Teart v. Washington Metro. Area Transit Authority, Civ. A. No. 87-1718-OG.

• Court: United States District Courts. United States District Court (Columbia)
• Writing for the Court: Thomas A. Medford, Jr., David Allmond, Washington, D.C., for defendants WMATA and Robinson
• Citation: 686 F. Supp. 12
• Parties: Pinkie TEART, Mother and Personal Representative of the Estate of Victor Langston Teart, Plaintiff, v. WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY, et al., Defendants.
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 87-1718-OG.
• Decision Date: 24 May 1988

686 F. Supp. 12

Pinkie TEART, Mother and Personal Representative of the Estate of Victor Langston Teart, Plaintiff,
v.
WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 87-1718-OG.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

May 24, 1988.

686 F. Supp. 13

Judith Katz, Washington, D.C., for plaintiff.

Thomas A. Medford, Jr., David Allmond, Washington, D.C., for defendants WMATA and Robinson.

David Krakoff, Washington, D.C., for defendant Westinghouse.

Edwin A. Sheridan, Washington, D.C., for third-party defendant Harry Alexander, Inc.

MEMORANDUM-ORDER

GASCH, District Judge.

Plaintiff's decedent was found electrocuted atop some fluorescent lights at the bottom of an escalator in the Tenleytown Metro Station. Plaintiff has sued the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("WMATA"), the Metro station manager, and Westinghouse Electric Corp. ("Westinghouse"). In turn, Westinghouse has brought a third-party suit against Harry Alexander, Inc. Currently before the Court are WMATA's motion to strike punitive damages and the Metro station manager's motion to dismiss as to him.

The Transit Authority moves to strike plaintiff's claim for punitive damages on grounds that it is immune from suits for punitive or exemplary damages. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ("WMATA") was created by an interstate compact between and among Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Md.Ann.Code § 10-201 et seq.; Va. Code Ann. §§ 56-529, 530; D.C.Code § 1-2431. Congress adopted and enacted the WMATA Compact for the District of Columbia and consented to the entrance of Maryland and Virginia in the Compact. Pub.L. No. 89-774, 80 Stat. 1324 (1966). Article II, Section 4 of the WMATA Compact provides that the Transit Authority is an agency and instrumentality of the signatories to the Compact. See Oasim v. WMATA, 455 A.2d 904, 905 (D.C.), cert. denied, 461 U.S. 929, 103 S.Ct. 2090, 77 L.Ed.2d 300 (1983).

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has acknowledged WMATA's status as a state instrumentality that is clothed with Eleventh Amendment immunity. Morris v. WMATA, 781 F.2d 218, 219-20 (D.C.Cir. 1986). The Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity conferred on WMATA by Congress and the signatories to the Compact has been partially waived in Article XVI, Section 80 of the Compact. Id. at 221. The partial waiver provides that WMATA shall be liable for its torts, as well as those of its directors, officers, employees and agents, which are committed in the conduct of any proprietary function, but not for any torts occurring in the performance of a governmental function. The matter before the Court requires consideration of whether the signatories to the Compact waived the Transit Authority's immunity to punitive damages.

In the absence of express statutory authority, punitive damages are not recoverable against the District of Columbia. Smith v. District of Columbia, 336 A.2d 831 (D.C.1975) (per curiam) (reasoning that "the people who would bear the burden of the award—the citizens—are the self-same group who are expected to benefit from the public example...