Singley v. Smith
| Docket Number: | 2001-CA-01156-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-10-2003 Opinion Author: Smith, P.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Course and scope of employment - Section 11-46-5(3) Judge(s) Concurring: Pittman, C.J., Waller, Cobb, Easley, Carlson and Graves, JJ. Dissenting Author : Diaz, J. Dissent Joined By : McRae, P.J. Procedural History: Bench Trial Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 06-21-2001 Appealed from: Lamar County Circuit Court Judge: Michael R. Eubanks Disposition: Held that the Appellee was acting within the scope and course of his employmnent for purposes of the MTCA. Case Number: 95-0219 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Linda Ann Singley and Steven Dale Singley |
RENEE M. PORTER
SHIRLEY ANN TAYLOR |
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| Appellee: | Phillip Lee Smith | JAMES D. HOLLAND GEORGE MARTIN STREET, JR. |
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| Topic: | Personal injury - Course and scope of employment - Section 11-46-5(3) |
| Summary of the Facts: | While attending the Oak Grove Fall Festival which took place at Oak Grove High School, Linda Singley was struck by an errant baseball while standing in the vicinity of the baseball throw which caused the loss of her left eye, paralysis of the left side of her face and other injuries. Linda Singley and Steven Singley filed a complaint against Oak Grove High School Assistant Baseball Coach Phillip Smith who designed, built and oversaw the baseball throw. Smith filed a motion for summary judgment which the court granted. The Singleys appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case for additional findings of fact. On remand, the court again found that Smith was acting within the course and scope of his employment, that the statute of limitations bars the Singleys’ claims against Smith, and that the release discharges Smith from any liability for Singleys’ injuries. The Singleys appeal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | The Singleys argue that Smith was acting in the course and scope of his employment. Section 11-46-5(3) provides that it shall be a rebuttable presumption that any act or omission of an employee within the time and at the place of his employment is within the course and scope of his employment. Proof by a preponderance of the evidence is necessary to overcome that presumption, i.e., the plaintiff must prove his case by producing evidence that is most consistent with the truth and that which accords best with reason and probability. Smith was clearly acting in the course and scope of his employment. Smith would not have been present at the fundraiser nor would he have participated in the baseball team’s construction and operation of the concession stand using the team equipment and funding that team if not for his status as an employee of Oak Grove High School. In addition, there was no evidence that Smith engaged in any of the exceptions of section 11-46-5(2). In his position as assistant coach of the Oak Grove baseball team, Smith was merely doing his job to supervise his baseball team in an attempt to raise money for the new sports equipment. All of his actions were taken on behalf of Oak Grove High School and the Lamar County School District and in the course and scope of his employment with those entities. To accept the position argued by Singley would result in a dramatic curtailment or halt to many extracurricular activities within our public schools which allow children to receive a wellrounded education. We conclude that the facts here are more than enough to support the trial court’s decision. In a bench trial such as the case at bar, when the trial judge sits as the finder of fact, he has the sole authority for determining the credibility of witnesses. |
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