Transit Authority of River City v. Bibelhauser

432 S.W.3d 171, 2013 WL 5423061, 2013 Ky. App. LEXIS 142
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedSeptember 27, 2013
DocketNo. 2011-CA-002039-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 432 S.W.3d 171 (Transit Authority of River City v. Bibelhauser) 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
Transit Authority of River City v. Bibelhauser, 432 S.W.3d 171, 2013 WL 5423061, 2013 Ky. App. LEXIS 142 (Ky. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

VANMETER, Judge:

Transit Authority of River City (“TARC”) and Dalton Holt appeal from the Jefferson Circuit Court order denying TARC’s motion for partial summary judgment. The issue before us is whether TARC enjoys immunity from the underlying negligence action filed by Adam Bibel-hauser to recover injuries he sustained after being struck by a TARC bus that was operated by Holt.1 For the following reasons, we agree with the trial court that TARC is not immune from suit and affirm its order denying TARC’s motion for summary judgment.

On September 8, 2008, Holt, while operating a TARC bus, collided with Bibelhau-ser in the crosswalk at the intersection of Fourth and Market Streets in Louisville, Kentucky. Bibelhauser filed suit against Holt, in his individual capacity, and against TARC. Bibelhauser alleged that TARC was negligent in its hiring, training, supervision, and retention of Holt as its employee. TARC claimed immunity and moved for summary judgment, which the trial court denied. This appeal followed.

Summary judgment shall be granted only if “the pleadings, depositions, answers [173]*173to interrogatories, stipulations, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” CR2 56.03. The trial court must view the record “in a light most favorable to the party opposing the motion for summary judgment and all doubts are to be resolved in his favor.” Steelvest, Inc. v. Scansteel Serv. Ctr., Inc., 807 S.W.2d 476, 480 (Ky.1991). Further, “a party opposing a properly supported summary judgment motion cannot defeat it without presenting at least some affirmative evidence showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact for trial.” Id. at 482.

On appeal from a grant of summary judgment, our standard of review is “ ‘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.’” Lewis v. B & R Corp., 56 S.W.3d 432, 436 (Ky.App.2001) (quoting Scifres v. Kraft, 916 S.W.2d 779, 781 (Ky.App.1996)). We review the trial court’s legal conclusions de novo. Hallahan v. Courier-Journal, 138 S.W.3d 699, 705 (Ky.App.2004).

TARC claims immunity from suit under two related doctrines: sovereign immunity and governmental immunity. Sovereign immunity affords the state absolute immunity from suit and “extends to public officials sued in their representative (official) capacities, when the state is the real party against which relief in such cases is sought.” Yanero v. Davis, 65 S.W.3d 510, 517-18 (Ky.2001). Governmental immunity is granted to agencies that have been established by an immune entity and that perform a “ ‘function integral to state government.’ ” Comair, Inc. v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Airport Corp., 295 S.W.3d 91, 98 (Ky.2009) (quoting Ky. Ctr. for the Arts v. Berns, 801 S.W.2d 327, 332 (Ky.1990)).

TARC is not entitled to either sovereign or governmental immunity. TARC claims sovereign immunity by virtue of KRS3 67C.101(2)(e) and KRS 96A.020G). KRS 67C.101(2)(e) accords a consolidated local government, such as Louisville Metro, the same sovereign immunity accorded to counties, their agencies, officers, and employees. See Jewish Hosp. Healthcare Servs., Inc. v. Louisville/Jefferson County Metro. Gov’t, 270 S.W.3d 904, 907 (Ky.App.2008) (Louisville Metro is entitled to sovereign immunity). KRS 96A.020 addresses a transit authority’s creation and existence and provides, in relevant part:

(1) A transit authority may be created and established under the provisions of this chapter ... and the name thereof shall be “Transit Authority of....” If established by a city alone, or by a county alone, the name shall be completed by identification of the city or county.... Such transit authority shall constitute an agency and instrumentality for accomplishing essential governmental functions of the public body or public bodies creating and establishing the same, and shall be a political subdivision and a public body corporate, with power to ... sue and be sued ... and to have and exercise, generally, all of the powers of private corporations.... An authority shall be authorized to promote and develop mass transportation in its transit area and adjoining areas[.]

These statutes do not afford TARC sovereign immunity. KRS 96A.020(1) clearly states that TARC is “a public body corporate” with the power “to sue and be sued” [174]*174and “to have and exercise, generally, all of the powers of private corporations.In Gross v. Ky. Bd. of Managers, 105 Ky. 840, 845, 49 S.W. 458, 459 (1899), the court addressed a similar issue and held that, while the Kentucky Board of Managers was an agency of the state, the Board was also vested with corporate powers to make contracts and to sue and be sued. In its corporate capacity, the Kentucky Board of Managers could be sued for its corporate acts, just like any other corporation, and its contracts were its obligation, not that of the state. Id. As in Gross, TARC’s authority is more corporate than governmental. Thus, its actions are not cloaked in sovereign immunity.4

TARC is also not entitled to governmental immunity. In Comair, the Kentucky Supreme Court set forth a two-part test for determining whether an entity is entitled to governmental immunity. Comair, 295 S.W.3d at 99. First, the court is to examine the origin, or “parent,” of the entity to determine if the entity is an agency (or alter ego) of a clearly immune parent. Id. Second, the court is to assess whether the entity performs a “function integral to state government.” Id. For the latter determination, the court is to consider the balance of the entity’s functions, not just the particular action at issue in the case. See id. at 98 (viewing the entity’s functions as a whole); N. Ky. Area Planning Comm’n v. Cloyd, 332 S.W.3d 91, 95-96 (Ky.App.2010) (assessing the balance of the entity’s activities).

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432 S.W.3d 171, 2013 WL 5423061, 2013 Ky. App. LEXIS 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/transit-authority-of-river-city-v-bibelhauser-kyctapp-2013.