Ellis v. Jolley

Holding

Concerning a personal injury suit premised on negligence arising out of the collision of a city trash truck and a private vehicle in routine traffic, the Court of Appeals erred in determining that sovereign immunity did not protect the city against the plaintiff’s negligence claims but was correct in determining that the city’s employee was not so protected. In Virginia, sovereign immunity protects municipalities from tort liability arising from governmental functions, and the removal of trash, when undertaken by a municipality, is a governmental function. Consequently, the city is immune from liability for negligence in performing or in failing to perform this function. However, since at the time of the collision, the city’s employee was engaged in ordinary driving in routine traffic, as opposed to collecting trash, and only the latter activity required him to exercise judgment and discretion in the operation of the trash truck beyond that involved in ordinary driving, sovereign immunity does not bar the plaintiff’s negligence claims against him. The portion of the Court of Appeals’ judgment holding that the city does not benefit from sovereign immunity is reversed, but the portion of its judgment holding that the trash truck driver employed by the city does not benefit from sovereign immunity is affirmed, and the case is remanded to the Court of Appeals with instructions to remand the case for trial in the circuit court.