225 N.W. 449 | Minn. | 1929
1. The plaintiff was a teacher in the Maple Hill school of the defendant district. She commenced on October 14, 1925, and continued until November 25, 1925, when she secured another position. On April 24, 1926, she learned that she was tubercular. She continued teaching until June 4, 1926, and shortly afterwards entered Nopeming Sanatorium. Her predecessor in the school at Maple Hill taught in the 1925-1926 school year until October 13, 1925, when, because of a tubercular condition, she was required to discontinue. She died of tuberculosis on April 19, 1926. The school district did not clean or disinfect the building or the papers and books and apparatus, including a pitch-pipe which had been used by her, and they were used by the plaintiff. She used cloths which had been used in cleansing and dusting before she came. *456
There may be liability for negligently exposing one to tuberculosis. Hansman v. Western Union Tel. Co.
The plaintiff makes something of G. S. 1923 (1 Mason, 1927) § 5385, requiring the renovation and disinfecting of apartments or premises which have been vacated because of the removal therefrom of one sick with tuberculosis. A reading of the statute indicates its application to houses or apartments or dwellings and does not permit the inclusion of a schoolhouse. It is of no consequence here.
The plaintiff makes a claim that a nuisance was maintained. There is nothing in the evidence from which we are able to see more than negligence. See G. S. 1923 (2 Mason, 1927) §§ 9580, 10241. At the most, the school district was lacking in care when it put the plaintiff in charge of the school, after her predecessor had been relieved because of her tubercular condition, and failed to exercise precautions in cleaning and disinfecting the schoolroom and appliances used in connection with it. As said in Bojko v. City of Minneapolis,
2. A school district is a quasi public corporation and a governmental agency in the furnishing of educational facilities. Its functions are governmental and not proprietary. Mokovich v. Independent School Dist. No. 22,
3. A school district in the exercise of its governmental functions is not liable for negligence unless liability is imposed by statute. Mokovich v. Independent School Dist. No. 22,
The authorities in other states are in accord. Hill v. City of Boston,
The rule of nonliability applies to governmental functions of municipalities. Snider v. City of St. Paul,
In Ackeret v. City of Minneapolis,
The textbooks and compilations are in general accord both as to school districts and municipalities exercising governmental and not proprietary or mere corporate functions. 43 C.J. 920, et seq; 4 Dillon, Mun. Corp. (5 ed.) §§ 1656, 1658, et seq; 2 Shearman Redfield, Neg. (6 ed.) § 267; 28 Cyc. 1257, et seq; 19 R.C.L. p. 1109, § 391, et seq. p. 1124, § 402; 56 A.L.R. 164; 40 A.L.R. 1086; 33 A.L.R. 682; 24 A.L.R. 1070; 21 A.L.R. 1328; 14 A.L.R. 1392; 9 A.L.R. 911; 49 L.R.A.(N.S.) 1026; Dec. Dig. Schools, § 89; Id. Mun. Corp. § 852; 4 Dunnell, Minn. Dig. (2 ed.) § 6808, et seq.
Our decisions holding municipalities liable for negligence or for other torts are explained upon the ground that the negligence was in connection with the care of streets, or in the exercise of a proprietary function, or that there was an invasion or taking of the property of another. Sundell v. Village of Tintah,
Law writers disapprove as illogical the distinction made between governmental and other functions as the basis of legal responsibility. 34 Yale L. J. 1, 129, 229; 36 Yale L. J. 1; 28 Colum. L.Rev. 734; 75 U. Pa. L.Rev. 555; 23 Mich. L.Rev. 325; 34 Harvard L.Rev. 66. There is a good review in Burdick, Torts (4 ed.) pp. 127-139, §§ 97-105. The courts, sympathetic with the view that there should be no distinction in liability, occasionally say that the matter is now one for the legislature. McCoy v. Kenosha County,
If it is better policy to spread the loss to the individual over the taxing district, if this is thought to be promotive of social justice, as some think, the legislature can bring the result by statute. In Washington and California liability has been created by statute. *461
Howard v. Tacoma School Dist. No. 10,
Cases holding, or seeming to hold, liability, without a statute imposing it, are noted and to some extent distinguished in McCoy v. Kenosha County,
4. The plaintiff claims that under G. S. 1923 (1 Mason, 1927) § 3098, which provides that an action may be brought against a school district upon a contract or "for an injury to the rights of the plaintiff arising from some act or omission," liability rests upon the school district for its negligence.
This statute was construed in Bank v. Brainerd School Dist.
The questions involved have been thoroughly briefed and were argued at length. The case, unless we decline to follow the authorities, our own among others, is not a difficult one. To cite or review all the cases would take the opinion beyond useful length. We follow our own cases and the general holding of other courts when we affirm the judgment.
Judgment affirmed.