Sawyer v. City of Sheridan, 90-9
| Decision Date | 25 June 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-9,90-9 |
| Citation | 793 P.2d 476 |
| Parties | Thomas A. SAWYER and Loeva Sawyer, husband and wife, d/b/a Wong Village, Appellants (Plaintiffs), v. The CITY OF SHERIDAN, Wyoming, a Municipal Corporation, Appellee (Defendant). |
| Court | Wyoming Supreme Court |
Micheal K. Shoumaker, Sheridan, for appellants.
Robert W. Brown of Lonabaugh and Riggs, Sheridan, for appellee.
Before CARDINE, C.J., and THOMAS, URBIGKIT, MACY and GOLDEN, JJ.
Municipal government damage immunity in a lawsuit asserting that appellee, City of Sheridan, was negligent in requiring the use of iron pipe in a mobile home village owned by appellants, Thomas A. and Loeva Sawyer, d/b/a Wong Village (Sawyers), is the issue we address. The order of the district court is affirmed in granting summary judgment for the City of Sheridan because it had immunity within the Wyoming Governmental Claims Act, W.S. 1-39-101 through 1-39-120.
This matter was initiated when the Sawyers filed a claim against the City of Sheridan by letter dated April 29, 1988. The Sawyers asserted they built a mobile home village during 1976-77. In conformance with the City of Sheridan's then extant general code for mobile home parks, the Sawyers used iron pipe in the mobile home village's water system after a building variance to use PVC pipe had been denied. 1 During May through July 1987, a number of leaks were discovered in the mobile home village's water line. Both soil condition aggressive environment and dissimilar metal electrolic interaction were implicated in the pipe failure. Investigation by the Sawyers and the Sheridan City Engineer revealed that the iron pipe had corroded and then commenced leaking. The Sawyers further alleged that the ordinance requiring iron pipe was negligently adopted without adequate testing or research and that the ordinance had been enforced arbitrarily and discriminatorily in that other mobile home villages had been given variances to use PVC pipe for water systems. The Sawyers asked $157,000 in damages for the cost of repairs and for lost revenue during the time the mobile home village was under repair. The City of Sheridan declined to pay the claim and suit was commenced by complaint filed on March 31, 1989.
Counsel for the City of Sheridan filed a motion for summary judgment acknowledging that, although the mobile home village was built in 1976-77 and a variance was refused at that time, the Sawyers' claim against the City of Sheridan did not accrue until 1987 when the damage to the iron pipe was discovered. The City of Sheridan asserted its immunity under Wyoming's Governmental Claims Act and demonstrated through affidavits that it had no insurance coverage extending its liability beyond that contained in the Act. Also, because its officials and employees were performing discretionary acts of a legislative, quasi-legislative, or quasi-judicial nature, the City of Sheridan claimed immunity under the doctrine of discretionary act immunity.
In response to the City of Sheridan's motion for summary judgment, the Sawyers maintained that W.S. 1-39-108(a) provided a window for their claim.
(a) A governmental entity is liable for damages resulting from bodily injury, wrongful death or property damage caused by the negligence of public employees while acting within the scope of their duties in the operation of public utilities and services including gas, electricity water, solid or liquid waste collection or disposal, heating and ground transportation.
W.S. 1-39-108(a). The Sawyers also argued that the acts of the City of Sheridan and its officials were ministerial rather than legislative and, therefore, the City of Sheridan could not seek refuge in the doctrine of legislative immunity. See Pickle v. Board of County Com'rs of County of Platte, 764 P.2d 262, 266 (Wyo.1988) and Oroz v. Board of County Com'rs of Carbon County, 575 P.2d 1155, 1158 (Wyo.1978).
The district court granted summary judgment for the City of Sheridan. The district court found that the City of Sheridan had no insurance coverage for the alleged...
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