Phillips v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government

331 S.W.3d 629, 2010 Ky. App. LEXIS 242, 2010 WL 5481365
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedDecember 29, 2010
Docket2009-CA-001613-MR, 2009-CA-002101-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 331 S.W.3d 629 (Phillips v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Phillips v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, 331 S.W.3d 629, 2010 Ky. App. LEXIS 242, 2010 WL 5481365 (Ky. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

OPINION

LAMBERT, Judge.

Laura Phillips appeals from the Fayette Circuit Court’s August 3, 2009, order granting summary judgment in favor of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and its October 8, 2009, order dismissing an amended complaint filed against Nicholas Bodkin and Jason Kirby. After careful review, we affirm both orders.

On April 8, 2009, Laura Phillips filed a complaint against Appellee, Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (LFUCG), alleging that she suffered an injury during an encounter with Emergency Medical Services (EMS) on April 9, 2008. On April 27, 2009, LFUCG filed a motion to dismiss on grounds of sovereign immunity, and the trial court denied that motion on May 22, 2009. On June 2, 2009, LFUCG tendered a motion for summary judgment, which was heard by the trial court on June 26, 2009. On August 3, 2009, the court granted summary judgment to LFUCG on grounds of sovereign immunity. Phillips timely filed her notice of appeal on September 2, 2009.

Phillips first asserted a claim against Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) Bodkin and Kirby in an amended complaint filed on May 28, 2009. On June 3, 2009, LFUCG received notice of the filing of the amended complaint through receipt of a letter from the trial court. On June 26, 2009, Bodkin and Kirby filed a motion to dismiss on grounds that the claim was time-barred. The court granted Phillips sixty days to conduct discovery on the issue of whether the filing of the amended complaint related back to the filing of the original complaint. At the conclusion of the sixty-day period, the motion to dismiss was heard on October 2, 2009. On October 8, 2009, the trial court granted LFUCG’s motion to dismiss the claim against the individual defendants. Phillips filed her notice of appeal on November 9, 2009, and the consolidated appeal is now before this Court.

In reviewing a grant of summary judgment, our inquiry focuses on “whether the trial court correctly found that there were no genuine issues as to any material fact and that the moving party was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Scifres v. Kraft, 916 S.W.2d 779, 781 (Ky.App.1996); Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure (CR) 56.03. “[T]he proper function of summary judgment is to terminate litigation when, as a matter of law, it appears that it would be impossible for the respondent to produce evidence at the trial warranting a judgment in his favor.” Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Service Center, Inc., 807 S.W.2d 476, 480 (Ky.1991).

We initially note that LFUCG is a subdivision of the state and enjoys the protective cloak of sovereign immunity. KRS 67A.060 states that urban county governments retain the immunity of county governments. That statute states, in pertinent part: “[ujrban-county governments may exercise the constitutional and statutory rights, powers, privileges, immunities and responsibilities of counties and cities of the highest class within the county.” In Hempel v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, 641 S.W.2d 51, 53 (Ky.App.1982), overruled on other grounds by Gas Service Co., Inc. v. City of London, 687 S.W.2d 144 (Ky.1985), a panel of this *632 Court interpreted and applied KRS 67A.060 to urban county governments. In that case, the plaintiff sued LFUCG for tort damages caused by backup of the sanitary sewer. The Court held that LFUCG, like a county government, is entitled to the protective cloak of sovereign immunity. The application of sovereign immunity to county governments was affirmed by the Kentucky Supreme Court in Yanero v. Davis, 65 S.W.3d 510 (Ky.2001).

As her first assignment of error on appeal, Phillips argues that LFUCG waived sovereign immunity by virtue of its purchase of private liability insurance, and thus that summary judgment in its favor was' in error. In support of this proposition Phillips cites to Grayson County Bd. of Education v. Casey, 157 S.W.3d 201 (Ky.2005). LFUCG counters that it has not purchased liability insurance, but is instead a self-insured entity. LFUCG elaims that it has employed a claims management and investigation service that provides assistance in investigating claims under the self-insurance retention fund, but that this does not constitute a “policy of liability insurance.”

Further, LFUCG argues that even if it had purchased liability insurance, such a policy would not constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity. We agree with LFUCG that in order to constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity, the waiver must be so explicit as to leave no room for any other reasonable construction. See Withers v. University of Kentucky, 939 S.W.2d 340, 346 (Ky.1997), citing Murray v. Wilson Distilling Co., 213 U.S. 151, 171, 29 S.Ct. 458, 464-65, 53 L.Ed. 742 (1909). In the instant case, merely employing a claims management service to investigate claims under the self-insurance retention fund does not constitute an express waiver of sovereign immunity so explicit as to leave no room for any other reasonable construction.

Regarding Phillips’ reliance on Grayson, supra, we note that the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s dismissal of the Grayson County Board of Education based on sovereign immunity, so it does not support the Appellant’s position.

Phillips also argues that the doctrine of vicarious liability is applicable to LFUCG. Specifically, Phillips relies on American General Life & Acc. Ins. Co. v. Hall, 74 S.W.3d 688 (Ky.2002), and contends that vicarious liability renders LFUCG liable for negligent acts of its employees, Bodkin and Kirby. That case involved a civil rights action alleging sexual discrimination and harassment. We agree with LFUCG that American General is not applicable to an action for negligence and that Yanero, supra, is the controlling law on the issue of vicarious liability in negligence actions. The Kentucky Supreme Court in Yanero specifically held that vicarious liability is precluded by sovereign immunity in negligence actions. Yanero, 65 S.W.3d at 527-28.

Phillips also makes the argument that the doctrine of respondeat superior makes LFUCG liable for the negligence of its employees. However, the law on this issue is well-settled. In Schwindel v. Meade County,

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331 S.W.3d 629, 2010 Ky. App. LEXIS 242, 2010 WL 5481365, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phillips-v-lexington-fayette-urban-county-government-kyctapp-2010.