Multiple Claimants v. North Carolina Dhss

646 S.E.2d 356

MULTIPLE CLAIMANTS v. NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DIVISION OF FACILITY SERVICES, JAILS AND DETENTION SERVICES.

No. 183A06.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

June 28, 2007.

Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-30(2) from the decision of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals, 176 N.C.App. 278, 626 S.E.2d 666 (2006), affirming an order entered by the North Carolina Industrial Commission on 19 March 2004. Heard in the Supreme Court 21 November 2006.

Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., by Benjamin E. Baker, Jr., Montgomery, AL, for plaintiff-appellees.

Roy Cooper, Attorney General, by Amar Majmundar, Special Deputy Attorney General, for defendant-appellant.

TIMMONS-GOODSON, Justice.

At the heart of this case is a fire at the Mitchell County jail that resulted in injury and loss of life. The question before us concerns the application of the public duty doctrine to the statutorily-imposed duty of the Department of Health and Human Services ("DHHS" or "defendant") to inspect local confinement facilities. Because we conclude that the special relationship exception to the public duty doctrine applies, we hold that plaintiffs may pursue their negligence claims against DHHS.

A fire at the Mitchell County jail on 3 May 2002 claimed the lives of Jason Jack Boston, Mark Halen Thomas, Jesse Allen Davis, and Danny Mark Johnson and seriously injured O.M. Ledford, Jr. Plaintiffs in the instant case are Mr. Ledford and the administrators of the decedents' estates.

Plaintiffs filed individual claims under the Tort Claims Act, Article 31 of N.C.G.S. Chapter 143, and on 27 August 2003, the Industrial Commission ("the Commission") consolidated the claims with the agreement of all parties. On 21 July 2003, before all claims were consolidated, Deputy Commissioner Edward Garner, Jr. denied defendant's Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, finding that the public duty doctrine did not apply.¹ On appeal, the Commission affirmed the decision of the Deputy Commissioner. The Court of Appeals heard the interlocutory appeal after deciding a substantial right was involved and held, in a divided opinion, that the Commission properly denied defendant's motion to dismiss because the public duty doctrine did not apply and, alternatively, the special relationship exception to the doctrine applied.

Because we are reviewing the Commission's denial of defendant's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, we must treat the factual allegations in plaintiffs' affidavits of claim as true. Hunt v. N.C. Dep't of Labor, 348 N.C. 192, 194, 499 S.E.2d 747, 748 (1998) (citing Cage v. Colonial Bldg. Co. of Raleigh, 337 N.C. 682, 683, 448 S.E.2d 115, 116 (1994)). Plaintiffs allege that DHHS and Ernest Dixon, a DHHS employee, were responsible for inspecting the Mitchell County jail facility "to ensure compliance with certain regulations and to ensure that all fire safety devices and procedures were in good working order." Plaintiffs allege that defendant and Dixon "were negligent and/or wanton in their duties" and that Mr. Ledford's injuries and the deaths of decedents were "a direct proximate result of said conduct." Further, plaintiffs allege that "[t]he State also failed to properly train [Dixon] to perform the special duties of inspecting county jails."

At about the same time that defendant filed a motion to dismiss based on the public duty doctrine, plaintiffs amended their affidavits of claim to also allege that a special relationship existed between defendant and the injured and deceased inmates and that defendant had a special duty to them. Specifically, plaintiffs allege that because the injured and deceased inmates were confined and unable to protect themselves, "a special relationship arose between the aforementioned department and individual to fulfill the duties imposed under the law to ensure that the decedent, as a confined individual, would be protected in the event of a fire." Plaintiffs also allege that "the State promised it would inspect county jails to ensure the protection of inmates in the event of fires." Finally, plaintiffs contend that "[t]he duties described hereinabove were not for the benefit of the public at large, but for the benefit of the specific individuals confined in the subject jail."

The issue before us is whether the public duty doctrine bars plaintiffs' negligence claims against DHHS. Because plaintiffs allege facts sufficient to support the determination that a special relationship exists between the inmates and DHHS, we hold that the special relationship exception applies, and plaintiffs' claims are not barred by the public duty doctrine.

The public duty doctrine, which this Court first adopted in Braswell v. Braswell, 330 N.C. 363, 410 S.E.2d 897 (1991), provides that "a municipality and its agents act for the benefit of the public, and therefore, there is no liability for the failure to furnish police protection to specific individuals." Id. at 370, 410 S.E.2d at 901. There are two exceptions to the doctrine: "(1) where there is a special relationship between the injured party and the police," and "(2) `when a municipality, through its police officers, creates a special duty by promising protection to an individual, the protection is not forthcoming, and the individual's reliance on the promise of protection is causally related to the injury suffered.'" Id. at 371, 410 S.E.2d at 902 (quoting Coleman v. Cooper, 89 N.C.App. 188, 194, 366 S.E.2d 2, 6, disc. rev. denied, 322 N.C. 834, 371 S.E.2d 275 (1988), overruled in part on other grounds by Meyer v. Walls, 347 N.C. 97, 489 S.E.2d 880 (1997)). The purpose of the doctrine, as noted in Braswell, is to respect the limited resources of law enforcement agencies by relieving them of liability for failure to prevent every criminal act. Id. at 370-71, 410 S.E.2d at 901.

In Stone v. North Carolina Department of Labor, this Court expanded the application of the public duty doctrine to a state agency conducting a governmental function other than law enforcement. 347 N.C. 473, 480-81, 495 S.E.2d 711, 715-16, cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1016, 119 S.Ct. 540, 142 L.Ed.2d 449 (1998). There, the Court noted, "Just as we recognized the limited resources of law enforcement in Braswell, we recognize the limited resources of [the state agency] here." Id. at 481, 495 S.E.2d at 716.

The claims in Stone arose out of a deadly fire at the Imperial Foods Products chicken plant in Hamlet, North Carolina. 347 N.C. at 477, 495 S.E.2d at 713. After the fire, it was determined that conditions in the plant violated numerous provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina. Id. For example, building exits were blocked and the fire suppression system was inadequate. Id. Injured employees and the personal representatives of deceased employees filed suit against the North Carolina Department of Labor for failure to inspect the plant. Id. The Court concluded that the legislature's establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the Department of Labor did not impose "a duty upon this agency to each individual worker in North Carolina," but rather imposed a duty to protect the safety of the general public. 347 N.C. at 482-83, 495 S.E.2d at 716-17. The Court noted that Chapter 95 of the North Carolina General Statutes does not "authorize a private, individual right of action against the State.... Rather, the most the legislature intended was that the Division prescribe safety standards and secure some reasonable compliance through spot-check inspections made `as often as practicable.'" Id. at 482, 495 S.E.2d at 716 (quoting N.C.G.S. § 95-4(5) (1996)). Because the plaintiffs did not allege facts establishing the existence of a special relationship or a special duty, those claims failed. Id. at 483, 495 S.E.2d at 717. The holding in Stone was confined to "this limited new context, not heretofore confronted by this Court." Id.

In Hunt, this Court relied on Stone to hold that the public duty doctrine barred claims based on the Department of Labor's negligent inspection of go-karts. 348 N.C. at 199, 499 S.E.2d at 751. The plaintiff in Hunt was operating a go-kart "when the brakes failed, causing [him] to hit a pole." Id. at 194, 499 S.E.2d at 748. The plaintiff suffered severe injuries to his abdominal area from the tightening of his lap belt. Id. at 194-95, 499 S.E.2d at 748. According to a rule promulgated by the Department of Labor, go-kart seat belts must include shoulder straps. 13 NCAC 15 .0429(a)(3)(B) (June 2006). The plaintiff alleged that "an elevator and amusement ride inspector for defendant North Carolina Department of Labor [] had previously inspected and passed the go-karts [in question] when the seat belts were not in compliance with the . . . Administrative Code." 348 N.C. at 195, 499 S.E.2d at 748. Plaintiff, by and through his guardian ad litem, contended that the Department's negligent inspection caused the plaintiff's injury. Id. at 195, 499 S.E.2d at 748-49. The Court concluded that the Amusement Device Safety Act, N.C.G.S. §§ 95-111.1 to -111.18, did not "impose a duty upon defendant to each go-kart customer." Id. at 197, 499 S.E.2d at 750.

The Court also considered whether the special relationship exception to the public duty doctrine applied to the facts of Hunt. While the Court in Hunt ultimately concluded that the special relationship exception did not apply, its analysis of the exception is instructive:

To determine whether the "special relationship" exception applies, we compare the regulatory language at issue in this case with the language at issue in Stone. In Stone we held that the applicable statute [requiring the Department of Labor to inspect factories] "imposes a duty upon defendants, [but] that duty is for the benefit of the public".... We conclude that the language of the Administrative Code at issue in this case is analogous to that...