Kougasian
Kougasian v. TMSL, Inc.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Fletcher, J.
This is the fourth in a series of suits arising out of a siding accident in which appellant’s husband, James Kougasian, was killed. The district court dismissed the suit for want of subject matter jurisdiction based on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.
We conclude that Rooker-Feldman does not deprive the district court of subject matter jurisdiction. We therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings. On remand, the district court may determine, inter alia, whether the suit should be dismissed under California preclusion law pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1738 .
I. Background
On December 21, 1997, James Kouga-sian was skiing on a groomed ski run at Ski Sunrise, a ski area operated by defendant TMSL, Inc. (“TMSL”). Ski Sunrise is located on United States Forest Service land in Los Angeles County, California, and is operated by TMSL under a special use permit issued by the United States Department of Agriculture. Mr. Kouga-sian fell after going over a jump created by a road crossing the ski run. He hit his head on a rock on the run and suffered severe head injuries from which he died a day later.