Holloway v. Dougherty County School System

277 S.E.2d 251, 157 Ga. App. 251, 1981 Ga. App. LEXIS 1766
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJanuary 8, 1981
Docket60556
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 277 S.E.2d 251 (Holloway v. Dougherty County School System) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Holloway v. Dougherty County School System, 277 S.E.2d 251, 157 Ga. App. 251, 1981 Ga. App. LEXIS 1766 (Ga. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinions

Carley, Judge.

Appellant, plaintiff below, was injured when a milk crate on which she was standing to drink water from a fountain overturned. The incident occurred on the premises of the Madison Elementary School in Dougherty County. Appellant filed suit by next friend [252]*252against the Dougherty County School System and, in both their individual and official capacities, against the members of the County School Board, the superintendent of the County School System and the principal of the Madison Elementary School. Appellant’s complaint alleged that certain “acts and omission[s], which were wilful and intentional, of the [appellees]” proximately caused her injuries. The appellees moved to dismiss the complaint under Code Ann. § 81A-112 (b) (6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. A hearing was held and the trial court granted the appellees’ motion to dismiss the complaint. This appeal is from that judgment.

The doctrine of sovereign immunity has been recognized in this state since the adoption of the common law. Crowder v. Dept. of State Parks, 228 Ga. 436, 438-439 (185 SE2d 908) (1971). It applies to boards of education. Sheley v. Bd. of Public Ed., 233 Ga. 487 (212 SE2d 627) (1975). “The sovereignty of the State is supreme, and to maintain that sovereignty the supremacy must also be maintained, and to do that the State must never be subjected to suit without its expressed consent.” Roberts v. Barwick, 187 Ga. 691, 694 (1) (1 SE2d 713) (1939). “ ‘[T]he doctrine [of sovereign immunity] now has constitutional status, and applies,..., to any “suit” involving claims for “injury” or “damage” against the state unless and until there is a waiver by Act of the General Assembly . . .’ ” Echols v. DeKalb County, 146 Ga. App. 560, 561 (247 SE2d 114) (1978). Appellant has cited us to no enactment of the General Assembly waiving the immunity of the Dougherty County School System from suits in tort, nor have we discovered such a statute. Indeed, the act of the General Assembly which created the Dougherty County School System provides specifically that “[t]he Dougherty County School System hereby created shall have power to sue, and be sued, but its object is declared to be governmental and shall not be liable to suit in actions arising ex delicto, except where specifically authorized by law.” (Emphasis supplied.) Ga. L. 1951, pp. 2233, 2242. Thus, rather than an express statutory waiver of the sovereign immunity of the County School System, there is an express reservation of immunity from suits in tort. It follows, therefore, that the trial court did not err in granting the motion to dismiss as to the Dougherty County School System. Sheley v. Bd. of Public Ed., 233 Ga. 487, supra.

Turning then to the motions to dismiss of the individual appellees and whether sovereign immunity extends to them, we begin with the proposition that “... where State officers or agents are sued personally, the suit is generally maintainable . . .” Florida State Hospital v. Durham Iron Co., 194 Ga. 350, 353 (21 SE2d 216) (1942). However, “[a] different rule prevails in instances where an officer or [253]*253agent of the state is sued in his official capacity or where such officers are sued for acting in areas where they are vested with discretion and empowered to exercise judgment in matters before them. ‘Any suit against an officer or agent of the State, in his official capacity, in which a judgment can be rendered controlling the action or property of the State in a manner not prescribed by statute, is a suit against the State...’ and cannot be maintained without its consent. [Cit.]..., ‘It is a well-established principle that a public official who fails to perform purely ministerial duties required by law is subject to an action for damages by one who is injured by his omission. However, it is equally well established that “where an officer is invested with discretion and is empowered to exercise his judgment in matters brought before him, he is sometimes called a quasi-judicial officer, and when so acting he is usually given immunity from liability to persons who may be injured as a result of an erroneous decision; provided the acts complained of are done within the scope of the officer’s authority, and without wilfulness, malice, or corruption. ” ’ These discretionary acts ‘. . . lie midway between judicial and ministerial ones. The name of the public officer or officers is immaterial, and the question depends on the character of the act. If the act done for which recovery is sought is judicial or quasi-judicial in its nature, the officer acting is exempt from liability.’ ” Hennessy v. Webb, 245 Ga. 329, 330-331 (264 SE2d 878) (1980).

Applying the above stated rule to appellant’s complaint against the individual appellees in their official capacities demonstrates no error in the dismissal of the suit against them in that capacity. No action can be “maintained against officials of the State in their official capacity without the consent of the State, for it is, in effect, a suit against the State. [Cits.]” McCoy v. Sanders, 113 Ga. App. 565, 570 (148 SE2d 902) (1966). There being no express waiver by the state of the immunity of the Dougherty County School System from suit, suits against the appellees in their official capacity as agents of that system are barred by sovereign immunity. Crowder v. Dept. of State Parks, 228 Ga. 436, 439 (2), supra.

Therefore, the sole remaining question is whether appellant’s complaint states a claim for relief against the individual appellees in their individual, as opposed to their official capacities. As we interpret Hennessy, the exception to the general rule that state officers or agents sued in their individual capacities are not clothed with sovereign immunity is where “the acts complained of are done within the scope of the officer’s [discretionary, quasi-judicial] authority, and without wilfulness, malice, or corruption.”Hennessy, 245 Ga. at 331, supra. In the instant case, the acts and omissions complained of — installation, maintenance and supervision of the [254]*254water fountains on school premises — are clearly, under Hennessy, “discretionary.” “Boards of education are charged with the duty of providing public education. The providing and maintenance of school buildings and facilities is done in furtherance of this duty.” Hennessy, 245 Ga. at 332, supra. The only distinction between the complaint in the instant case and that in Hennessy is that here appellant’s complaint alleges that the “discretionary” acts and omissions of appellees “were wilful and intentional,” a circumstance which, under Hennessy, would remove the cloak of sovereign immunity which would otherwise insulate appellees from individual liability for acts and omissions. Thus, the dispositive inquiry can be stated as follows: Was appellant’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim under Code Ann. § 81A-112 (b) (6) properly granted when the complaint specifically alleges that the conduct of appellees constituting the averred proximate cause of appellant’s injury was “wilful and intentional”?

It is of the greatest significance that the trial court’s order terminating the case in favor of appellees was based upon a simple motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. There was no motion for summary judgment. Furthermore, the motion to dismiss was not converted into a motion for summary judgment because there was absolutely no evidence introduced.

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Bluebook (online)
277 S.E.2d 251, 157 Ga. App. 251, 1981 Ga. App. LEXIS 1766, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holloway-v-dougherty-county-school-system-gactapp-1981.