Kesting v. River Rd. Swimming Club

Full title: LESLIE KESTING, Plaintiff, v. RIVER ROAD SWIMMING CLUB d/b/a RIVER ROAD…

Court: SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY

Date published: Dec 15, 2014

C.A. No. N14C-07-095 ALR (Del. Super. Ct. Dec. 15, 2014)

Opinion

C.A. No. N14C-07-095 ALR

12-15-2014

LESLIE KESTING, Plaintiff, v. RIVER ROAD SWIMMING CLUB d/b/a RIVER ROAD SWIM CLUB, RIVER TERRACE COOPERATIVE, INC., UNITED WATER DELAWARE, INC., CITY OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, NEW CASTLE COUNTY, DELAWARE, STATE OF DELAWARE, and PROGRESSIVE POOL MANAGEMENT, INC., Defendants.

The Honorable Andrea L. Rocanelli

Upon Defendant River Road Swimming Club's Motion to Dismiss
DENIED

Plaintiff Leslie Kesting alleges that on August 31, 2012, she slipped and fell into an "open manhole" ("Manhole") at the intersection of Haines Road and River Road, New Castle County, Delaware. Defendant River Road Swimming Club filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6).¹ Plaintiff opposes River Road's motion. The Court heard oral argument.

1 Super. Ct. Civ. R. 12 (b)(6).

The Court must accept all well-pled allegations in Plaintiff's complaint as true.² A motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted will not be granted if the plaintiff may recover under any conceivable set of circumstances susceptible of proof under the complaint.³ All reasonable inferences shall be in favor of the non-moving party.⁴

2 Savor, Inc. v. FMR Corp., 812 A.2d 894, 896 (Del. 2002).

3 Spence v. Funk, 396 A.2d 967 (Del. 1978); Rawley v. J.J. White, Inc., 918 A.2d 316, 319 (Del. 2007).

4 Ramunno v. Cawley, 705 A.2d 1029, 1034 (Del. 1998); Savor, Inc. v. FMR Corp., 812 A.2d 894, 896 (Del. 2002).

River Road argues that Plaintiff's Complaint should be dismissed because it fails to sufficiently plead the facts and elements required for a negligence claim. However, the threshold for the showing a plaintiff must make to survive a motion to dismiss is low.⁵ To survive a motion to dismiss, the Complaint need only give general notice of the claim asserted.⁶ Although Plaintiff's Complaint is broadly written, the facts and elements necessary to give River Road general notice of a negligence claim are present. Accordingly, River Road's motion to dismiss must be denied.

5 Doe v. Cahill, 884 A.2d 451, 458 (Del. 2005).

6 Id. (quoting Ramunno v. Cawley, 705 A.2d 1029, 1034 (Del. 1998)).
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NOW, THEREFORE, this 15^th day of December, 2014, Defendant River Road Swimming Club's Motion to Dismiss is hereby DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

/s/ Andrea L. Rocanelli

The Honorable Andrea L. Rocanelli