Dekalb County School District v. Dasheika Washington, Mother and Natural Guardian of Zy'kerra Green, a Minor Child

• Court: Court of Appeals of Georgia
• Decided: July 18, 2016
• Docket: A16A1083
• Status: Published

Opinion

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia

ATLANTA,____________________ July 15, 2016

The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order:

A16A1083. DEKALB COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT et al. v. DASHEIKA WASHINGTON, MOTHER AND NATURAL GUARDIAN OF ZY’KERRA GREEN, A MINOR CHILD.

Dasheika Washington filed an action for damages against Dekalb County School District and Sharon Lawrence. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds, and the trial court denied the motion. The defendants filed a direct appeal from this ruling. In Rivera v. Washington, 298 Ga. 770 (784 SE2d 775) (2016), the Supreme Court of Georgia held that the collateral order doctrine, which provided a right of direct appeal from certain interlocutory rulings, no longer applies to cases of sovereign, official, qualified, or other immunity. “Such a judicial determination presumptively applies retroactively to all cases in the ‘pipeline,’ unlike a change in the law resulting from constitutional or statutory amendment.” Murphy v. Murphy, 295 Ga. 376, 379 (761 SE2d 53) (2014). Thus, the defendants in this case were required to follow the interlocutory appeal procedures of OCGA § 5-6-34 (b) to obtain immediate appellate review of the trial court’s rejection of their immunity arguments. Because the defendants failed to follow the required appellate procedure, their appeal is hereby DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 07/15/2016 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia. Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.