Armory Commission of Alabama v. Staudt

• Decision Date: 03 October 1980
• Citation: 388 So.2d 991
• Parties: The ARMORY COMMISSION OF ALABAMA, a corporation. v. Wanda T. STAUDT. 79-654.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

Page 991

388 So.2d 991

The ARMORY COMMISSION OF ALABAMA, a corporation. v. Wanda T. STAUDT.

79-654.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

Oct. 3, 1980.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and James R. Solomon, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellant.

Charles B. Langham, Decatur, for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal by permission, Rule 5, ARAP, from an interlocutory order entered by the circuit court, denying the Armory Commission of Alabama its motion to dismiss. The Commission's motion was based on its claim of governmental immunity; however, the circuit court found that the immunity afforded by Ala.Const. art. I, § 14 did not extend to the Armory Commission. We reverse.

On or about August 20, 1979, the plaintiff, Wanda T. Staudt, entered the National Guard Armory located in Morgan County. It was attested that at the time Ms. Staudt entered the building, the floor had been freshly swept and mopped and was being waxed. She allegedly entered the Armory at a fast pace, and as she attempted to turn around, her feet went out from under her, and she was thrown upon the floor, causing permanent physical injury, economic loss, and mental anguish.

She filed a tort action against the defendants-the Armory Commission of Alabama, a corporation, and Adjutant General Henry J. Cobb, Captain John Parker, and Sergeant Thomas E. McCutcheon, individuals. The action was dismissed without prejudice against Thomas E. McCutcheon, and the motion to dismiss the action against the other defendants was granted except as to the Armory Commission.

The Alabama Constitution art. I, § 14 provides "(t)hat the State of Alabama shall never be made a defendant in any court of law or equity." Code 1975, §§ 31-4-1 to 31-4-19, provides for the creation, composition, powers and duties of the Armory Commission. Section 31-4-3 specifically states that "(s)aid commission may in its corporate name sue and be sued ...." We are called upon to determine whether § 31-4-3 contravenes the constitutional provision.

Since our Constitution unqualifiedly prohibits suits against the state, the legislature may not consent to such a suit. Dunn Contr. Co. v. Board of Adjustment, 234 Ala. 372, 175 So. 383 (1937). Necessarily our inquiry is whether a suit against the Armory Commission is a suit against the state within § 14 of the Alabama Constitution. If so, it is of no consequence that Code 1975, §§ 31-4-2, -3, allows the Commission to incorporate and to sue and be sued in its corporate name, because the plenary authority of the legislature to enact laws is limited by provisions of our Constitution.

Whether a governmental body is immune from suit cannot turn on labels placed on the body by the legislature. Were it otherwise, the legislature could circumvent the constitutional prohibition by merely delegating a state function to a separate legal entity in the interest of legislative or administrative convenience. The legislature may not deny immunity from suit when that immunity is constitutionally granted.

Here, the legislature by statute permits the Armory Commission to incorporate.

The power of the State to create a body corporate as its agent to carry on certain special kinds of work for its benefit or for the public interest can not be doubted. And where this power is exercised the institution thus established is in every sense a State institution, and belongs to the State, although managed and its affairs administered under the supervision of trustees of the body corporate created for that purpose.... And where (the corporations) are created, who has the property interest in these institutions? Clearly the State. In the exercise of its right of sovereignty it established them for public purposes; it donates the property or the funds to purchase it upon which they are built, supplies the means by which they are maintained and operated. They have no capital stock, or shares held by individuals. Indeed, they have no membership or stockholders. They are not created for profit, but solely as public benefactors, the beneficiaries being the people who compose the State.

White v. Alabama Insane Hospital, 138 Ala. 479, 482, 35 So. 454, 454 (1903).

The fact of incorporation alone, then, in no way affects the character of a state institution, and if the Armory Commission is not immune from suit, it must be for reasons other than its status as a separate body corporate.

Appellee cites several Alabama appellate court decisions which indicate that the word "State" as used in the Constitution does not include public corporations. See, e. g., Knight v. West Alabama Environmental Improvement Auth., 287 Ala. 15, 246 So.2d 903 (1971) (construing Ala.Const. art. IV, §§ 93, 94 and Ala.Const. art. XI, § 213); Edmonson v. State Indus. Dev. Auth., 279 Ala. 206, 184 So.2d 115 (1966) (construing Ala.Const. art. IV, § 93 and Ala.Const. art. XI, § 213); Curtis v. Alabama Elk River Dev. Agency, Inc., 372 So.2d 353 (Ala.Civ.App.1979) (construing Ala.Const. art. I, § 14). We do not overrule the cases but hold that some determination, other than the fact of incorporation, is required. Whether a lawsuit against a body created by legislative enactment is a suit against the state depends on the character of power delegated to the body, the relation of the body to the state, and the nature of the function performed by the body. All factors in the relationship must be examined to determine whether the suit is against an arm of the state or merely against a franchisee licensed for some beneficial purpose. State Docks Commission v. Barnes, 225...