Leslie v. City of Biloxi, No. 1998-CA-01533-SCT.
| Decision Date | 13 April 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 1998-CA-01533-SCT. |
| Citation | 758 So.2d 430 |
| Parties | Roy LESLIE v. CITY OF BILOXI and John Campbell. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Joe Sam Owen, Robert P. Myers, Jr., Gulfport, Attorneys for Appellant.
Tere R. Steel, Biloxi, Attorney for Appellees.
BEFORE PITTMAN AND BANKS, P.JJ., AND MILLS, J.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
¶ 1. This is an appeal from the Circuit Court of Harrison County, Mississippi, Second Judicial District, of the granting of summary judgment in favor of the appellees, the City of Biloxi ("Biloxi") and John Campbell ("Campbell").
¶ 2. The appellant, Roy Leslie ("Leslie"), filed suit against Campbell and Biloxi pursuant to the Mississippi Tort Claims Act ("MTCA"), Miss.Code Ann. §§ 11-46-1 to -23 (Supp.1999), following a motorcycle/automobile accident in which both Leslie and Campbell were acting in their official capacities as law enforcement officers. Leslie also asserted a claim against Biloxi under the theory of respondent superior. The trial court granted summary judgment to Biloxi and Campbell, ruling that Leslie's claim was barred by the MTCA.
¶ 3. On August 21, 1996, Leslie, a Harrison County Deputy Sheriff, was leading a funeral procession pursuant to his official duties. Campbell, who was driving a Biloxi Police Department patrol car, had just testified in Biloxi Municipal Court and was returning to his home. Campbell turned in front of Leslie. Leslie's motorcycle collided with the front bumper of Campbell's patrol car, throwing Leslie over the front of the motorcycle.
¶ 4. Leslie sustained severe injuries including a bruised heart, several broken bones, and a punctured lung. As a result of this accident, Leslie is considered permanently and totally disabled and receives Worker's Compensation benefits.
¶ 5. The standard of review employed by this Court in matters regarding summary judgment is well-settled.
Our appellate standard for reviewing the grant or denial of summary judgment is the same standard as that of the trial court under Rule 56(c) of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure. This Court employs a de novo standard of review of a lower court's grant or denial of summary judgment and examines all the evidentiary matters before it—admissions in pleadings, answers to interrogatories, depositions, affidavits, etc. The evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion has been made. If, in this view, there is no genuine issue of material fact and, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law, summary judgment should forthwith be entered in his favor. Otherwise, the motion should be denied. Issues of fact sufficient to require denial of a motion for summary judgment obviously are present where one party swears to one version of the matter in issue and another says the opposite. In addition, the burden of demonstrating that no genuine issue of fact exists is on the moving party. That is, the non-movant should be given the benefit of the doubt. McCullough v. Cook, 679 So.2d 627, 630 (Miss.1996) (quoting Mantachie Natural Gas Dist. v. Mississippi Valley Gas Co., 594 So.2d 1170, 1172 (Miss.1992); Clark v. Moore Mem'l United Methodist Church, 538 So.2d 760, 762 (Miss.1989)).
Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-9(1)(l) (Supp. 1999). The trial court, in its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, applied § 11-46-9(1)(l) to the facts at hand stating:
The exemption has the following meaning: A governmental entity (City of Biloxi) and its employees (John Campbell) ... shall not be liable for any claim ... of any claimant (Roy Leslie) who is an employee of a governmental entity (Harrison County) and whose injury is covered by workers' compensation furnished by the governmental entity who employs the claimant (Harrison County).
¶ 7. The question before this Court then becomes whether the trial court properly applied § 11-46-9-(1)(l) to the case at hand. In his opinion the circuit judge stated:
At the time of the alleged injury, plaintiff was employed by a governmental entity as a Harrison County Deputy Sheriff. At the time of the collision between Officer Campbell and Plaintiff, Plaintiff was on duty performing his job duties as a deputy sheriff. The City of Biloxi is a governmental entity and as Plaintiff has admitted, at the time of the accident Officer Campbell was within the course and scope of his employment as a patrol officer with the City of Biloxi Department of Police. Plaintiff's injury is covered by the Workers' Compensation Law, Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-5, et seq., and he has received workers' compensation benefits for this injury provided on behalf of Harrison County, Mississippi, pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 71-3-5. Pursuant to the plain language of the statute, Plaintiff's claims against the City of Biloxi and Officer Campbell are barred by Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-9(1)(l).
¶ 8. In order for the statute to apply in this situation, it must first be shown that Campbell was "acting within the course and scope of [his] employment or duties." In his affidavit, Campbell explained that he was assigned a patrol car that he used to go to and from work and to and from training, court, or city business while off duty. On the day of the accident, Campbell was returning from traffic court when the accident occurred.
¶ 9. Tommy Moffett, Director of the City of Biloxi Department of Police, executed an affidavit which stated that "[a]t the time of the collision out of which the instant lawsuit arose, Officer John Campbell was within the course and scope of his employment as a patrol officer with the City of Biloxi Department of Police." In further support of this position, Director Moffett stated in his affidavit that:
¶ 10. Secondly, it must be shown that Leslie has received workers' compensation benefits that were furnished by Harrison County. It is undisputed that Leslie was employed as Harrison County Deputy Sheriff at the time the accident occurred.
¶ 11. Affidavits were submitted to show that Leslie had received workers' compensation benefits as a result of his injuries. Brenda Goolsby of the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission, executed an affidavit stating that the "benefits provider has not challenged the condensability of the claim under the Workers' Compensation Laws." In fact, Leslie had been paid approximately $ 30,000 in workers' compensation benefits.
¶ 12. Applying § 11-46-9(1)(l) to the underlying facts, Leslie, by virtue of the fact that he was employed by Harrison County and the recipient of Workers' Compensation benefits provided by Harrison County, is statutorily barred from bringing suit against the City of Biloxi as well as Officer Campbell.
II. WHETHER THE SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY PROTECTIONS OF MISS. CODE ANN. § 11-46-9 ARE WAIVED WHEN A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY PURCHASES LIABILITY INSURANCE IN EXCESS OF THE LIMITS IMPOSED BY MISS. CODE ANN. § 11-46-15.
¶ 13. Leslie argues that such immunity is waived by Biloxi's purchase of liability insurance. Leslie cites as his authority a since withdrawn L.W. v. McComb Separate Mun. Sch. Dist., (Miss.). However, since the time the case sub judice was decided in the trial court, L.W. has been withdrawn and another opinion was substituted for it. L.W. v. McComb Separate Mun. Sch. Dist., 754 So.2d 1136 (Miss. 1999), is now the controlling law in this area.
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