Dena Jean Blazek, Administrator of the Estate of Adam William Blazek, Deceased; Dena Jean Blazek, Individually, and as Next Friend of C.B. and A.B.
v.
City of Nevada and City of Nevada, Iowa Employees Doe
Appellant
Dena Jean Blazek, Administrator of the Estate of Adam William Blazek, Deceased; Dena Jean Blazek, Individually, and as Next Friend of C.B. and A.B.
Appellee
City of Nevada and City of Nevada, Iowa Employees Doe
Attorney for the Appellant
William T. Talbot
Attorney for the Appellee
Jason C. Palmer, Thomas M. Boes, and Catherine M. Lucas
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, James A. McGlynn, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Doyle, JJ. Opinion by Potterfield, J. (13 pages)
The plaintiffs appeal the district court’s decision granting the motion for summary judgment filed by the City of Nevada and unnamed City of Nevada employees in a suit seeking money damages for the death by suicide of Adam Blazek and the conduct of City of Nevada police officers. OPINION HOLDS: The plaintiffs’ tort claims against the defendants were barred because the defendants did not have a special relationship with the plaintiffs sufficient to defeat the public-duty doctrine. The plaintiffs’ constitutional claims fail because they are based on tort theories and similarly barred by the public-duty doctrine or were based on violations of the plaintiffs’ substantive due process rights, in which case the plaintiffs did not meet their burden to show the defendants’ actions shocked the conscience.
