QUESTION:
I met an accident at a tennis court which is a city-owned property. One week ago I fell against a fence which gave way and exposed a gopher hole. I stepped in and fell which broke my femur.
ANSWER:
The California Government Act abolishes all public entity common law tort liability. State public entities may be liable for personal injury and wrongful death only if a statute expressly so authorizes. Although several sections of the Act provide for government entity liability under specified conditions, many sections also grant public entities and/or their employees broad immunity from liability. And, in any event, any liability authorized by the Act is subject to ordinary common law defenses, such as comparative negligence and assumption of the risk. There are exclusive conditions under which a public entity may be held directly liable for injuries caused by a “dangerous condition” of public property, which are as follows: The condition must be one that creates a substantial risk of injury when the property or adjacent property is used with due care in a reasonably foreseeable manner; The condition must have existed at the time of the injury; The injury must have been “proximately caused” by the condition; The condition must have created a “reasonably foreseeable” risk of the kind of injury suffered; and Either (a) the condition must have been created by a negligent or wrongful act or omission of an employee within the scope of his or her public employment, or (b) the entity must have had “actual or constructive notice” of the condition (see Gov.C. § 835.2, ¶ 2:2815.2 ff.) sufficiently before the injury to have taken measures to protect against the risk involved (either by repairing the condition. : Ordinarily, these are fact questions. However, courts may conclude as a matter of law that a condition is not dangerous if no reasonable person would consider it posed a substantial risk of injury when the property is used with due care in a reasonably foreseeable manner. [Gov.C. § 830.2; see Bonanno v. Central Contra Costa Transit Auth. (2003) 30 C4th 139, 148, 132 CR2d 341, 346; Zelig v. County of Los Angeles, supra, 27 C4th at 1133, 119 CR2d at 726]. It would be best to seek personal assistance from a lawyer in order to help you in filing a personal injury claim.
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