Funston v. School Town of Munster

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the School Town of Munster in a negligence action arising from Howard Funston’s fall from unsecured bleachers. The court held that the undisputed facts established Funston’s contributory negligence and that his negligence was a proximate cause of his injuries, barring recovery against the governmental defendant under Indiana common law. Justice Rucker dissented, concluding that the negligence and proximate-cause issues presented conflicting factual inferences inappropriate for summary judgment.

Holdings

1. Because the Indiana Comparative Fault Act excludes governmental entities, common-law contributory negligence remains applicable to claims against the School Town of Munster. Any negligence by Funston that proximately contributed to his injury, even if slight, would completely bar recovery against the school.
2. Although contributory negligence is generally a question of fact, it may be decided as a matter of law on summary judgment when the undisputed facts support only one reasonable inference.
3. Funston's negligence was a proximate cause of his injuries as a matter of law because falling backward and sustaining injury was a foreseeable natural and probable consequence of leaning backward from a visibly unsupported top bleacher row.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Howard Funston was contributorily negligent as a matter of law under the undisputed facts.
2. Whether Funston's contributory negligence was a proximate cause of his injuries as a matter of law.
3. Whether summary judgment was proper where the School Town of Munster was a governmental defendant subject to common-law contributory negligence rather than the Indiana Comparative Fault Act.

Disposition

affirmed