March 28, 2008
Suit over boxing match gets a knockout punch

By ANDREW BERGH
Special to the Journal

Bradley Rone, a professional boxer, had lost 26 fights in a row.

The problem was, Rone desperately needed money so he could buy an airline ticket to Ohio to attend his mother's funeral. So despite his long losing streak, the pugilist signed up for one more bout. The match ended tragically, however, as the Utah man died in the ring from heart failure, and was buried alongside his mother.

But should the fight have even taken place? Not according to Rone's sister and heir, Celeste Moss, who later filed a wrongful death suit against the Pete Suazo Utah Athletic Commission, which had allowed the fight to proceed in Cedar City, Utah.

In support of her claim, Moss alleged that the commission had negligently violated a number of its own rules.

Under one rule, any boxer who loses six consecutive fights is barred from fighting until the commission reviews the fights or the boxer submits to a medical examination. The commission failed to do either, said Moss, even though her brother had lost more than two dozen fights in a row.

Another rule says a boxing contestant shouldn't be allowed to fight for at least 60 days if he was knocked out or suffered damaging head blows. Even then, the contestant can't fight until a doctor certifies, following a neurological examination, that he is fit to box. This rule was broken, said Moss, because her brother had lost a fight by a technical knockout less than two months earlier.

A third rule says a boxing contestant must be examined by a doctor within eight hours of the fight and barred from competing if he is unfit for competition. The commission botched this rule, said Moss, because the required examination never occurred.

Finally, yet one more rule says a boxer can't compete if any other state has barred him from boxing for medical reasons. Since Nevada had supposedly banned Rone from boxing for such reasons, the commission never should've allowed the fight to go forward, said the sister.

But in the first round, the defendant landed a haymaker.

In its motion to dismiss, the commission argued that even if Moss's allegations were true, it was nonetheless immune from liability under the Utah Governmental Immunity Act. When the trial court agreed, Moss only avoided a ten count by filing a timely appeal.

The next round was refereed by the Utah Supreme Court.

According to the high court, a three-step analysis is used to determine whether a governmental entity is immune from liability for a particular activity.

The first inquiry is whether the entity was performing a governmental function at the time of the activity. If so, the entity is generally immune from suit.

Assuming the activity is a governmental function, the second inquiry is whether the general grant of immunity has been waived under the act. If so, the entity loses its shield and can be sued for damages.

If the blanket immunity has been waived, the last inquiry is whether the entity's misconduct falls within any of the statutory exceptions to the general waiver of immunity. If so, the blanket immunity is essentially reinstated, and the entity can't be sued.

Turning to Moss's claim, the justices said there is “no question” that the activity of licensing boxers constitutes a governmental function. This meant, at least in the first instance, that the commission enjoyed blanket immunity for its decision to let Rone participate in the boxing match. (Score one for the commission.)

But under the act, the grant of immunity is waived for injury caused by the negligent acts or omissions of governmental employees. This waiver provision potentially applied, said the court, given Moss's claim that her brother died because the commission negligently violated its own rules. (Score one for Moss.)

The third factor, however, delivered a knockout punch for the commission.

According to the act, governmental immunity isn't waived for the issuance of “any permit, license, certificate, approval, order, or similar authorization.” This exception plainly applied, the justices said, to the licensing decision made by the commission. So even if Rone died because the commission negligently violated its own rules, it was nonetheless immune from suit, the high court ultimately ruled.

In short, the match is over for Moss. Her brother would probably be proud, though, because she definitely went down swinging.