Lawsuit that changed Oregon’s recreational immunity law is again being argued in Lincoln County circuit court

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle

NEWPORT – The lawsuit that triggered trail closures across the state and prompted a change in the interpretation of Oregon law, will soon see a conclusion – six years after a Newport woman broke her leg while using the city’s Ocean to Bay Trail.

In her 2019 lawsuit against the city of Newport, Nicole Fields said she slipped, fell and badly fractured her leg when crossing a bridge on the trail that leads from her neighborhood to the ocean. She argued that she was not using the bridge for recreation but coming back from accessing a recreational area – the beach.

Initially, Lincoln County Circuit Judge Marcia Buckley ruled in favor of the city citing the state’s “recreational immunity” law which protects landowners, local governments and the state from lawsuits if someone is injured while using their property for recreation.

Fields appealed the decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals, which upheld her argument in 2023.

The appeals court’s ruling changed how Oregon’s recreational immunity law is understood and prompted many local governments across the state and along the coast to close their trails to the public.

The Oregon Legislature, during its short session last year adopted Senate Bill 1576 that  temporarily restored some protections to landowners. The bill extended recreational immunity to paths, trails, roads and other rights of way that are used to access land used for recreational purposes and explicitly included walking, running and biking to be defined as recreational activities. The bill’s protections are set to expire in 2026.

But there’s a new bill in the current legislative session that would permanently place those protections on Oregon’s outdoor spaces. The bill has received support from View the Future, a Yachats-based land trust, a zipline and outdoor aerial park owner in Lincoln City and members of the Corvallis to the Sea partnership along with testimonials from cities, recreational groups and nonprofits around the state.

In March, SB 179 unanimously passed the Senate and is now in the Oregon House.

Re-trial started Wednesday

The re-trial of Field’s lawsuit began Wednesday in Lincoln County circuit court before Judge Buckley that could wrap up by the end of the week. But because of the changes by legislators, what happens in the courtroom will have little bearing on the changes to the statewide recreational immunity law.

The $555,000 lawsuit alleges the bridge along the Ocean to Bay Trail was unusually slippery and had improper lighting and signs that made it unreasonably hazardous, causing Fields to break her leg, according to an amended complaint.

Fields, who was Lincoln County’s deputy director of public health at the time, was walking her dogs with friend and coworker, Jess Palma, back from the beach when she slipped and broke her leg. Days later the city put down non-slip coverings on the trail’s six bridges.

Lawyers made their opening arguments to a 12-person jury Wednesday afternoon.

“This is ultimately a case about responsibility, accountability,” said James Healy, an attorney representing Fields. “Governments and cities serve the public, and the law requires them to act reasonably to prevent harming others. At the end of the case, we’re going to ask you to find that the city did not follow the laws of taking action to prevent harm.”

The attorney representing the city argued it was not at fault because of the recreational immunity law and that Fields, who used the trail to access the beach and back, was using the trail for recreational purposes.

“They’re trying to distinguish going for a three-hour walk through the woods to the beach, back through the woods back home, as something other than recreation, by calling it simply a walk … they had this very ambitious goal of walking as many steps as possible, and that is why they were getting together on a Saturday morning, at 8 a.m. at Ms. Fields’ house to walk these dogs for a very long time, it was for recreation,” said attorney Aaron Hisel.

The trial involved testimony from several witnesses including Palma, who witnessed Fields break her leg, a Newport firefighter who responded to the accident, and Fields herself.

• Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org