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Smith v. West Side Community House12/26/1991
JUDGMENT: AFFIRMED.
The appeal sub judice arises from a personal injury /wrongful death and related tort action filed on April 11, 1989 by appellants Wanda Smith, individually and in her capacity as administratrix of the estate of her son Marvin Dale Smith.
Decedent was a sixteen-year-old tenth-grade student employed part-time by appellee West Side Community House ("WSCH"), a social service mission of the United Church of Christ, in its weatherization program repairing windows for the neighborhood elderly. Decedent obtained permission from his mother to go with a number of other minor employees in the program on a recreational activity sponsored by WSCH and supervised by several of its adult employees on June 23, 1988.
The picnic and outing were held at Cleveland Lakefront State Park. During the course of the day several employees went swimming from the public beach. Decedent and Tyrone Williams, another minor in the program, also went swimming and both ultimately drowned. Decedent's body was found by two fishermen floating in Lake Erie west of the breakwall three days later.
Appellants' complaint contained four counts against appellees WSCH, one count each against Jane and John Doe and four adult employees, viz., Reginald Peeple, Renee Sanders, Yvette Medina and Cynthia Maxwell (the "Supervisors"). The first three counts raised claims for personal injury , wrongful death and respondeat superior liability based on appellees alleged negligent supervision of decedent at the outing. The remaining two counts stated claims by Wanda Smith individually for infliction of emotional distress and respondeat superior liability. None of the counts alleged intentional torts.
Appellees' joint answer denied liability and raised their respective workers' compensation immunity defenses. Appellees thereafter obtained a court order limiting appellants' discovery to the applicability of the immunity defense and subsequently moved for summary judgment on that basis. The trial court denied appellants' motions for leave to file an amended complaint and to compel the release of appellee Peeple's medical records after his subsequent suicide.
The amended complaint sought to raise the "dual capacity" doctrine as an exception to appellees' asserted workers' compensation immunity defenses. The new sixth count alleged appellees stepped outside their respective roles as employer and co-employees of decedent by acting inter alia as (1) supervisor, (2) lifeguard (since the employees were allegedly swimming in an area not supervised by the park lifeguard), and/or (3) in loco parentis (based on the claim appellees failed to advise decedent's parents of the location of the outing before Wanda Smith executed the permission form).
The trial court granted summary judgment on the personal injury and wrongful death claims in the first three counts of appellants' complaint. Appellees subsequently filed a supplemental motion for summary judgment on the two remaining claims for emotional distress on behalf of Wanda Smith. The trial court thereafter granted summary judgment for appellees on the remaining two claims of emotional distress, granted appellants' motion to reconsider summary judgment on the first three claims, but upon reconsideration again granted summary judgment to appellees on the first three claims.
Appellants timely appealed raising five assignments of error. The Court will address appellants' second assignment of error first.
I. Appellants' second assignment of error follows:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED TO THE PREJUDICE OF PLAINTIFFS-APPELLANTS BY GRANTING DEFENDANTS- APPELLEES' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT
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