. To determine whether renting a municipal pool to a business for private use constitutes a change in the nature of the activity sufficient to abrogate immunity, we must review our case law on the charging of fees for use of a municipal property.
We have concluded previously that a "municipality may ... charge a nominal fee for participation in a
governmental activity and it will not lose its governmental nature as long as the fee is insufficient
to meet the activity's expenses."
Considine
v.
Waterbury
, supra,
In contrast, a "municipality generally has been determined to be acting for its own special corporate benefit or pecuniary profit where it engages in an activity 'for the particular benefit of its inhabitants' ... or if it derives revenue in excess of its costs from the activity."
11
(Citations omitted.)
Considine
v.
Waterbury
, supra,
The following examples are illustrative. In renting out part of its municipal golf course to a single private party for use as a restaurant for approximately $29,000 per year, the defendant city in
Considine
v.
Waterbury
, supra,
Evaluating the plaintiff's claims against this legal background, we conclude that the defendant's operation of its municipal pool does not constitute a proprietary function so as to abrogate its discretionary act immunity. First, the defendant's rental of its pool to an aqua therapy program two or three times a week fits within the general public purposes espoused in
Hannon
. By allowing use of the pool, the defendant is promoting health and exercise for those using the pool, purposes that are entirely within
Hannon
's framework. See
Hannon
v.
Waterbury
, supra,
Third, unlike in
Considine
and
Carta
v.
Norwalk , supra,
The plaintiff claims that, even if no actual profit was gained by the defendant's operation of the pool overall, this court should determine profitability by evaluating the fees paid by Eastern with reference to the periods of time that Eastern reserved the pool, and conclude that Eastern's fee for its use exceeded the costs of operating the pool for those periods of time. Specifically, the plaintiff reasons that, annually, Eastern is contributing $7800 for 156 hours of use, an amount that exceeds the costs attributable to the pool for that period of time. This argument was not raised in the trial court and should not be raised for the first time on appeal, particularly in the absence of an undisputed
factual record to support it.
12
See, e.g.,
White
v.
Mazda Motor of America, Inc.
,
It bears mentioning that extending the abrogation of municipal immunity to any situation in which a town allows the private use of its facilities for a nominal fee potentially could expose municipalities to great liability. In the face of such a threat, no rational municipality would continue to allow its municipal facilities to be used by outside parties. This would be detrimental to the enjoyment and use of municipal facilities by any smaller group of the general public that might wish to use these facilities. Under such restrictions, private, nonprofit, and other independent groups would be prevented from utilizing public parks, softball fields and, yes, pools. On the basis of the foregoing analysis, we conclude that the defendant's operation of the municipal pool constitutes a governmental function, and, by operating the pool, the defendant does not derive a special corporate profit or pecuniary benefit.
II
We turn next to whether any other recognized exception to immunity is in play. Three exceptions to discretionary act immunity are recognized,
13
but only one is relevant here: the identifiable person, imminent harm exception. Pursuant to this exception, liability is not precluded when "the circumstances make it apparent to the public officer that his or her failure to act would be likely to subject an identifiable person to imminent
harm ...." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Doe
v.
Petersen
,
"[T]he identifiable person, imminent harm exception to qualified immunity for an employee's discretionary acts is applicable in an action brought under § 52-557n (a) to hold a municipality directly liable for those acts."
Grady
v.
Somers
,
"(1) an imminent harm; (2) an identifiable victim; and (3) a public official to whom it is apparent that his or her conduct is likely to subject that victim to that harm .... We have stated previously that this exception to the general rule of governmental immunity for employees engaged in discretionary activities has received very limited recognition in this state.... If the plaintiffs fail to establish any one of the three prongs, this failure will be fatal to their claim that they come within the imminent harm exception." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Strycharz
v.
Cady
,
"An allegedly identifiable person must be identifiable as a potential victim of a specific imminent harm. Like-wise, the alleged imminent harm must be imminent in terms of its impact on a specific identifiable person." (Internal quotation marks omitted.)
Cotto
v.
Board of Education
,
Generally, we have held that a party is an identifiable person when he or she is compelled to be somewhere. See
Strycharz
v.
Cady , supra,
Outside of the schoolchildren context, we have recognized an identifiable person under this exception in only one case that has since been limited to its facts. 15
Beyond that, although we have addressed claims that a plaintiff is an identifiable person or member of an identifiable class of foreseeable victims in a number of cases, we have not broadened our definition.
16
See, e.g.,
Cotto
v.
Board of Education
, supra, 294 Conn. at 267-68, 279,
In the present case, the plaintiff was in no way compelled to attend the aqua therapy sessions provided by Eastern. Instead, he voluntarily decided to use Eastern's services. Under established case law, this choice precludes us from holding that the plaintiff was an identifiable person or a member of an identifiable class of persons. As the identifiable person, imminent harm exception requires conjunctive proof of both, our determination that the plaintiff does not qualify as an identifiable person ends our analysis, and we need not consider whether an imminent harm existed on these facts.
The judgment is affirmed.
In this opinion the other justices concurred.
General Statutes § 52-557n (a) provides in relevant part: "(1) Except as otherwise provided by law, a political subdivision of the state shall be liable for damages to person or property caused by ... (B) negligence in the performance of functions from which the political subdivision derives a special corporate profit or pecuniary benefit .... (2) Except as otherwise provided by law, a political subdivision of the state shall not be liable for damages to person or property caused by ... (B) negligent acts or omissions which require the exercise of judgment or discretion as an official function of the authority expressly or impliedly granted by law."
Eastern Connecticut Rehabilitation Center, Inc., was also named as a defendant in this action. Because the plaintiff appealed after the court disposed of all claims in this action against the town of Plainfield; see Practice Book § 61-3 ; and Eastern Connecticut Rehabilitation Center, Inc., is not a party to this appeal, we refer in this opinion to the town of Plainfield as the defendant.
The plaintiff alleged two counts against the defendant, one pursuant to § 52-557n and the other pursuant to General Statutes § 7-465, a municipal indemnification statute. The trial court struck the § 7-465 count because the plaintiff did not identify a town employee for whom indemnification was sought. See
Altfeter
v.
Naugatuck
,
Eastern now pays the defendant $60 for each reserved hour of use.
The plaintiff appealed to the Appellate Court, and this court transferred the appeal to itself pursuant to General Statutes § 51-199 (c) and Practice Book § 65-1.
"[A] municipal government is viewed as having a double function, first, the proprietary or corporate function, and, second, the governmental function as the arm or agent of the state. Sovereign immunity protects sovereign governments, such as states, and municipalities when acting as agents of the state, but not municipal corporations acting on their own behalf." 18 E. McQuillin, Municipal Corporations (3d Ed. Rev. 2003) § 53.23, p. 381.
We have acknowledged that "[w]hen a governmental entity engages in conduct for its own corporate benefit in a manner that poses an unreasonable risk of harm to others, we can perceive of no reason why it should not be held responsible for all of the consequences of that conduct, just as a private person would be."
Blonski
v.
Metropolitan District Commission
,
At oral argument, the plaintiff suggested using separate definitions for special corporate profit and pecuniary benefit; however, this court analyzed those two phrases together in Considine , and we see no reason to waver from that analysis today.
According to Ambrogi's affidavit, the swimming pool at issue in this case is operated by the defendant and its recreation department.
The defendant in
Hannon
charged ten cents per lesson for children and twenty cents for adults.
Hannon
v.
Waterbury
, supra,
We do not read
Considine
as suggesting that, simply because an activity is offered only to a municipality's residents, the municipality necessarily loses its immunity. Rather, even in such circumstances, activities that are meant to improve the general health, welfare or education of the municipality's inhabitants are deemed to indirectly benefit the general public and, thus, constitute activities performed as an agent of the state.
Considine
v.
Waterbury
, supra, 279 Conn. at 846,
For example, the record does not reveal the total number of hours that the pool is available in a year. Moreover, as previously noted, the expenses identified by the defendant for running the pool do not include all expenses pertaining to the pool, but specifically exclude the costs of electricity, heat, water, maintenance employees' salaries, and consumable supplies.
Liability for a municipality's discretionary act is not precluded when (1) "the alleged conduct involves malice, wantonness or intent to injure"; (2) "a statute provides for a cause of action against a municipality or municipal official for failure to enforce certain laws"; or (3) "the circumstances make it apparent to the public officer that his or her failure to act would be likely to subject an identifiable person to imminent harm ...." (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.)
Doe
v.
Petersen
,
We have previously held that the identifiable person, imminent harm exception "applies in an action brought directly against [a] municipalit[y] pursuant to § 52-557n (a) (1) (A), regardless of whether an employee or officer of the municipality also is a named defendant."
Grady
v.
Somers , supra, 294 Conn. at 348,
Specifically, prior to the adoption of the current three-pronged identifiable person, imminent harm analysis, we concluded that an identifiable person subject to imminent harm existed among a group of intoxicated individuals who were arguing and scuffling in a parking lot when a police officer who spotted them failed to intervene until he heard a gunshot.
Sestito
v.
Groton
,
A recent Appellate Court decision,
Brooks
v.
Powers
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- David L. ST. PIERRE v. TOWN OF PLAINFIELD Et Al.
- Cited By
- 18 cases
- Status
- Published