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Locke v. Ozark City Board of Education4/15/2005
Wesley Locke appeals from a summary judgment in favor of the defendant, the Ozark City Board of Education. We reverse and remand.
I.
Wesley Locke is a physical education teacher employed by the Dale County Department of Education. For a number of years, Locke also served as an umpire for high school baseball games. Locke was a member of the Southeast Alabama Umpires Association ("SAUA"), which provides officials to athletic events sponsored by the Alabama High School Athletic Association ("AHSAA").
On March 30, 1999, Locke was serving as the head umpire in a baseball game between Carroll High School and George W. Long High School. The game was being played at Carroll High School, and the principal and the athletic director of Carroll High School were in attendance; however, Carroll High School did not provide police protection or other security personnel for the game. After the baseball game, Mixon Cook, the parent of one of the baseball players for Carroll High School, attacked Locke, punching him three times in the face -- in his right eye, on the right side of his face, and on the left side of his neck. As a result, Locke sustained physical injuries to his neck and face that caused him pain, discomfort, scarring, and blurred vision. Locke sued the Ozark City Board of Education ("the Board") alleging breach of contract.
Locke specifically alleged that because Carroll High School, through the Board, is a member of the AHSAA, it is therefore required to follow the rules and regulations of the AHSAA. According to Locke, the AHSAA Directory provides that all school principals have the duty to "insure good game administration and supervision by providing for the following: ... adequate police protection" at athletic events. Locke alleged that, by not fulfilling its duty under the Directory, the Board breached its contract with the ASHAA by failing to provide police protection at the baseball game, that he was an intended third-party beneficiary of the contract, and that he was injured as a result of the Board's breach of the contract.
The Board moved for a summary judgment, arguing that it did not have a duty to protect Locke, that Locke was not an intended third-party beneficiary of the contract between it and AHSAA, that Locke's claims were tort claims and not contract claims, that the Board is not responsible for the criminal actions of a third party, and that the Board did not breach "any alleged contract" with AHSAA. The trial court entered a summary judgment in favor of the Board. Locke appeals.
II.
The standard for review of a summary judgment is well established:
"The standard of review applicable to a summary judgment is the same as the standard for granting the motion, that is, we must determine whether there was a genuine issue of material fact and, if not, whether the movant was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Our review is further subject to the caveat that this Court must review the record in a light most favorable to the non-movant and resolve all reasonable doubts against the movant. Wilson v. Brown, 496 So. 2d 756, 758 (Ala. 1986); Harrell v. Reynolds Metals Co., 495 So. 2d 1381 (Ala. 1986). See also Hanners v. Balfour Guthrie, Inc., 564 So. 2d 412 (Ala. 1990).
"... Ala. Code 1975 ยง 12-21-12, mandates that the [nonmovants] meet their burden by 'substantial evidence.' Bass v. SouthTrust Bank of Baldwin County, 538 So. 2d 794, 797-98 (Ala. 1989). Under the substantial evidence test the non-movant must present 'evidence of such weight and quality that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be prove
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