Branham et al v. United States of America
Filing
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ORDER AND OPINION granting 54 Motion for Summary Judgment. Signed by Honorable J Michelle Childs on 9/5/2018.(asni, )
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
COLUMBIA DIVISION
Sean Branham, Anna Eagan, Sadie Hartman,
Beverly Heisner, Corine Jeffreys, Alexander
McArver, Susan McArver, Belva McCormick,
Joseph Morris, Sinclair Salters, Diana Woodward,
Gerard Fenzel, Kelly Fenzel, Carl Steen, Patrick
Johnson, Jeffrey Lucero, as personal representative
for the estate of Sherry Kjellberg, Lionel Zylicz,
and Shandon Crossing Limited Partnership,
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Plaintiffs,
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v.
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United States of America,
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Defendant.
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Civil Action No. 3:16-cv-03072-JMC
ORDER
Plaintiffs1 above-named collectively filed this action alleging claims for negligence,
trespass, and nuisance against Defendant United States of America (the “Government”) for the
destruction caused to Plaintiffs’ homes by flood water released when the Semmes Lake Dam at
Fort Jackson was breached in October 2015. (ECF No. 15.)
This matter is before the court on the Government’s unopposed Motion for Summary
Judgment against All Pro Se Plaintiffs pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil
Procedure. (ECF No. 54.) In support of its Motion, the Government asserts that “[b]ecause the
pro se Plaintiffs require expert testimony in order to prove that any negligence related to the
maintenance of the Fort Jackson dams caused their damages, and no expert testimony supports
that conclusion, those Plaintiffs cannot establish negligence as a matter of law, and summary
judgment must be entered in favor of Defendant.” (ECF No. 54-1 at 3.) The Government further
After the filing of a Stipulation of Dismissal with Prejudice (ECF No. 34), the remaining
Plaintiff in this action is Carl Steen. Mr. Steen is pro se.
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asserts that in contrast to its expert, Mark Woodbury, who is able to show “water levels at
individual properties and the amount of water each property would have received if the spillway
capacity of the Semmes Lake dam had been increased” (id. at 7), “[n]o pro se Plaintiff has
provided an expert report or expert disclosure to Defendant’s counsel and . . . have all failed to
timely identify expert testimony supporting causation.” (Id.) Plaintiff Steen did not file a
response to the Government’s Motion for Summary Judgment.
Upon review, the court observes that, to survive summary judgment, Plaintiff Steen’s
claims for negligence, trespass, and nuisance require evidence demonstrating that the
Government’s actions proximately caused their injuries. E.g., Bishop v. S.C. Dep’t of Mental
Health, 502 S.E.2d 78, 82 (S.C. 1998) (“To establish a cause of action in negligence, three
essential elements must be proven: (1) duty of care owed by defendant to plaintiff; (2) breach of
that duty by a negligent act or omission; and (3) damage proximately resulting from the breach
of duty.”) (citing Rickborn v. Liberty Life Ins. Co., 468 S.E.2d 292 (S.C. 1996)); Snow v. City of
Columbia, 409 S.E.2d 797, 802 (S.C. Ct. App. 1991) (“To constitute an actionable trespass,
however, there must be an affirmative act, the invasion of the land must be intentional, and the
harm caused must be the direct result of that invasion.”) (citation omitted); Home Sales, Inc. v.
City of N. Myrtle Beach, 382 S.E.2d 463, 469 (S.C. Ct. App. 1989) (“In order to constitute an
actionable nuisance, a wrongful act of the defendant must be shown and the maintenance of the
nuisance must be the natural and proximate cause of the injury suffered by the plaintiff.”). The
court further observes that the record does not contain any admissible evidence that the
Government proximately caused the flooding which damaged Plaintiff Steen’s property in
October 2015. In this regard, the court agrees with the Government that Plaintiff Steen’s failure
to submit his own expert testimony is catastrophic to his ability to prove causation as to his
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pending claims. Therefore, upon consideration of the entire record and the unopposed arguments
of the Government, the court hereby GRANTS the United States of America’s Motion for
Summary Judgment. (ECF No. 54.)
IT IS SO ORDERED.
United States District Judge
September 5, 2018
Columbia, South Carolina
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