Denis v. Town of Haverstraw
Denis v. Town of Haverstraw
Opinion of the Court
OPINION AND ORDER
Jean Y. Denis (“Plaintiff’) brings this diversity action against the Town of Haverstraw and Police Officer McManus (“Officer McManus”) in his official capacity (collectively, “Defendants”). Plaintiff alleges that he was injured by the negligence of Officer McManus in directing Plaintiffs car across a railroad crossing at the intersection of Short Clove Road and Route 9W in the Town of Haverstraw, New York, and that as a result, Plaintiffs car was hit by an oncoming CSX train. Defendants move for summary judgment. For the reasons stated herein, Defendants’ motion is granted.
7. Background
A Facts
The relevant facts, which detail the events leading up to Plaintiffs car being struck by a CSX train, are taken primarily from the Parties’ Local Civil Rule 56.1 Statements. Any disputes are noted herein, but as discussed below, do not determine the outcome of the motion. On November 5, 2008, at approximately 6:35 p.m., Officer McManus, of the Town of Haverstraw Police Department, responded to a two car accident on Route 9W near its intersection with Short Clove Road in the Town of Haverstraw, New York. (Defs.’ Statement of Material Facts Pursuant to Local R. 56.1 (“Defs.’ 56.1”) ¶ 1; Pl.’s Statement of Material Facts Pursuant to Local R. 56.1 (“PL’s 56.1”) ¶ 1.) Police Officer De La Rosa was also at the accident scene and was directing traffic while Officer McManus completed the accident report. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 2; Dep. of Police Offi
There is a dispute of fact as to how far behind the train tracks Plaintiff stopped his car. During Plaintiffs hearing pursuant to New York General Municipal Law § 50-h, he stated that he stopped his car approximately twelve to fourteen feet from the tracks. (50-h Hr’g of Jean Y. Denis (“Denis 50-h Tr.”) 17:13-24.) However, during his deposition, Plaintiff stated several times that he was approximately four to five feet behind the tracks. (Denis Dep. 23:18-21, 25:16-20, 34:14-16, 87:20-24.) Officer McManus testified at his deposition that when he first saw Plaintiffs car, it was about one or two feet away from the railroad tracks. (McManus Dep. 29:3-7.) Again, the dispute is not relevant here.
When Plaintiff stopped his car on Short Clove Road on the far side of the railroad tracks, there were no cars between his vehicle and Route 9W. (Defs.’ 56.1 ¶ 5; PL’s 56.1 ¶ 5.) The railroad crossing gates were up (PL’s 56.1 ¶ 6), and Plaintiffs car was positioned between the crossing gate farthest from Route 9W and the train tracks, (Denis Dep. 29:17-30:24, 33:10-17). Defendants have measured the exact distances from the railroad tracks to each crossing arm and the distance from the tracks to the railroad crossings arm closest to Route 9W is 21 feet, 6 inches, while the distance from the tracks to the railroad crossing gate farthest from Route 9W (where Plaintiffs car was stopped) is 52 feet, 0 inches. (Aff. of Lt. Martin Lund ¶¶ 6-7.) Therefore, the Court disregards contradictory statements regarding these distances from Plaintiffs 56.1 Statement ¶ 6 and from Officer McManus’ deposition testimony, though the precise distances are not dispositive here. Defendants also have included in the record the official specifications for Plaintiffs car and the Court notes that the car measures 202.6 inches in length. (Decl. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. (“Defs.’ Decl.”) Ex. I.)
Plaintiff and Defendants give different accounts of the events which led to Plaintiffs car being struck by the CSX train. Officer McManus claims that when he first noticed Plaintiffs car, Plaintiff was stopped about one to two feet from the railroad tracks and Officer De La Rosa was directing the car to back up by “putting his hands out and pushing them away from his body and yelling at the driver to back up repeatedly____” (McManus Dep. 29:3-24.) According to Officer McManus, he then got out of his patrol car on Route 9W and assisted Officer De La Rosa with “giving the verbal commands and the hand signals for [Plaintiff] to back up.” (Id. at 33:9-12.) Officer McManus claims that he and De La Rosa were signaling for Plaintiff to move his car back because the railroad crossing gates had come down and Plaintiff was only a foot or two away from the tracks, which was in the “danger zone” for being struck by the train. (Id. at
Plaintiff claims that after he waited approximately fifteen to twenty minutes on Short Clove Road, the accident scene on Route 9W had been cleared, and Officer McManus signaled to Plaintiff to cross the tracks by lifting both of his arms and moving them towards his body. (Pl.’s 56.1 ¶7; Denis Dep. 35:3-5, 90:21-93:18; Denis 50-h Tr. 25:13-26:11.) Plaintiff claims that at this point, the railroad crossing arms were still up (Denis Dep. 97:6-13; Denis 50-h Tr. 23:16-19), and Plaintiff moved his car about halfway onto the railroad tracks, (Denis Dep. 94:2-16). Plaintiff claims that once his car was halfway onto the tracks, Officer McManus began signaling to Plaintiff to back up (id. at 94:14-22), and Plaintiff then noticed the crossing arms coming down and the train approaching, (id. at 97:6-10). The CSX Accident Report prepared shortly after the accident also states “driver of 1991 Mercedes Benz was waived past the accident and started to enter the railroad crossing when the signal lights started to flash[;] [t]he motorist stopped his vehicle in the crossing.” (Decl. in Opp’n to Defs.’ Mot. for Summ. J (“PL’s Decl.”) Ex. B.) Plaintiff claims that about one and a half seconds elapsed between the time that Officer Mc-Manus signaled him to move forward and when the crossing arms started moving down. (Denis Dep. 100:6-16.) Plaintiff claims he could not back up because the crossing arm was blocking him (id. at 99:6-8, 101:21-102:6), and that when he saw the train he began to panic, (id. at 95:2-4).
B. Procedural History
Plaintiff filed his Complaint in New York State Supreme Court, Rockland County on December 14, 2009, naming the Town of Haverstraw, Police Officer Me
II. Discussion
A. Standard of Review
Summary judgment may be granted where it is shown “that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (same). “When ruling on a summary judgment motion, the district court must construe the facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and must resolve all ambiguities and draw all reasonable inferences against the movant.” Dall. Aerospace, Inc. v. CIS Air Corp., 352 F.3d 775, 780 (2d Cir. 2003); see also Tufariello v. Long Island R.R. Co., 458 F.3d 80, 85 (2d Cir. 2006) (noting that a court must draw all reasonable inferences in the nonmovant’s favor).
A party seeking summary judgment bears the burden of establishing that no genuine issue of material fact exists. See Atl. Mut. Ins. Co. v. CSX Lines, L.L.C., 432 F.3d 428, 433 (2d Cir. 2005). “When the burden of proof at trial would fall on the nonmoving party, it ordinarily is sufficient for the movant to point to a lack of evidence to go to the trier of fact on an essential element of the nonmovant’s claim. In that event, the nonmoving party must come forward with admissible evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue of fact for trial in order to avoid summary judgment.” Jaramillo v. Weyerhaeuser Co., 536 F.3d 140, 145 (2d Cir. 2008) (internal citations omitted). “When the moving
B. Analysis — Governmental Function Immunity Defense
Defendants argue that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law because under New York law, a “municipal defendant is immune from liability for conduct involving the exercise of discretion and reasoned judgment.” (Mem. of Law in Supp. of Defs.’ Mot. for Summ. J (“Defs.’ Mem.”) 5 (internal quotation marks omitted).) Plaintiff responds that even if Defendants were performing a discretionary function, they can be held liable for their negligent actions where they have established a “special relationship” with Plaintiff. (Mem. of Law in Opp’n to Defs.’ Mot. for Summ. J (“PL’s Mem.”) 3.) However, in McLean v. City of New York, 12 N.Y.3d 194, 878 N.Y.S.2d 238, 905 N.E.2d 1167, 1174-75 (2009) and Valdez v. City of New York, 18 N.Y.3d 69, 936 N.Y.S.2d 587, 960 N.E.2d 356, 361-62 (2011), the New York Court of Appeals unequivocally held that a municipality cannot be held liable for the negligent acts of its employees when they are performing discretionary governmental functions, regardless of the existence of any “special relationship.”
Although New York State has waived sovereign immunity on behalf of itself and its municipal subdivisions, “the common-law doctrine of governmental immunity continues to shield public entities from liability for discretionary actions taken during the performance of government functions.” Valdez, 936 N.Y.S.2d 587, 960 N.E.2d at 361; see also In re World Trade Cntr. Bombing Litig., 17 N.Y.3d 428, 933 N.Y.S.2d 164, 957 N.E.2d 733, 749 (2011) (“[W]hen official action involves the exercise of discretion, the officer is not liable for the injurious consequences of that ac
In New York, cases involving governmental tort liability have long distinguished between discretionary and ministerial acts of government officials. See McLean, 878 N.Y.S.2d 238, 905 N.E.2d at 1173. In McLean, the Court of Appeals analyzed four of its prior decisions which had dictated the scope of municipal tort liability for discretionary and ministerial acts and which were arguably in conflict. In reviewing Tango v. Tulevech, 61 N.Y.2d 34, 471 N.Y.S.2d 73, 459 N.E.2d 182 (1983) and Lauer v. City of New York, 95 N.Y.2d 95, 711 N.Y.S.2d 112, 733 N.E.2d 184 (2000), the McLean court noted that these cases held that “discretionary municipal acts may never be a basis for liability, while ministerial acts may support liability only where a special duty is found.” McLean, 878 N.Y.S.2d 238, 905 N.E.2d at 1173 (emphasis added). However, two more recent cases, Pelaez v. Seide, 2 N.Y.3d 186, 778 N.Y.S.2d 111, 810 N.E.2d 393 (2004) and Kovit v. Estate of Hallums, 4 N.Y.3d 499, 797 N.Y.S.2d 20, 829 N.E.2d 1188 (2005), had called the distinction between discretionary and ministerial acts into question. In Pelaez, the Court of Appeals commented that “[a]s a rule, municipalities are immune from tort liability when their employees perform discretionary acts .... In a narrow exception to the rule, we have upheld tort claims when plaintiffs have established a ‘special relationship’ with the municipality.” McLean, 878 N.Y.S.2d 238, 905 N.E.2d at 1173 (quoting Pelaez, 778 N.Y.S.2d 111, 810 N.E.2d at 395). In Kovit, the Court of Appeals, relying on Pelaez, indicated that “municipalities generally enjoy immunity from liability for discretionary activities they undertake through their agents, except when plaintiffs establish a ‘special relationship’ with the municipality.” Id. (quoting Kovit, 797 N.Y.S.2d 20, 829 N.E.2d at 1189). Kovit and Pelaez thus suggested that municipalities could be held liable in tort for the discretionary actions of their employees where a “special relationship” existed, whereas Tango and Lazier had arguably limited the “special relationship” exception to ministerial acts and had upheld absolute immunity for discretionary acts. The McLean court admitted that the cases thus “seem[ed] inconsistent.” Id. But, as the McLean court emphatically concluded:
If there is an inconsistency, we resolve it now: Tango and Lauer are right, and any contrary inference that may be drawn from the quoted language in Pelaez and Kovit is wrong. Government action, if discretionary, may not be a*412 basis for liability, while ministerial actions may be, but only if they violate a special duty owed to the plaintiff, apart from any duty to the public in general.
Id. at 1173-74 (emphasis added).
The Court of Appeals then reaffirmed in Valdez, that “even if a plaintiff establishes all elements of a negligence claim, a state or municipal defendant engaging in a governmental function can avoid liability if it timely raises the [government function immunity] defense and proves that the alleged negligent act or omission involved the exercise of discretionary authority.” Valdez, 936 N.Y.S.2d 587, 960 N.E.2d at 362. The Court of Appeals then addressed the “lingering confusion concerning the special duty rule (establishing a tort duty of care) and the governmental function immunity defense (affording a full defense for discretionary acts ...),” and reaffirmed that the “special duty doctrine is [ ] not an exception to governmental function immunity” for discretionary actions. Id., 936 N.Y.S.2d 587, 960 N.E.2d at 363 (emphasis added).
The Parties do not dispute that Officer McManus was engaged in a governmental function when he directed Plaintiff to move his car, and it is well settled under New York law that “traffic regulation is a classic example of a governmental function undertaken for the protection and safety of the public.” Balsam v. Delma Eng’g Corp., 90 N.Y.2d 966, 665 N.Y.S.2d 613, 688 N.E.2d 487, 489 (1997). Therefore, as a threshold matter, the Court must determine whether Officer McManus was acting in a discretionary or a ministerial capacity when he directed Plaintiff to move his car.
The official conduct here involved a police officer directing traffic — here a car positioned near railroad tracks. On its face, the process of directing traffic smacks of instantaneous judgment calls, rather than a pre-programmed means of achieving a compulsory result.
Therefore, because Officer McManus was engaged in a discretionary function when his alleged negligence caused injury to Plaintiff, Defendants are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
III. Conclusion
For the reasons stated herein, Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to enter judgment for Defendants and to terminate the pending motion, (Dkt. No. 27). The Clerk of Court is also respectfully directed to close this case.
SO ORDERED.
. The Court notes that the measurements of the site indicate that there was enough room on either side of the tracks for Plaintiff's car to fit within the crossing gate and still be clear of the tracks.
. The Court has jurisdiction over the case pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332, because the parties are citizens of different states and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000. Plaintiff is a resident of New Jersey. (Notice of Removal ¶ 10 (Dkt. No. 1).) Defendants CSX Corporation, CSX Transportation, Inc., and CSX Intermodal, Inc. are incorporated in Virginia with their principal places of business in Florida. (Id. ¶ 11.) The Town of Haverstraw is a municipal corporation formed pursuant to the law of the State of New York, and Officer McManus is a resident of New York. (Id. ¶ 12.)
. In any event, the proffered basis for the motion — that complete diversity did not exist because Plaintiff was a New York resident — is inconsistent with Plaintiff's § 50-h hearing and deposition testimony, where he stated that he was a resident of New Jersey, and had lived in Englewood, New Jersey for the past fourteen years. (Denis 50-h Tr. 3:14-16; Denis Dep. 36:25-37:3.) Therefore, there appears to be complete diversity.
. Plaintiff has also stated that he intended to terminate David Harmon as a Defendant, though David Harmon still appears as a Defendant on the docket.
. The Parties did not address McLean or Valdez in their motion papers. On March 6, 2012, the Court issued an Order directing the Parties to submit supplemental briefs addressing these cases. (Dkt. No. 38.) In his supplemental brief, Plaintiff argues that the facts in the instant case are distinguishable from those in McLean and Valdez, because he claims that here "the defendant's agent unequivocally assumed a duty [ ] directly to the plaintiff.” (Supplemental Mem. of Law in Opp’n to Defs.’ Mot. for Summ. J. ("PL's Supplemental Mem.”) 1.) However, this argument is off the mark, as it does not address McLean's holding that regardless of the assumption of a "special duty,” there can be no municipal liability for the discretionary acts of municipal agents performing governmental functions. Plaintiff also claims that "the defendant’s act of merely directing plaintiff's vehicle onto the tracks before it was aware of the oncoming train was clearly ministerial in nature.” {Id. at 1-2.) However, Plaintiff does not elaborate on why the act of directing traffic here is “clearly ministerial,” nor does he offer any authority for the proposition that directing vehicle traffic is a ministerial, rather than a discretionary act.
. In Valdez, the court rested its holding (affirming the dismissal of the case by the Appellate Division) on the ground that regardless of whether the police were performing a ministerial or discretionary function, the plaintiff had failed to demonstrate that the defendant owed her any special duty of care. 936 N.Y.S.2d 587, 960 N.E.2d at 365, 368. The court noted that the situation was the same in McLean and Dinardo v. City of New York, 13 N.Y.3d 872, 893 N.Y.S.2d 818, 921 N.E.2d 585 (2009), where "plaintiffs ... failed to establish that a special duty existed, thereby rendering any further discussion concerning the availability of the governmental immunity defense unnecessary.” Id., 936 N.Y.S.2d 587, 960 N.E.2d at 365 n. 7. However, in Valdez, the defendant did not file a pretrial motion to dismiss or seek summary judgment invoking the governmental function immunity defense, but instead proceeded to trial and argued that the plaintiff had failed to establish a special relationship between herself and the police officer. The issue of whether the acts in question where ministerial or discretionary was thus not addressed in the lower courts, except in the Appellate Division dissent, and the issue before the Court of Appeals was the existence of a special relationship. Id., 936 N.Y.S.2d 587, 960 N.E.2d at 360-61.
Here, however, Defendants have raised the defense of governmental function immunity at the summary judgment stage, so as a threshold matter, the Court addresses whether that defense is available before determining whether Plaintiff has established the existence of any "special relationship.” See, e.g., Applewhite v. Accuhealth, Inc., 90 A.D.3d 501, 934 N.Y.S.2d 164, 166 (2011) (explaining that "as a threshold issue” the court must "determine the capacity in which the City was acting” before determining whether to apply the special relationship test); Sherpa v. N.Y.C. Health & Hosps. Corp., 90 A.D.3d 738, 934 N.Y.S.2d 463, 464 (2011) (affirming summary judgment for defendant where municipal employee was performing discretionary function without conducting any analysis of the existence of a special relationship); Clarke v. City of New York, 82 A.D.3d 1143, 920 N.Y.S.2d 913, 913-14 (2011) (holding that the "issue of whether a special relationship existed need not be reached” where defendant made a prima facie showing that the government employees were engaged in discretionary functions, and thus summary judgment should have been granted); Wiener v. City of New York, 33 Misc.3d 1210(A), No. 10-CV-17073, 2011 WL 4975350, at *1 (N.Y.Sup.Ct. Oct. 19, 2011) (dismissing complaint, even though there were triable issues of fact as to whether
. Although Plaintiff claims that the act of directing Plaintiff’s vehicle onto the train tracks before the officers were aware of the oncoming train was "clearly ministerial in nature” (PL's Supplemental Mem. 2), Plaintiff has provided no analysis and has cited no case law to support that conclusory assertion.
. In Sorrentino v. Mayerson, 82 A.D.3d 955, 918 N.Y.S.2d 579 (2011), the plaintiff was injured when police officers failed to properly secure an accident scene by putting flares or cones in the roadway. The Appellate Division upheld the grant of summary judgment for the municipality, but based its holding on the lack of a "special duty” and did not conduct an analysis of whether the governmental function being performed was discretionary or ministerial. It should be noted, however, that the County did not raise the governmental function immunity defense in that case, and instead argued that it could not be held liable in the absence of a special duty. Id. at 579.
The Court also notes that there are several cases decided before 2009 which applied the "special relationship” test to claims arising out of alleged negligence in traffic regulation. However, these cases were decided before McLean clarified that governmental function immunity for discretionary actions is an absolute defense, and the "special relationship” test therefore has no application. See, e.g., Lynch v. State, 37 A.D.3d 772, 831 N.Y.S.2d 228, 229-30 (2007) (granting judgment for state because of lack of special relationship between injured plaintiff and police officer who failed to set up road flares to block oncoming traffic); Santoro v. City of New York, 17 A.D.3d 563, 795 N.Y.S.2d 60, 61 (2005) (granting summary judgment to City for failure to properly direct traffic at scene of an accident because plaintiff failed to show a special relationship); Eckert v. State, 3 A.D.3d 470, 771 N.Y.S.2d 132, 133 (2004) (affirming grant of summary judgment for state where plaintiff was injured when police failed to light road flares at the scene of an accident, but applying special relationship test); Kohn v. City of New York, 19 Misc.3d 1140(A), No. 06-CV-150018, 2008 WL 2265783, at *5 (N.Y.Sup.Ct. May 22, 2008) ("[I]n order for an injured party to hold a municipality liable for negligently performing traffic control or traffic regulation functions, the party must demonstrate that a special relationship existed between it and the municipality.”).
. Additionally, this situation fits comfortably into the rationale behind according immunity for discretionary decisions of government actors. A police officer directing traffic after securing an accident scene must be "free to exercise judgment and discretion in [his] official functions, unhampered by fear of second-guessing and retaliatory lawsuits.” Mon, 574 N.Y.S.2d 529, 579 N.E.2d at 692 (internal quotation marks omitted); see also Kovit, 797 N.Y.S.2d 20, 829 N.E.2d at 1190 (“If liability flowed from every negligent action, officials would be trained to shrink from their responsibility so as to avoid possible costs to their municipal employers. We expect better of our government, and therefore protect the discretion of its agents so municipalities will encourage them to carry out their duties in the service of the public.”).
. As Defendants are entitled to the defense of governmental function immunity, the Court does not address whether the emergency doctrine also bars Plaintiff's claims.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jean Y. DENIS v. The TOWN OF HAVERSTRAW, and Police Officer McManus (Badge/ID No. 235)
- Cited By
- 3 cases
- Status
- Published