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Donnalley v. Sterling7/13/2005
SMITH, P. J., ELLINGTON and ADAMS, JJ.
Joseph and Carole Sterling, individually and as administrators of the estate of their deceased son, Daniel Sterling, filed this wrongful death suit against Mike Donnalley and the Cobb County School District. The trial court subsequently granted summary judgment on the Sterlings' tort claims, finding that Donnalley and the District were shielded from liability on the grounds of sovereign and official immunity. But the trial court denied the motion as to the Sterlings' breach of contract claim, and Donnalley and the District appeal that holding. Because we find as a matter of law that Daniel Sterling was not intended as a third-party beneficiary under the contract at issue, we reverse.
Summary judgment is proper where the movant demonstrates that "there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the undisputed facts, viewed in a light most favorable to the non-movant, warrant judgment as a matter of law." (Footnote omitted.) SunTrust Bank v. Merritt, 272 Ga. App. 485, 486 (612 SE2d 818) (2005). This Court reviews the trial court's ruling on the motion for summary judgment de novo. Id.
Here, the evidence shows that in 1999, Donnalley was the head football coach at Wheeler High School in Cobb County. In August 1999, the Wheeler High School football team traveled to the Athens YMCA Camp in Tallulah Falls, Georgia for a three-day training camp. On the first day of camp, Daniel Sterling, along with several teammates, was riding a "zip line" into the camp's lake. The boys would drop off into the lake from the zip line and swim either to the dock or to the shore. The campers were supervised by Steve Brown, an assistant football coach, who was standing on a dock approximately 30 feet away. Brown had been entrusted with responsibility for patrolling the lake for the three years Wheeler High had held the football camp at the Athens "Y" Camp. In the past, Brown had undergone CPR, lifesaving and water rescue instruction and had been certified to teach first aid, but he had never received a certificate in lifesaving or water rescue.
After his second trip down the zip line, Daniel Sterling surfaced, swam clear, and began treading water. A few minutes later, however, Daniel began to struggle in the water. One of his teammates, Breon Segree, tried to help him but was unable to hold him above the water. Segree yelled for help and another teammate, Chase Paris, tried to help Segree pull Daniel from underneath the water. Brown also dove into the water and helped Paris bring Daniel to shore. He was quickly joined in the water by Donnalley and a third coach.
Daniel was unconscious and was not breathing when he was brought to shore. The coaches administered CPR until an ambulance arrived, and Daniel was eventually evacuated by helicopter from a local hospital to Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Atlanta, where, tragically, he died two days later.
1. The Sterlings' breach of contract claim arises from a one-page rental contract that Donnalley signed with the YMCA for the use of the Athens "Y" Camp. Donnalley signed the agreement as a "group official" and is listed as the "person responsible." Under this contract, Donnalley agreed that the football team, and not the YMCA, was responsible for providing "qualified personnel" to supervise the lake during water activities, although that term was not defined in the agreement. The Sterlings' contract claim asserts that Daniel was a third-party beneficiary of the rental contract, and they argue that a jury question exists as to whether Donnalley and the District breached the requirement of providing "qualified personnel" by failing to have a certified lifeguard patrol at the l
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