Facts
- Grand Casino of Mississippi, Inc. Biloxi (Grand Casino) operated a floating barge casino on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast and was licensed by the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
- The commission had a hurricane-preparedness policy requiring casino barges to be moored to withstand a Category 4 hurricane and a 15-foot storm surge.
- In 1999, Grand Casino moored an additional barge, the Lady Luck, to the Grand Casino barge.
- In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the Grand Casino and Lady Luck broke free from their moorings.
- One of the barges allegedly struck a neighboring pier and damaged structures being constructed by K.R. Borries, doing business as Borries Construction (Borries).
- Borries sued Grand Casino for negligence, seeking compensation for the property damage.
- Grand Casino moved for summary judgment, arguing (1) it had met the commission’s mooring requirements and (2) Katrina was an unforeseeable act of God that relieved it of liability.
- Grand Casino offered testimony that its mooring system satisfied the commission’s standard (at least a 15-foot surge), while storm surges during Katrina exceeded 20 feet.
- Borries offered testimony from two witnesses who stated the mooring system was inadequate and should have been designed around the 21- to 30-foot storm surges reportedly experienced on the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Camille (1969).
- The trial court granted summary judgment to Grand Casino, reasoning that the commission set the 15-foot requirement with knowledge of Camille’s storm surge and that Grand Casino met that requirement; the court also concluded Katrina was an act of God.
- Borries appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Issues
- Whether Grand Casino’s compliance with the Mississippi Gaming Commission’s 15-foot storm-surge mooring policy eliminated any genuine dispute that it breached a duty of reasonable care to nearby property owners.
- Whether Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge constituted an act of God that, as a matter of law, relieved Grand Casino of negligence liability for the barges breaking loose and causing damage.
Decision
- The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the grant of summary judgment for Grand Casino.
- The court agreed that the record showed no triable issue that Grand Casino failed to take reasonable precautions where it met the commission’s hurricane mooring standard.
- The court accepted that Katrina’s storm surge—exceeding 20 feet—was an extraordinary natural event beyond the level contemplated by the commission’s 15-foot policy and supported application of the act-of-God defense on these facts.
Legal Principles
- Summary judgment is proper when the nonmovant fails to show a genuine dispute of material fact on duty, breach, or causation.
- Regulatory compliance with detailed, hazard-specific safety requirements is strong evidence of reasonable care; where the regulator set the standard with awareness of prior severe storms, compliance may support a no-breach ruling as a matter of law.
- An act of God is an extraordinary natural occurrence that could not have been prevented by reasonable care and foresight; when it is the sole proximate cause of the damage, it can bar negligence liability.
Conclusion
Because Grand Casino met the Mississippi Gaming Commission’s hurricane mooring requirement designed for a 15-foot storm surge, and Hurricane Katrina produced storm-surge conditions exceeding 20 feet, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment, concluding there was no genuine issue for trial on breach and that Katrina qualified as an act of God on the record presented.