Coit v. Nappi

248 Md.App. 44

239 A.3d 824

Octavia T. COIT, et al.

v.Nicole NAPPI, et al.

No. 318, Sept. Term, 2019

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

October 1, 2020

Argued by Latoya Francis-Williams (Law Office of A. Dwight Pettit, PA, on the brief), Baltimore, MD, for Appellant.

Argued by Christopher C. Sakles (James R. Benjamin, Jr., County Atty., on the brief), Towson, MD, for Appellee.

Nazarian, Arthur, J. Frederick Sharer (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.

Sharer, J. Ceontay Coit died on December 11, 2015, at the age of 21 as a result of cardiac arrest following an acute asthma attack. Appellants, Octavia T. Coit and Jan Michael Pinkney, his parents, and the Estate of Ceontay Coit, filed suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County asserting wrongful death and related claims. Appellees, defendants below, are Nicole Nappi and Traci Jackson, and their employer, Baltimore County. Ms. Nappi was a paramedic at the time and Ms. Jackson was an emergency medical technician (EMT) at the time who responded to a 911 call to attend to Mr. Coit and transported him to a hospital, where he died. It is the timing and propriety of their response that led to this litigation.

After the completion of discovery, appellees moved for summary judgment, which was heard by Hon. Dennis M. Robinson, Jr. on March 15, 2019. By order of March 26, 2019, the court granted the motion and entered judgment for all appellees.

In their appeal, appellants ask this Court to consider:

1. Whether the trial court erred, as a matter of law, in granting [appellees’] motion for summary judgment where [there] existed genuine issues of [material] facts between the parties[.]

2. Whether the trial court erred in holding, as a matter of law, that [appellants] required expert testimony to establish the proximate cause of death of Ceontay Coit despite the record demonstrating a fact witness unambiguously revealed [that] the deceased was still alive at the time [appellees] Jackson and Nappi abandoned him.

We review a trial court's grant of summary judgment for legal error, i.e. , was the court correct in its legal determination that there existed no genuine dispute of material fact and that the prevailing party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Powell v. Breslin , 195 Md. App. 340, 345–46, 6 A.3d 360 (2010) ; ABC Imaging of Wash., Inc. v. Travelers Indem. Co. of Am. , 150 Md. App. 390, 394, 820 A.2d 628 (2003) (quoting Tyma v. Montgomery County , 369 Md. 497, 503–04, 801 A.2d 148 (2002) ). In our review of a trial court's grant of summary judgment, we examine " ‘the same information from the record and determine the same issues of law as the trial court.’ " Cent. Truck Ctr., Inc. v. Cent. GMC, Inc. , 194 Md. App. 375, 387, 4 A.3d 515 (2010) (quoting La Belle Epoque, LLC v. Old Europe Antique Manor , 406 Md. 194, 209, 958 A.2d 269 (2008) ). In so doing, "[w]e look only to the evidence submitted in opposition to, and in support of, the motion for summary judgment in reviewing the trial court's decision to grant the motion." Id .

Having reviewed the record developed in the circuit court, including discovery, as did the motions court, we are satisfied that it committed neither error nor abuse of discretion in the order granting summary judgment. The court's extensive and thorough Decision and Order clearly, and in detail, considered the relevant facts. Its application of the law to those facts is clearly and carefully stated and, in our view, could not be improved upon by a writing of this Court. Hence, we adopt the motions court's findings and rulings as the opinion of this Court. We transpose into, with minor non-substantive edits, alterations where necessary, and incorporate into this opinion, the Decision and Order of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, entered on March 26, 2019, as the opinion of this Court.¹

The circuit court wrote:

DECISION & ORDER – [APPELLEES’] MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

This case arises out of the untimely death of Ceontay Coit. He died on December 11, 2015 when he was twenty-one years old, after having difficulty breathing while at his friend's house. [Appellants] Octavia Coit, Jan Michael Pinkney and the Estate of Ceontay Coit filed a lawsuit against the Paramedic and Emergency Medical Technician who responded to a 911 call for service for Mr. Coit and against Baltimore County. Octavia Coit is Mr. Coit's mother. Mr. Pinkney is Mr. Coit's father. Paramedic Nicole Nappi and EMT Traci Jackson are the emergency medical service providers who responded first to the 911 call for Mr. Coit's medical emergency. Bruce Watkins is Mr. Coit's friend who was with him when he started experiencing the symptoms that prompted the 911 call. Mr. Watkins and Mr. Coit were at Mr. Watkins’ home.

[Appellants] asserted three claims: 1) a survival action based on alleged gross negligence (Claim I - Count I), 2) a claim for funeral expenses (Claim I - Count II) and 3) a wrongful death claim based on several theories of recovery (Claim II - Count I). Discovery is complete. Paramedic Nappi, EMT Jackson and Baltimore County filed a motion for summary judgment. Ms. Coit, Mr. Pinkney and the Estate of Mr. Coit filed an opposition. The Court held a hearing regarding the motion for summary judgment on March 15, 2019. For the reasons stated below, the Court is granting [appellees’] motion for summary judgment and entering judgment in favor of Paramedic Nappi, EMT Jackson and Baltimore County.

SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD

Motions for summary judgment are governed by Maryland Rule 2-501, which provides that "[a]ny party may file a written motion for summary judgment on all or part of an action on the ground that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." The standard for a motion for summary judgment is a familiar one:

A summary judgment motion is not a substitute for trial. Rather it is used to dispose of cases when there is no genuine dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The standard for appellate review of a trial court's grant of summary judgment is whether the trial judge was legally correct in his or her rulings. In granting a motion for summary judgment, the trial judge may not resolve factual disputes, but instead is limited to ruling on matters of law. Summary judgment is generally inappropriate when matters such as knowledge, intent, and motive are at issue. If any inferences may be drawn from the well-plead facts, the trial court must construe those inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. The existence of a dispute as to some non-material fact will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment, but if there is evidence upon which the jury could reasonably find for the non-moving party or material facts in dispute, the grant of summary judgment is improper.

Okwa v. Harper , 360 Md. 161 178 [757 A.2d 118] (2000) (internal citations omitted). Although a court must resolve all inferences in favor of the party opposing summary judgment, those inferences must be reasonable. Beatty v. Trailmaster Products, Inc. , 330 Md. 726, 739 [625 A.2d 1005] (1993).

SUMMARY OF THE PARTIES’ RESPECTIVE POSITIONS

Paramedic Nappi and EMT Jackson argue that they are entitled to immunity pursuant to Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-603 ("Good Samaritan Act") and Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-604 ("Fire & Rescue Companies Act"). Baltimore County argues that it is entitled to governmental immunity under Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§ 5-301, et seq . ("LGTCA"). [Appellees] also argue that they are entitled to summary judgment because Mr. Coit was contributorily negligent and because there is insufficient evidence to support a negligence claim against Paramedic Nappi and EMT Jackson.

[Appellants] argue that there is sufficient evidence of gross negligence on the part of Paramedic Nappi and EMT Jackson to preclude them from receiving the immunity provided by the Good Samaritan Act and the Fire & Rescue Companies Act. They argue that Baltimore County is not entitled to governmental immunity under the LGTCA because the claims are based on the County's policies and customs. [Appellants] also argue that the evidence does not support a finding of contributory negligence on the part of Mr. Coit, and that there is sufficient evidence to support the claims against [appellees]. According to [appellants], there are several factual disputes that preclude entry of summary judgment in favor of [appellees]:

1) the parties’ respective interpretations on [appellees] Jackson and Nappi's response time; 2) the effect of abandoning Mr. Coit and rendering no useful aid upon arrival; 3) whether [appellees] followed response protocol when there is an actual delay to their response time and refusing to update dispatch on said delay while having full knowledge that all communications to dispatch are relayed to the patient for the patient's health and safety; 4) whether injecting Coit with Narcan with no evidence of Opioid use, then lying on his medical records to cover up their further malfeasance, in stating that, "patient was found with a rubber band around arm" to justify use of Narcan which they themselves purport has no helpful effects on persons not suffering from Opioid overdose such as Mr. Coit; 5) whether [appellees] actually began any "treatment" for Mr. Coit after their uneventful arrival at Mr. Watkins’ home; 6) whether [appellees] provided any assessment for Mr. Coit, at all, in a time frame that would actually serve to benefit Mr. Coit; 7) whether the use of [the] CAD report to document response and event time throughout this emergency given [appellees] Nappi and Jackson admit to providing misinformation to dispatch on the critical question of when they were "in route" and driving to Mr. Coit; 8) who upgraded the call and requested a "medical box" respond to Mr. Coit, dispatch or [appellees] Nappi and Jackson;

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