Bernard v. Cincinnati

Citations

• 2019 Ohio 1517

Syllabus

SUMMARY JUDGMENT — MUNICIPAL – IMMUNITY — NEGLIGENCE: Plaintiffs-appellees' claims of negligence, trespass, nuisance, and negligent maintenance, which related to property damage allegedly caused by defendant-appellant city's sewer system, concerned governmental functions for which the city is immune further, plaintiffs failed to show a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the city negligently caused their damages where there was no material evidence establishing that the harm resulted from maintenance failures rather than basic flaws or other systemic problems with the sewer system. To overcome the defense of governmental immunity in the context of damage caused by the city's sewer system, plaintiffs had to show negligence in the city's performance of its proprietary functions, i.e., maintenance, destruction, operation, and upkeep of the sewer system, as immunity attached to governmental functions that concerned the provision or nonprovision, planning or design, construction, or reconstruction of the sewer system. The trial court erred in denying defendant city's motion for summary judgment on the issue of sovereign immunity where, even though plaintiffs attempted to frame their claims as relating to the city's propriety functions to avoid the defense of governmental immunity, the bulk of plaintiffs' claims concerned the city's governmental functions that were shielded by sovereign immunity.