Jaywalking Can be Very Expensive - for the City of New Orleans
Diana Murphy was jaywalking across Decatur Street in New Orleans when she tripped over a mound of pushed up asphalt and fell, injuring her right knee and leg (a tibia plateau fracture), which required two surgeries and physical therapy. Mrs. Murphy and her husband filed suit against the City of New Orleans alleging strict liability and negligence in the matter Murphy v. City of New Orleans. The district court found the City 100% at fault and awarded damages in the amount of $999,173.99 broken down as follows: (1) past medical expenses, $314,302.66; (2) future medical expenses, $15,000.00, (3) past lost wages, $169,871.33, and (4) general damages, $500,000.00. The award would have been higher, but Louisiana law imposes a $500,000.00 statutory cap (pdf) on general damages against the State and its political subdivisions.
The City appealed, in part, on the ground that plaintiffs failed to carry their burden of proof on each element required to establish negligence and strict liability against a public entity. The Court of Appeal noted that in order to prevail on a negligence or strict liability claim against a public entity a plaintiff must prove that: (1) the City had custody or ownership of the defective thing; (2) the defect created the unreasonable risk of harm; (3) the City had actual or constructive notice of the defect and failed to take corrective action within a reasonable time; and (4) causation. LSA-R.S. 9:2800. A failure to prove any element will bar recovery. The City argued that the elevated pavement did not pose an unreasonable risk of harm to a pedestrian and the City did not have knowledge of the condition. More specifically, the City argued that the defect in the pavement was obvious and that Mrs. Murphy was not paying attention.
The Appellate Court rejected the City’s arguments that the pushed up asphalt did not create an unreasonable risk of harm because it was obviously visible to a pedestrian exercising reasonable care. It based its decision on the facts that: the asphalt rose several inches at its peak and was located away from the curb in the traveled portion of the street; Decatur is a major street in the French Quarter, which is a main attraction in Orleans Parish for tourists who tend to be pedestrians; and, Mrs. Murphy was a tourist who had no familiarity with the area. The Appellate Court was, apparently, unconcerned with the fact that Ms. Murphy was jaywalking at the time of the accident.
With respect to the City’s knowledge of the defect, the Appellate Court found that the City failed to follow its own written policy that mandated annual visual inspections of all major streets for the six years prior to the accident. Thus, the Court held that the City had constructive knowledge of the defect. Consequently, the Court affirmed the trial court’s finding that the defect created an unreasonable risk of harm.
Take-Away: A property owner that fails to follow its own property inspection protocol will be charged with knowledge of a defective condition that should have been discovered during inspection.
