MUNICIPAL LAW: Summary Judgment Granted on Behalf of Regional School District

Attorney Kathryn Cunningham of Jackson O’Keefe obtains summary judgment on behalf of Regional School District:

The plaintiff claimed that she was on the grounds of a high school, walking on a sidewalk between a fence surrounding the school’s athletic track and bleachers overlooking the track, when she tripped and fell over a rolled up rubber mat that been placed in the walkway.  She claimed that the mat had been placed by agents or employees of the school.

On the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, the Superior Court holds that governmental immunity bars the plaintiff’s negligence claim since maintenance of the premises was discretionary and the plaintiff did not qualify as an identifiable victim subject to imminent harm.  With regard to two nuisance counts, the court holds that governmental immunity applies since there was no evidence – contrary to the plaintiff’s allegations – that any agent or employee of the town placed the rubber mat in the area in question.

Hallowell v.  Regional School District No. 8, Superior Court at Rockville (June 16, 2015)