Brian Kopeikin v. Moonlight Basin Management

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MAY 18 2017
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
BRIAN KOPEIKIN, M.D., No. 15-35186
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No. 2:13-cv-00045-DLC
v.
MEMORANDUM*
MOONLIGHT BASIN MANAGEMENT,
DBA Moonlight Basin Resort, LLC,
Defendant-Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of Montana
Dana L. Christensen, Chief Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted May 9, 2017
Seattle, Washington
Before: McKEOWN, BEA, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
The parties are familiar with the facts so we will not recite them here. We
review de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of
Moonlight Basin Management, LLC. See Fontana v. Haskin, 262 F.3d 871, 876
(9th Cir. 2001). Dr. Brian Kopeikin appeals that ruling on the ground that the
evidence supports sufficient inferences to charge Moonlight Basin with
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
constructive knowledge of the rocks that caused Kopeikin’s injuries, and therefore
avoid summary judgment with respect to Moonlight Basin’s negligence liability
despite Montana’s Skier Responsibility statutes. See Mont. Code Ann. §§ 23-2-
702, -731, -733, -736. We need not address the scope of the statutes here. Even if
we accept Kopeikin’s construction of these provisions, there is no genuine dispute
as to a material fact with respect to Moonlight Basin’s alleged constructive
knowledge of the rocks that caused Kopeikin’s injuries. And, as Kopeikin
acknowledged, there is no evidence that Moonlight Basin had actual knowledge of
the rocks at the time of Kopeikin’s accident.
AFFIRMED.
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