THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603020243
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
The state Supreme Court ruled Friday that the city is not liable for accidents on the Sandbridge beach access stairs. The court overturned a jury award of $246,208 to a Richmond man who fell from those stairs in 1992.
The court said Virginia Beach is entitled to the same immunity from lawsuit as a private individual who opens his land to public recreational use.
State law encourages citizens to open their land for such uses - fishing and hunting, for example - by granting them this immunity.
The court did not address another sticky issue in the case, whether Virginia Beach can be sued in Norfolk courts. The lawsuit was brought in Norfolk Circuit Court, even though the accident happened in Virginia Beach and the victim lived in Richmond.
The case involved a Richmond lawyer named Edward L. Flippen, a 56-year-old partner in the state's third-biggest law firm, Mays & Valentine.
Flippen, who owns a vacation home in Sandbridge, was walking his dog at 6:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve 1992 when he climbed the stairs at the end of Porter's Island Road, leading over a private bulkhead to the beach. The stairway was missing a step. Flippen fell 10 feet and broke his tailbone.
After a four-day trial in 1994, a jury awarded Flippen $246,208.
On appeal, the city cited a state law that says, ``A landowner shall owe no duty of care to keep land or premises safe for entry or use by others for . .
Flippen argued that this applies only to private landowners. The city said it applies to cities, too. The court agreed with Virginia Beach.
After the ruling, Mayor Meyera Oberndorf praised the city attorney's office for ``another excellent job.'' It was handled by Assistant City Attorney Richard Beaver.
Flippen's attorney, James C. Lewis, said he will ask for a rehearing. The ruling ``probably means anyone hurt down there (in Sandbridge), absent a showing of gross negligence, can't bring suit against the city.''
Cities generally are immune in cases of simple negligence, but may be liable in cases of gross negligence, or blatant disregard of public safety.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA STATE SUPREME COURT RULING LAWSUIT ACCIDENT by CNB