56 Ohio App. 2d 249 | Ohio Ct. App. | 1978
Plaintiff-appellant, April E. Forbis, appeals from a dismissal of her personal injury action against the Springfield Township Trustees, defendants-appellees, for injuries sustained from a glass door which shattered on the premises of the Springfield Township Hall. The plaintiff's complaint alleged that defendants were negligent.
The action was dismissed by the trial court on the basis of the defendants' motion to dismiss, asserting that the complaint failed to state a claim for relief which would entitle plaintiff to recover. The dismissal was granted upon the doctrine of governmental immunity of the township trustees.
The plaintiff's sole claim of error raises the following legal issue: are the allegations of the complaint in this case sufficient to state a good claim for relief that a board of township trustees is liable for its negligence in maintaining township property, which negligence proximately causes injury to a person, in view of the sovereign immunity doctrine with which the township trustees are clothed? Under the broad allegations of the complaint in this case, the answer is "yes." We reverse. *251
Plaintiff contends that liability of township trustees for their negligence causing personal injuries is created by R. C.
"Each board of township trustees shall be liable, in its official capacity, for damages received by any person, firm, or corporation, by reason of the negligence or carelessness of such board in the discharge of its official duties."
However, R. C.
The legislative intent of R. C.
Plaintiffs further contend that the complaint states a valid claim for relief by relying primarily upon the holding inDean v. Bd. of Trustees (1940),
Civ. R. 8(A) requires only that a pleading set forth a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief and a demand for judgment for the relief to which the pleader deems himself entitled. The commercial nature or proprietary capacity of the defendant-trustees' venture in a township building when and where plaintiff was injured need not be alleged.
Upon the allegations of the complaint in this case, the plaintiff could prove a set of facts showing that township trustees would be liable when acting in a proprietary capacity.Dean v. Bd. of Trustees, supra.
We reject the view expressed opposite to the Dean case,supra, in Partlow Gates v. Monroe Township (1932),
Therefore, the error claimed by plaintiff is well taken. The judgment of the Court of Common Pleas of Lucas County is reversed and the cause is remanded for further proceedings according to law.
Judgment reversed and cause remanded.
POTTER, P. J. and CONNORS, J., concur. *253