Opinion
No. 2-595 / 01-1965
Filed January 15, 2003
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, James D. Scott, Judge.
An appeal from the district court's dismissal of a negligence action on summary judgment. AFFIRMED.
Robert Green, Sioux City, for appellant.
Kathleen Roe of Hellige, Lundberg, Meis, Erickson Frey, Sioux City, for appellee.
Considered by Hecht, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and Eisenhauer, JJ.
Lida Sheets had an appointment with her dentist, Tod Knopik. As she was getting out of the dental chair, she fell. Sheets sued Knopik, claiming he acted negligently in leaving her unattended. Before trial, Sheets died.
Knopik moved for summary judgment, claiming he breached no duty. Sheets's attorney resisted by attaching medical records confirming the fall. The district court ruled the medical records inadmissible but stated, in any event, they did "not show negligence of any kind by either party." We agree.
"Negligence is the breach of a known duty of care." Ries v. Steffensmeier, 570 N.W.2d 111, 114 (Iowa 1997). "In the absence of a duty owed, there can be no legal breach." Id. Knopik had no duty to assist Sheets in getting out of the dental chair. Knopik attested that Sheets visited his office twice, walked unassisted both times, never requested assistance, and "did not appear to require assistance." Knopik's receptionist reaffirmed these key facts. The medical records attached to Sheets's resistance confirmed the fall but shed no further light on the incident. On these essentially undisputed facts, we agree with the district court that Knopik was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See Walls v. Jacob North Printing Co., Inc., 618 N.W.2d 282, 284 (Iowa 2000).