Hays v. City and County of Honolulu5/24/1996
Opinion OF THE COURT BY MOON, C.J.
In this beach injury case, plaintiff-appellant Sean Hays appeals from the First Circuit Court's order granting summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee City and County of Honolulu (the city). Hays argues on appeal that the circuit court erred in concluding that the "discovery rule" did not apply in the present case and that Hays's claim was therefore barred by the statute of limitations. For the following reasons, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
On December 7, 1986, Hays was sitting with a friend on a low-lying rocky point protruding into the ocean at Makapu'u Beach Park on O'ahu. Therefrom, he dove head-first into the ocean, struck his head on the ocean bottom, and suffered serious cervical/spinal injuries that rendered him a quadriplegic. On the day of the incident, there was at least one lifeguard, employed by the city, on duty at Makapu'u Beach Park, but there were no warning signs posted. Hays was eighteen years old at the time he was injured.
Approximately seven and one-half years later, on the evening of March 20, 1994, Hays was watching a television news program that referred to a multi-million dollar verdict in a case against the city. The case involved a young man who, like Hays, dove off a rocky point into the ocean, struck the ocean bottom, and was rendered a quadriplegic. Hays called the television station the next day, seeking the name of the attorney who represented the injured young man mentioned in the news program. Hays contacted the attorney, who later met with him, and informed him that he might have a claim against the city.
Thereafter, Hays filed a complaint against the city on June 22, 1994, essentially asserting a cause of action for negligent failure to warn. The city moved for summary judgment, asserting that Hawai'i Revised Statutes (HRS) ยง 657-7 (1993), which provides for a two-year statute of limitations applicable to actions for damage to persons or property, barred Hays's claim. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of the city, and Hays timely appealed.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
It is well settled that:
We review circuit court's award of summary judgment de novo under the same standard applied by the circuit court. Amfac, Inc. v. Waikiki Beachcomber Inv. Co., 74 Haw. 85, 104, 839 P.2d 10, 22, reconsideration denied, 74 Haw. 650, 843 P.2d 144 (1992) (citation omitted). As we have often articulated,
summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.
Id. (emphasis added) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted); see Hawai'i Rules of Civil Procedure (HRCP) Rule 56(c) (1990). "A fact is material if proof of that fact would have the effect of establishing or refuting one of the essential elements of a cause of action or defense asserted by the parties." Hulsman v. Hemmeter Dev. Corp., 65 Haw. 58, 61, 647 P.2d 713, 716 (1982) (citations omitted).
Maguire v. Hilton Hotels Corp., 79 Haw. 110, 112, 899 P.2d 393, 395 (1995).
III. Discussion
A. The Development of the "Discovery Rule" in Hawai'i
In Yoshizaki v. Hilo Hospital, 50 Haw. 150, 433 P.2d 220
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