Court: Suit against town can proceed Woman fell outside home of Moose River’s clerk

PORTLAND – The town clerk’s home in a community too small to have its own building to conduct town business may be considered a “public building” under Maine tort law, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Tuesday in reviving a slip-and-fall claim against tiny Moose River.

Setting aside a lower court decision, the justices ruled unanimously that Linda Rodriguez could move ahead with her negligence lawsuit against the Somerset County town, population 230, and former clerk and tax collector Elizabeth Bell.

Bell was required by the town to work out of her home and was paid about $300 a month. She had a sign which read “Moose River Town Clerk and Tax Collector” on the side of her house and performed such duties as issuing birth and death certificates, running elections, collecting real estate and excise taxes, and keeping town records.

Rodriguez, 37, injured her leg when she fell on the front steps of Bell’s home on Jan. 23, 2004, when she went there to register motor vehicles. There had been a handrail on the steps, but Bell removed it because it was wiggling. Rodriguez’s lawsuit claimed that a handrail would have prevented her from falling.

The supreme court concluded that neither Bell nor the town was immune from liability because her discretionary actions in regard to the handrail did not involve a basic governmental policy related to her duties as town clerk.

“Rather, Bell’s choice not to replace the handrail resembles a decision ordinarily made by the general population, relating to the duty of care a landowner owes to people who enter upon his or her property,” Justice Donald Alexander wrote in the 19-page opinion.

As a government employee, however, Bell’s personal liability is limited under law to $10,000, the court noted.

Although Bell’s homeowner’s insurance policy had expired, the first selectman believed that the town’s policy would cover injuries to someone conducting town business at her home. However, the town’s policy did not provide coverage for private residences.

Bell did not consider buying insurance for a personal injury, believing that “neighbors don’t sue … neighbors,” the opinion noted.

Rodriguez’s injury occurred one month after her family moved to Maine from Arizona when her husband took a job transfer with the Border Patrol. She suffered a compound fracture that will result in lifelong limitations, according to her attorney, Jason Jabar of Waterville.

The court ruling potentially affects a few dozen tiny communities across the state in the same situation.

“Those under 500 population, I’d say at least half of them don’t have a town office,” said Michael Starn, spokesman for the Maine Municipal Association, estimating that “maybe 60 or 70” towns are in that population range.