That’s Some Reward

Southern California volunteers who gather after work and on weekends to weed, plant trees and spread manure do more than spruce up a landscape that sorely requires it: They build community. It’s important that their efforts not fall prey to fear of litigation.

But litigation could indeed chill the efforts of a group of Silver Lake residents who are being sued by the family of a man killed in a 1999 crash at an intersection where they were performing a much-needed makeover. Unless Los Angeles City Hall stands up for them, concern over lawsuits could undermine other volunteer efforts.

In the Silver Lake “gateway” incident, volunteers had been tearing out concrete and planting trees on three weed-invested island medians at the junction of Silver Lake Boulevard and the Hollywood Freeway. Now the family of a 20-year-old man killed at that intersection has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the driver of a truck involved in the accident as well as against the city of Los Angeles and the volunteers, alleging that piles of dirt left in two medians obstructed the drivers’ views.

The city attorney’s office is confident the suit will be dismissed. A city engineer’s report maintains that the piles of dirt did not affect the drivers’ lines of sight, and police and coroner’s reports said that the victim was speeding at the time of the accident and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15%, well above the state’s 0.08% limit. Still, the city attorney filed a cross-complaint against the other defendants, including the volunteers--an action that shocked the volunteers almost as much as the suit itself.

Deputy City Atty. Suzanne Christiansen defends the cross-complaint as routine, a prudent precaution in the event the case is not dismissed. As she put it, “If a jury were to find that the dirt mounds were responsible, we didn’t put those dirt mounds there.”

The state law that shields from lawsuits the good Samaritans who render emergency medical assistance has no equivalent for volunteers who resuscitate deteriorating cityscapes. Those who volunteer through the mayor’s office are covered by a city liability policy, the same policy that will cover volunteers for the new Neighborhood Councils. For other neighborhood groups and more informal volunteers, however, the city needs to provide at the very least guidance, not only on liability issues but on maintaining a safe work environment.

And while a blanket shield, particularly one based on such a rare event, may not be warranted, surely the city can use common sense on a case-by-case basis to assuage the fears of volunteers. The Silver Lake fatality is sad, but if the city can argue that the median work played no role in the accident, it can stand up for the volunteers who were donating their time to solve a city problem. It should withdraw its own threat of legal action against the volunteers.