## Facts

- Kecia D. Anderson, a University of Northern Iowa student, went to the university library on February 8, 2001, to study; the library’s normal closing time was midnight.
- A winter storm created icy conditions on campus streets and sidewalks during the evening.
- Anderson left the library at about 11:55 p.m. and slipped on ice just outside the library overhang, suffering injuries.
- Library staff observed worsening conditions; a librarian called a library assistant and reported concerns about icy sidewalks.
- The library assistant contacted Marilyn Mercado, the interim dean of the library, who had authority to close the library early during severe weather.
- Mercado decided to keep the library open until normal closing, referencing a university severe-weather policy favoring continued operations while allowing individuals to decide whether to attend work or class based on travel safety.
- Anderson sued (1) Mercado and the State for negligence in failing to close the library early and (2) the State for premises liability for failing to remove ice from the walkway.
- The district court directed a verdict for defendants on the failure-to-close claim based on discretionary-function immunity; the premises liability claim went to the jury, which found for the State.

## Issues

1. Whether the decision by university officials not to close the library early due to severe weather was a discretionary function immune from liability under Iowa law.
2. Whether the district court erred in instructing the jury on the premises liability claim against the State.

## Decision

- The Iowa Supreme Court held the decision to keep the library open was protected by discretionary-function immunity.
- The court reversed the court of appeals on immunity and reinstated the directed verdict for Mercado and the State on the failure-to-close negligence claim.
- On the premises-liability jury-instruction issue, the court was evenly divided; therefore, the district court’s ruling was affirmed, leaving the defense verdict on the premises claim intact.

## Legal Principles

- Discretionary-function immunity applies when (1) the challenged conduct involves judgment or choice and (2) the judgment is the type the exception protects because it is grounded in social, economic, or political policy.
- A decision may qualify as policy-based when made pursuant to an institutional policy that allocates responsibility and risk in adverse conditions, even if the decision requires assessing facts such as weather severity, staffing, and patron needs.
- When an appellate court is evenly divided on an issue, the lower court’s judgment on that issue is affirmed without resolving the contested question.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that keeping the university library open during severe weather, when made under an established severe-weather operations policy, was a discretionary, policy-based decision immune from tort liability; the premises-liability judgment for the State stood because the justices split evenly on the jury-instruction challenge.


Anderson v. State, 692 N.W.2d 360 (Iowa 2005)