GEORGIA COURT OF APPEALS REJECTS DOT’S BID FOR SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY UNDER THE DISCRETIONARY FUNCTION EXCEPTION
Posted by Susan J. Levy
As an agency of the state, the Georgia Department of Transportation (“DOT”) is entitled to sovereign immunity except to the extent sovereign immunity has been waived by the provisions of the Georgia Tort Claims Act (“GTCA”). See Georgia Military College v. Santamorena, 237 Ga. App. 58, 61; O.C.G.A. § 50-21-21. Under the GTCA, the State has agreed to waive sovereign immunity for the torts of state officials and employees subject to certain exceptions and limitations. O.C.G.A. §§ 50-21-23 and 50-21-24. O.C.G.A. § 50-21-24 enumerates 13 exceptions to the State’s waiver of sovereign immunity. In DOT v. Miller, 2009 Ga. App. LEXIS 1293 (November 10, 2009), DOT argued that the “discretionary function” exception to the State’s waiver of sovereign immunity barred Plaintiff’s recovery. The Court of Appeals rejected that argument.
