92 results for 'cat:"Immunity" AND cat:"Negligence"'.
J. Mazzant finds that the district court improperly found that the city did not have sovereign immunity as to this wrongful death suit arising from the shooting death of a woman by a defendant who had been released while his charges for two other shootings were pending. The chief of police did not owe a duty to protect the victim or her family from the drive-by shooting, and so the negligence claims cannot be sustained. By proxy, the Mississippi Tort Claims Act claims against the city cannot be sustained, and the city is therefore entitled to sovereign immunity. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Mazzant , Filed On: September 13, 2023, Case #: 22-60231, Categories: Tort, immunity, negligence
J. Eppich finds a lower court properly dismissed a civilian's wrongful death claims. The civilian, a guardian of a child, argued that the lower court erred in ruling in favor of a City, deciding it was immune from wrongful death claims after a mother was struck and killed by a driver while crossing an unmanned pedestrian walkway, which replaced a monitored school crosswalk. However, the City is immune for liability for the alleged defective crosswalk based on its public entity status. Affirmed.
Court: Arizona Court Of Appeals Division Two, Judge: Eppich, Filed On: September 12, 2023, Case #: 2 CA-CV 2022-46, Categories: immunity, negligence, Wrongful Death
[Consolidated.] J. Garrett denies the state summary judgment in inverse condemnation claims brought after a failed dam caused flooding and property damage to nearby residents. The state was not entitled to governmental immunity, and factual allegations supported claims contending the state was aware the dam could not withstand significant rainfall. Affirmed.
Court: Michigan Court of Appeals, Judge: Garrett, Filed On: September 7, 2023, Case #: 359895, Categories: Property, immunity, negligence
J. Hazelrigg finds that the lower court improperly tossed a suit against a series of Washington state officials and departments after a public utility district employee was badly wounded when a tree fell on his vehicle. The lower court granted immunity to the officials without first determining if the negligence claims can survive based on a special duty to the employee. Reversed.
Court: Washington Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hazelrigg, Filed On: September 6, 2023, Case #: 84166-1-I, Categories: immunity, negligence
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J. Kennedy finds the appeals court erroneously granted a portion of the K-9 officer's motion for summary judgment and determined he was entitled to political subdivision immunity on negligence claims brought by the guest who was bitten by his K-9 unit at a party. Reasonable minds could differ as to whether the officer's actions at his home were clearly outside the scope of his duties as a police officer. Although he is required to keep the dog at his home, many people at the party had consumed alcohol, including the officer, while there was a question of fact as to whether the dog had been given beer to drink while the officer demonstrated some of his training, all of which prevents the application of immunity. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Supreme Court, Judge: Kennedy, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-3005, Categories: Government, immunity, negligence
J. Delaney finds that the trial court properly dismissed a dangerous condition of public property claim against a city based on hazardous recreational activity immunity. A man who was rendered quadriplegic when he dove off a seawall into shallow water failed to allege triable issues of fact to challenge the statutory assumption that diving from any location other than a diving board or diving platform is a hazardous recreational activity. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Delaney, Filed On: August 29, 2023, Case #: G061277, Categories: immunity, negligence
J. Boyle finds the lower court erroneously denied the city and its police officers' motion for summary judgment on the grounds of political subdivision immunity in a car collision case. The officer involved in the collision with a bystander believed there was an imminent threat of harm to the 911 caller who had been assaulted and was being followed by her assailant. Therefore, the officer's decision to speed to the location of the caller was not wanton and reckless, especially considering he activated all of his lights and sirens, and was traveling below the posted speed limit at the time of the collision. Reversed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Boyle, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-2954, Categories: Government, immunity, negligence
[Modified.] J. Codrington adds amendments that were missing from a previously published opinion with no change in judgment. The public entity owner of a property where an off-road motorcycle rider was injured is entitled to governmental hazardous recreational activity immunity. Statute specifically cites off-road motorcycling of any kind as a hazardous recreational activity, and the failure to warn exception does not apply because the cable fence the rider hit did not pose a substantial risk to people using the property with due care. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Codrington, Filed On: August 23, 2023, Case #: E078037, Categories: immunity, negligence
J. Wilson finds that the trial court improperly denied summary judgment to the city in a suit stemming from a crash between a fire engine and another vehicle. The city established the elements of its official immunity defense, including that the fire engine operator's actions were discretionary and that he was acting in good faith when the incident happened. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: August 22, 2023, Case #: 14-22-00368-CV, Categories: Tort, immunity, negligence
J. Codrington finds that the public entity owner of a property where an off-road motorcycle rider was injured is entitled to governmental hazardous recreational activity immunity. Statute specifically cites off-road motorcycling of any kind as a hazardous recreational activity, and the failure to warn exception does not apply because the cable fence the rider hit did not pose a substantial risk to people using the property with due care. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Codrington, Filed On: August 21, 2023, Case #: E078037, Categories: immunity, negligence
J. Elgo finds the lower court properly granted the board of education's motion to strike all allegations in the student's complaint on the grounds of governmental immunity. There was insufficient evidence in the record to indicate school officials should have known that leaving the student unsupervised for a short period of time would expose her to imminent harm at the hands of another student. Although the student was an identifiable victim, she and the student who assaulted her were released from a teacher's class at separate times before they ended up in another room unsupervised, which is insufficient to allow the application of the imminent harm exception to governmental immunity. Affirmed.
Court: Connecticut Court Of Appeals, Judge: Elgo, Filed On: August 18, 2023, Case #: AC45354, Categories: Education, immunity, negligence
J. Hendon finds the trial court improperly denied summary judgment to the transportation infrastructure company in a dispute with the daughter of a construction worker who died after falling from a truck bed while working on a highway project for which the company was overseeing the general contractor. Since it was working as an agent of the Florida Department of Transportation on the highway project, the company is entitled to government agency immunity, in part because the record does not show the company violated the "willful and wanton" exception to the relevant Florida law by routinely allowing construction workers to ride in unsecured truck beds. The matter is remanded so the trial court can enter summary judgment in the company's favor. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hendon, Filed On: August 16, 2023, Case #: 22-0725, Categories: immunity, negligence, Agency
C.J. Robinson finds that the lower court erred when it granted the city and police officer's motion for governmental immunity on negligence claims that stemmed from a car collision because the state's immunity statute is not intended to apply to the operation of an emergency vehicle, under which circumstances a government actor can be held liable for reckless behavior. The lower court's extension of immunity in this scenario - where the officer traveled more than 70 miles per hour through an intersection and struck another vehicle - would effectively allow police and other government personnel to disregard traffic laws and a common-law duty of care, and so the injured motorist's case will be reinstated. Reversed.
Court: Connecticut Supreme Court, Judge: Robinson, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: SC20753, Categories: Vehicle, immunity, negligence
J. Glickman finds the superior court improperly dismissed a man’s negligence action against a company that allegedly sent him on a federally funded trip to Iran for a conference without the proper security or training, following which he was seized, thrown in an Iranian prison and tortured for four years. The company is not entitled to derivative sovereign immunity and there is a question of fact whether the State Department authorized and directed the company in connection with the trip. Vacated.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Glickman, Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: 21-CV-0690 , Categories: immunity, negligence
J. Christiansen Forster finds that the trial court properly tossed a negligence complaint filed by a scooter rider who crashed during a motorcycle licensing test because of hot tar on the test roadway. Immunity applied because the test was part of a government function, yet immunity was waived because her injury were caused by Driver License Division negligence. But immunity is ultimately applicable because her injury satisfies the licensing exception to the waiver of immunity. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Christiansen Forster, Filed On: July 20, 2023, Case #: 20220046-CA, Categories: immunity, negligence
J. Lum finds that the trial court properly declined to grant immunity to a sheriff's deputy in a car collision action. The waiver of immunity for car collisions under the Governmental Immunity Act applies because a sheriff's office is a public entity and it can face liability under the doctrine of respondeat superior for its deputies' actions. Affirmed.
Court: Colorado Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lum, Filed On: July 13, 2023, Case #: 22CA0857, Categories: immunity, negligence
J. Jay finds the trial court improperly granted summary judgment to the motorist in her lawsuit against the city over a car accident with a city police officer, which she claims was caused by the officer's negligence. The trial court was wrong that the officer, who was off duty and driving home from work along his normal route in a take-home patrol car while wearing his uniform, was acting within the scope of his employment at the time of the accident, and because he was not and no reasonable jury could find otherwise, the city is entitled to sovereign immunity from the motorist's claims as a matter of law. The trial court's order is overturned, and the case is remanded so it can grant the city's renewed motion for summary judgment. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Jay, Filed On: June 30, 2023, Case #: 22-1757, Categories: Vehicle, immunity, negligence
Per curiam, the Texas Supreme Court finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled against the City of Houston in a negligence suit brought against it by a motorist who was involved in a vehicle collision with a Houston police officer. Because the motorist failed to raise a fact issue on whether the officer acted recklessly, the city’s immunity is not waived. Furthermore, because the officer was responding to an emergency, the city remains immune from suit. Reversed.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: June 30, 2023, Case #: 22-0295, Categories: Government, immunity, negligence
J. Poissant finds that the trial court properly ruled against the city on its argument for governmental immunity in a negligence suit stemming from an auto accident involving its employee. The city did not give evidence that the employee "was on a deviation from the performance of his duties" when the incident occurred. Affirmed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Poissant, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: 14-21-00680-CV, Categories: Tort, immunity, negligence
J. Hodges finds that the trial court improperly granted the housing authority's motion to dismiss a premises liability and negligence action brought by an individual after he was shot four times by the housing authority's tenant at apartments owned by the housing authority. The trial court incorrectly found that the housing authority was an instrumentality, department or agency of the state entitled to sovereign immunity. The housing authority was not created by the state and its purpose, function and management are not intertwined with the state. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Hodges, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: A23A0344, Categories: immunity, negligence, Premises Liability
J. Hodges finds that the trial court improperly ruled in favor of the housing authority in a negligence action brought by an individual arising from a car collision with the housing authority's employee. The housing authority is not a state agency, department or instrumentality because there is no evidence that it is intertwined with the state in terms of its purpose, function and management. The housing authority's employees are not connected to the state via rules affecting state workers and there is no evidence that it is intertwined with state funds. The trial court therefore incorrectly found that the housing authority was entitled to sovereign immunity. Reversed.
Court: Georgia Court of Appeals, Judge: Hodges, Filed On: June 27, 2023, Case #: A23A0506, Categories: immunity, negligence
J. Chicchelly finds that a farmer was improperly granted immunity for domesticated animal activity when the operator of a feedlot was seriously injured upon helping him get a downed heifer back on its feet because standing up a domesticated animal does not constitute domesticated animal activity. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Court Of Appeals, Judge: Chicchelly, Filed On: June 21, 2023, Case #: 22-1365, Categories: immunity, negligence
[Consolidated.] J. Brady finds that the district court improperly granted summary judgment to the manufacturers of a box palletizer that crushed a worker's head and shoulders. The manufacturers are not immune to personal injury claims under the Workers' Compensation Law because they were third parties and not the injured worker's co-employees, a status they argued applied due to the hybrid nature of the transaction through which the injured worker's employer bought the palletizer machine. Reversed.
Court: Idaho Supreme Court, Judge: Brody, Filed On: June 14, 2023, Case #: 49473, Categories: immunity, negligence, Workers' Compensation
J. Mendez finds for the government on a widow’s murder, negligence and elder abuse claims arising from the treatment of her husband at a VA hospital. The hospital is immune from the murder claim, and she fails to show it completely failed to provide medical care to the decedent, or that it was reckless.
Court: USDC Eastern District of California, Judge: Mendez, Filed On: June 12, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1459, NOS: Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: immunity, negligence, Elder Abuse
J. Kelly finds the lower court improperly granted a city’s plea to the jurisdiction in this matter of negligence. A worker was struck and injured by a golf ball while she worked at a restaurant located on a golf course owned by the city. The worker sued the city for negligence. The lower court granted the city’s plea to the jurisdiction on grounds that it had governmental immunity, but the instant court finds the city did not conclusively prove their claims were barred by sovereign immunity, and the worker is entitled to replead. The matter is remanded for further proceedings. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Kelly, Filed On: June 8, 2023, Case #: 01-22-00452-CV, Categories: Government, immunity, negligence
J. Jewell finds, in an auto accident case, that the county was immune from the claims against it except for the accused driver's counterclaim for damages, to the extent that it offsets the county's recovery on its claim against him. Immunity applies to the intervening parties’ claims, and there was no waiver of immunity since the deputy acted in good faith in making the u-turn that led to the crash. Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Jewell, Filed On: June 1, 2023, Case #: 14-22-00367-CV, Categories: immunity, Damages, negligence