## Facts

- David W. Huey, an assistant attorney general, was speaking with attorney Peter B. Crary in Crary’s office.
- Martin Wishnatsky, a paralegal for Crary, attempted to enter the office without knocking or announcing himself.
- Huey pushed the door closed, which pushed Wishnatsky back into the hallway.
- Wishnatsky then reentered the office, and Huey left.
- Wishnatsky sued Huey for civil battery seeking damages.
- The district court granted Huey summary judgment dismissing the claim and later denied Wishnatsky’s motion to alter the judgment.

## Issues

1. Whether Huey’s act of pushing the door closed, thereby pushing Wishnatsky into the hallway, constituted civil battery as a matter of law.
2. Whether any asserted immunity defenses needed to be reached if the conduct did not amount to battery.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment dismissing the battery claim.
- Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Wishnatsky, the undisputed facts could support only one conclusion: no battery occurred as a matter of law.
- The court affirmed the denial of Wishnatsky’s motion to alter the judgment.
- Because the claim failed on the merits, the court did not need to decide immunity.

## Legal Principles

- Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine dispute of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law; undisputed facts present a legal question when reasonable persons can reach only one conclusion.
- Civil battery requires an intentional act that results in harmful contact or contact that would offend a reasonable sense of personal dignity.
- “Offensiveness” is judged by an objective standard; liability does not turn on a plaintiff’s idiosyncratic sensitivities.
- Momentary, indirect, incidental contact associated with ordinary social interaction, even if rude or abrupt, is not necessarily an actionable battery.

## Conclusion

The court held that closing a door to block an unannounced entry—causing brief, indirect contact through the door—was not objectively offensive contact and therefore did not constitute civil battery, warranting dismissal on summary judgment.


Wishnatsky v. Huey, 584 N.W.2d 859 (N.D. Ct. App. 1998)