Georgantonis v. Reading

Citations

• 156 N.E.3d 1037
• 2020 Ohio 3961

Syllabus

IMMUNITY – MUNICIPAL — R.C. 2744.01 — R.C. 2744.02 —GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION : In a personal-injury action alleging that plaintiff sustained injuries when the cover of an electric service box in a sidewalk fractured, causing the scissor lift on which plaintiff was standing to topple over, the trial court did not err in granting the city's Civ.R. 12(C) motion for judgment on the pleadings: the city was immune from liability under R.C. 2744.02(A)(1) because, whether the allegations of plaintiff's amended complaint related to sidewalk maintenance or to the provision of street-lighting on a public street, the city was engaged in a governmental function and no exception in R.C. 2744.02(B)(2) applied to remove the city's immunity. Where the allegations in plaintiff's amended complaint related to a defect in the sidewalk surface, the allegations implicated the city's responsibilities in connection with sidewalk maintenance, a specifically designated governmental function under R.C. 2744.01(C)(2). Where the allegations in plaintiff's amended complaint could be read to relate to the operation and maintenance of the city's street-lighting system, the allegations implicated a governmental function described in R.C. 2744.01(C)(1)(b) and (c). Street lighting on a public street is a governmental function under R.C. 2744.01(C)(1)(b) because it is for the common good of all citizens of the state. Street lighting on a public street is a governmental function under R.C. 2744.01(C)(1)(c) because it promotes or preserves the public peace, health, safety, or welfare and involves activities that are not engaged in or customarily engaged in by nongovernmental persons. Street lighting on a public street is not a proprietary function under R.C. 2744.01(G)(1) because it does not involve an activity that is customarily engaged in by nongovernmental persons. Street lighting on a public street is not specifically designated as a proprietary function in R.C. 2744.01(G)(2).