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Keywords

negligenceliabilitystatuteappealsustained
liabilitystatutesustainedduty of care

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Avila v. Citrus Community College Dist., 38 Cal.4th 148, 131 P.3d 383, 41 Cal.Rptr.3d 299, 208 Ed. Law Rep. 606, 06 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2855, 2006 Daily Journal D.A.R. 4122

Facts

Jose Luis Avila, a student at Rio Hondo Community College, was playing in a preseason baseball game against Citrus Community College when he was hit in the head by a pitch. Avila alleged that the pitch was thrown intentionally or negligently in retaliation for a previous incident. After being hit, he experienced pain and dizziness but was not provided medical attention. He subsequently sued Citrus Community College, claiming negligence for failing to supervise the game and provide medical care.

Avila sued both schools, his manager, the helmet manufacturer, and various other entities and organizations. Only the claims against the Citrus Community College District (the District) are before us. Avila alleged that the District was negligent in failing to summon or provide medical care for him when he was obviously in need of it, failing to supervise and control the Citrus College pitcher, failing to provide umpires or other supervisory personnel to control the game and prevent retaliatory or reckless pitching, and failing to provide adequate equipment to safeguard him from serious head injury.

Issue

Does Government Code section 831.7, which provides immunity for public entities from liability for injuries sustained during hazardous recreational activities, bar recovery against the Citrus Community College District, and does the college owe a duty to visiting players that might support liability?

We are asked to make calls on two questions: (1) Does Government Code section 831.7, which immunizes public entities from liability for injuries sustained during “hazardous recreational activities,” bar recovery against the home community college district, and (2) if not, does the community college district owe any duty to visiting players that might support liability?

Rule

The Supreme Court held that section 831.7 does not apply to injuries sustained during supervised school sports, and that public schools have a duty to supervise students during athletic activities.

We conclude that section 831.7 does not extend to injuries sustained during supervised school sports, but that on the facts alleged the host school breached no duty of care to the injured batter.

Analysis

The court analyzed the statutory language of section 831.7 and its legislative history, concluding that the statute was intended to limit liability for injuries occurring during unsupervised recreational activities, not during organized school sports. The court emphasized that intercollegiate athletics are integral to the educational mission of schools and that the host school has a duty not to increase the risks inherent in the sport.

In the absence of an unambiguous plain meaning, we must look to extrinsic sources such as legislative history to determine the statute's meaning. Our review of the legislative history of section 831.7 leads us to agree with Acosta and Iverson. The statute's roots lie in Civil Code section 846, a premises liability statute that provides qualified immunity for landowners against claims by recreational users.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal's judgment, concluding that the Citrus Community College District was not immune from liability under section 831.7 and that it owed a duty to Avila not to increase the risks of participation in the sport, but ultimately found that the college did not breach that duty.

Thus, Government Code section 831.7 was adopted as a premises liability measure, modeled on Civil Code section 846, and designed to limit liability based on a public entity's failure either to maintain public property or to warn of dangerous conditions on public property.

Who won?

Citrus Community College District prevailed because the court found that while the college had a duty not to increase risks, it did not breach that duty in this case.

The District's demurrer was properly sustained if, and only if, each of these alleged breaches, assumed to be true, falls outside any duty owed by the District and within the inherent risks of the sport assumed by Avila.

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