LANSING, Mich. (Legal Newsline) – A Michigan school system won’t be liable for the death of a small child who was crushed by a falling panel that weighed more than 300 pounds.
In a decision released Aug. 27, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled for Gwinn Area Community Schools and other defendants, finding a trial court in Marquette County was wrong to deny their motions for summary disposition.
“The trial court did not err by finding that the stage cover constituted a fixture and, therefore, part ‘of a public building,’” the appellate ruling says.
“The trial court did err, however, by denying the school’s motion for summary disposition because leaning the stage cover panels against the gym wall did not constitute a failure to repair or maintain a public building.”
The panels were created in 2010 by a teacher at Gwinn Middle & High School to cover a stage in the school gym that was used for the high school graduation ceremony. The two panels each weighed 325 pounds and were six feet tall.
They could be affixed to the gym wall then detached when the graduation ceremony approached. They were placed on specially designed carts when removed and stored in a hallway, where they leaned against the wall at an angle.
After the 2015 graduation and a year after their designer resigned and left instructions, they were not put back on the gym wall.
In September 2015, the process of reinstalling the panels began during a cheerleading practice. The two panels were placed against a wall at an angle that morning. Work stopped to retrieve tools.
The cheerleading coach had brought her three 4-year-old daughters with her. They were first on the end of the gym with the cheerleaders but later went to play at the end of the gym where the panels were located. One of them fell on top of Amara Filizetti while on that end. She died the next day from her injuries.
She sued the school for failing to maintain a public building – an exception to the immunity usually provided government entities like a school district. She also sued school employees and two companies.
The Court of Appeals decision says the immunity should have been extended to Gwinn and that the individual defendants should have won summary disposition because “reasonable minds could not differ” as to whether they were grossly negligent.
“Neither Anthony (Filizetti) nor (Tracy) Belusar observed anyone inside the gym except for the cheerleaders who were practicing on mats in the south end of the gym; they also did not anticipate that the cheerleaders or anyone else would enter the north end of the gym,” the decision says.
“Furthermore, Belusar tested the stability of the panels by placing her weight on them, which did not cause them to fall. Anthony believed that the panels were stable and well positioned. The panels were left unattended while Belusar went to obtain the hardware and drill necessary to attach the panels to the wall.
“Under these circumstances, reasonable minds might differ as to whether Anthony and Soyring were negligent in leaving the unattended panels leaning against the gym wall for a period of 30 minutes or less, but they could not differ as to whether their conduct was so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury resulted.”