Elected officials, law enforcement officers, tax collectors, zoning inspectors and other public officials sometimes face lawsuits over decisions they have made or actions they have taken. To prevent the fear of lawsuits from unduly influencing the judgment of public officials, the law extends personal liability protection to them in the form of public official immunity […]
Posts Tagged ‘Governmental Immunity’
Pleading Waiver of Governmental Immunity: What’s Enough?
Tuesday, November 14th, 2017In lawsuits against units of local government, the general rule is that the trial court must throw out the plaintiff’s claims if the unit raises the defense of governmental immunity and the complaint fails to allege a waiver of that immunity. This blog post looks at how detailed a waiver allegation must be for a […]
Local Government Lawyers: Take Care in Asserting Governmental Immunity
Tuesday, August 1st, 2017When a city, county, or other unit of local government is sued for negligence or other torts, it’s common practice for the unit’s attorney to file a motion asking the trial court to dismiss the lawsuit based on the defense of governmental immunity. (See blog posts available here and here for an explanation of governmental immunity fundamentals.) […]
Governmental Immunity for Activities Designated by Statute as Governmental Functions?
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014The doctrine of governmental immunity shields cities and counties from financial liability for tort claims arising from the performance of governmental functions. (A “tort” is wrongful conduct, such as negligence or assault, for which a victim may be able to recover money damages in a lawsuit.) When tort claims stem from proprietary functions, however, the […]
Governmental Immunity for Local Government Buildings: What Are the Current Rules?
Friday, July 25th, 2014As I have previously explained here and here, governmental immunity bars tort claims (negligence, assault, trespass, etc.) against cities and counties for personal injuries or property damage caused by the carelessness or intentional wrongdoing of their personnel in the performance of governmental functions. When the harm to a plaintiff stems from the performance of a […]
Tort Liability for Negligent Housing Inspection Resulting in Injury?
Tuesday, October 29th, 2013Like other local governments, the Town of Hapless has adopted a minimum housing code pursuant to G.S. 160A-443 (for more on minimum housing codes, see Tyler Mulligan’s book here). In March of this year the town’s inspection department received numerous complaints about the condition of four rental houses owned by Deathtrap Properties, LLC. In response […]
Bigelow v. Town of Chapel Hill: When May State Constitutional Claims Against Local Governments Be Dismissed?
Monday, May 20th, 2013Local governments often find themselves being sued over injuries allegedly caused by their officials or employees. Such lawsuits sometimes include both tort claims and state constitutional claims premised on the same set of facts. For example, a plaintiff who believes she was wrongly arrested during a public protest might sue a city for false imprisonment […]