Haley et al. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 211 Md. 269

Summary

The Maryland Court of Appeals held that concrete steps within a public park constituted part of a public highway because they served as a direct route between public streets and were used for ordinary travel rather than recreation. The City’s maintenance of the steps was therefore a corporate function, subjecting it to potential liability for negligent maintenance. The judgments for the City were reversed and the cases were remanded for new trials.

Holdings

1. Concrete steps located within a public park constitute part of a municipal public highway, rather than part of a governmental recreational function, when they serve as a direct and commonly used passageway between public highways.
2. The City may be held liable in a civil action for negligent maintenance of the steps because they constituted a part of a public highway.
3. Summary judgments for the City were improper because the plaintiffs' claims involved a potentially actionable corporate duty and the record contained a dispute concerning whether the City was negligent.
4. obiterDicta فيالمصدر

Questions Presented

1. Whether the City's maintenance of concrete steps located within a public park, but used as a direct public passageway connecting public highways, was a governmental function or a corporate function.
2. Whether summary judgment for the City was proper when the steps were allegedly negligently maintained and the record contained a dispute concerning the City's negligence.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded