Morrison v. City of Warrensville Heights

2022-Ohio-1489

BORIS MORRISON, Plaintiff-Appellee/Cross-Appellant, v. CITY OF WARRENSVILLE HEIGHTS, ET AL., Defendants-Appellants/ Cross-Appellees.

No. 110234

Court of Appeals of Ohio, Eighth District, Cuyahoga

May 5, 2022

Civil Appeal from the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Case No. CV-18-908804

Sonkin & Koberna, LLC, Mark R Koberna, and Sean T. Koran, for appellee/cross-appellant.

Mazanec, Raskin and Ryder Co., L.PA., James A Climer, Frank H. Scialdone, John D. Pinzone, and Amily A Imbrogno, for appellant/cross-appellee.

JOURNAL ENTRY AND OPINION

EMANUELLA D. GROVES, JUDGE

{¶ 1} Defendants-appellants employees of the city of Warrensville Heights appeal the denial of their motion for summary judgment in this wrongful death and survivorship action. Cross-appellant Boris Morrison ("Morrison"), administrator for the estate of Betty L. Morrison, deceased, appeals the trial court's decision to grant summary judgment to cross-appellee city of Warrensville Heights (the "City"). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the decision of the trial court.

Factual and Procedural History

{¶ 2} On September 5, 2017, 71-year-0ld Betty L. Morrison ("Ms. Morrison") had a severe asthma attack. Ms Morrison, a long-time resident of the City, called 911 and requested assistance. By the time EMS arrived, Ms. Morrison was unconscious and not breathing. Attempts to revive Ms. Morrison were ultimately unsuccessful. She was eventually transported to South Pointe Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

{¶ 3} At her funeral, Amelia Gray ("Gray"), Ms. Morrison's daughter, learned from a neighbor that EMS initially went to the wrong address. The neighbor reported that EMS spent several minutes at her home before eventually going to Ms. Morrison's. Gray, concerned about this information, obtained the EMS records of her mother's care. Gray discovered there were discrepancies between what she had learned from the neighbor and what was in the EMS reports. Seeking answers, Gray wrote to Fire Chief, Herbert Waugh ("Chief Waugh"), asking him to explain why the official report did not show EMS had gone to the wrong address or account for the time they spent at that address. Furthermore, she asked why the reports showed that it took several minutes for EMS to be dispatched to her mother's home.

{¶ 4} In response to Gray's letter, the City's Mayor, Bradley Sellers ("Mayor Sellers"), requested that the Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Department review the circumstances surrounding EMS's response to Ms. Morrison's 911 call. Mayor Sellers also requested that the sheriffs department "address any internal issues that may be discovered" during the investigation.

Cuyahoga County Sheriff Department's Investigation

{¶ 5} Cuyahoga County Sheriffs Department Deputy Courtney K Sheehy ("Sheehy") who was tasked with the overview, finalized the investigation on May 17, 2018. Sheehy did an extensive review, obtaining the recorded 911 calls, dispatch calls, and reports created as a result of the incident. Sheehy also interviewed the employees involved in the incident, except Lynnesha Hamilton ("Hamilton"), the dispatcher, who declined to give a statement.

{¶ 6} Sheehy began by developing a timeline from the recorded calls. As a preliminary matter, Sheehy noted that there were discrepancies between the times labeled on the recorded calls and the times spoken by the dispatcher on the recordings. Sheehy surmised from interviews that these discrepancies occurred because the dispatcher was reading the time from a cell phone or a clock other than the one on the computer.

{¶ 7} Ms. Morrison's 911 call came in at 9:37:47 a.m. on September 5, 2017. The 911 system automatically time stamps incoming calls. Hamilton took the call. Despite having difficulty breathing and speaking, Ms. Morrison relayed that she was having an asthma attack and needed assistance. She also relayed that she was 71 years old and that her address was 19219 Lanbury. Hamilton repeated the address and indicated she was sending a squad.

{¶ 8} The investigation revealed that Hamilton's call to the fire station to dispatch an ambulance to Ms. Morrison's home was not recorded. Sheehy determined that this was likely caused by someone using a speakerphone during the call. Sheehy learned that if a speakerphone was used, by either dispatch or the fire station, the system would not record the call.

{¶ 9} The next recorded call came at 9:40:43 a.m. through channel seven (the Fire/EMS line). At that time, Squad 1, the ambulance carrying firefighters David Rancourt Jr. ("Rancourt") and Nicholas Kaminsky ("Kaminsky"), radioed dispatch and stated, "responding 19419 Lanbury," instead of "responding 19219 Lanbury." In the same recording, Hamilton responded with "9:42." Hamilton did not correct the address. Sheehy attributed the difference in times to Hamilton looking at a wall clock or cell phone, rather than the clock on the computer.

{¶ 10} At 9:43:46, Squad 1 radioed dispatch indicating they were "on scene." They did not restate the address during this call. By using Google Maps, Sheehy determined that 19419 Lanbury was approximately 1.3-1.6 miles and a three-to-five-minute drive from the fire station. Sheehy calculated that with lights and sirens it took Squad 1 approximately 3 minutes to get to 19419 Lanbury. Dispatch did not acknowledge or respond to this call.

{¶ 11} At 9:45:39 a.m., Squad 1 radioed dispatch and requested an address check. At 9:45:59 a.m., Hamilton responded stating "19219, 19219." Squad 1 responded at 9:46:10 a.m. with "Alright, copy that, 19219, thank you."

{¶ 12} At 9:47:08 a.m., Squad 1 advised dispatch that they were on scene at 19219 Lanbury. Again, using Google Maps, Sheehy determined that the two addresses were about eight houses apart. Sheehy noted that in less than a minute, Squad 1 loaded their equipment back on the ambulance and drove to Ms. Morrison's home. Dispatch responded to the call by stating, "Copy at 9:49." Sheehy noted the difference in the times, again suggesting that this was likely due to the dispatcher reading the time from a cell phone, wall-mounted clock, or a clock other than the one on the computer.

{¶ 13} Determining that Ms. Morrison was in full cardiac arrest, and she needed additional assistance, Squad 1 radioed the fire station at 9:48:24 a.m. Engine 1, carrying Lt. Pete Patrick ("Lt. Patrick") and Omar Jordan ("Jordan"), arrived on scene at 9:53:10 a.m. Squad 1 advised Engine 1 to bring in the Lucas (a machine that performs chest compressions). Squad 1 subsequently radioed dispatch at 10:06:09 a.m. that they were en route to the hospital. At 10:08:41 a.m. they radioed dispatch that they had arrived at the hospital.

{¶ 14} Next, Sheehy reviewed the EMS Run Report ("run report"), a document that catalogs the particulars of the call, including the times that certain events occurred. The report was completed and electronically signed by Rancourt on September 5, 2017, at 2:32 p.m. The run report indicated that the 911 call was both received and dispatched at 9:40 a.m., rather than 9:37 a.m. Rancourt reported that EMS was en route to the residence at 9:4o a.m. Further, he indicated that EMS was at 19219 at 9:44 a.m., rather than 9:47 a.m. According to the report, Squad 1 left the residence at 10:08 a.m. and arrived at the hospital at 10:11 a.m. Sheehy noted that there was only one indication on the report that there was an error with the address. On page three of the report under a section titled "Dispatch Factors," Rancourt noted, "Location (Inability to obtain)."

{¶ 15} To get a better understanding of how the department operates, Sheehy interviewed the firefighters involved in Ms. Morrison's call. The firefighters reported that when dispatchers call, they typically call over the police line, which has a special ring tone, which notifies them that it is an emergency. At the time of Ms. Morrison's incident, the City did not relay emergency call information via email or text. When the calls would come through, whoever answered the phone would either pick up the handset or use the speakerphone. There was also an intercom that firefighters used to broadcast call information to the entire department; however, the intercom often did not work.

{¶ 16} Typically, firefighters would write the address and other pertinent information on two pieces of scrap paper near the phone. Usually, if only one team was assigned to the call, that team would take one piece of paper with them. The other piece of paper would remain at the station, where a firefighter would input the information on that sheet into an informal logbook the fire station kept to keep track of calls. Whoever was monitoring the logbook was also supposed to listen to the dispatch calls and input the information into the logbook as it happened.

{¶ 17} To get an understanding of the duties of City dispatchers, Sheehy reviewed the "City of Warrensville Heights Employee Job Description for Dispatchers." Dispatchers are employed by and work under the supervision of the police department. According to that document dispatchers' primary duties included "dispatching for police and fire, answering 911 calls, answering calls for citizen complaints (nonemergency lines), and complaints of flooding, storm damage, broken utility lines and notify the appropriate departments or resources for investigation and repair." Additional primary responsibilities included operating the computer terminal for Law Enforcement Automated Data Systems ("LEADS"), and other law enforcement-related computer systems, preparing warrants and reports as necessary, maintaining a record of community activity, and preparing, recording, and maintaining a computerized record of stolen property. Further, dispatchers were responsible...