Tift County Sch. Dist. v. Martinez

The school district waived its sovereign immunity to the extent of the coverage of the motor vehicle insurance it purchased on the school bus, which the plaintiff's son was trying to board when another vehicle fatally struck him.

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Isabel Martinez sued the Tift County School District and Marie Thompson, a school bus driver, seeking damages arising from the death of her son when he was hit by a car while attempting to board a school bus. The District and Thompson appeal from the denial of their motion for summary judgment filed on sovereign immunity and official immunity grounds. Specifically, they contend that the trial court erred by ruling that 1 OCGA § 33-24-51 expressly provides for a waiver of sovereign immunity based on the purchase of motor vehicle insurance; 2 the District and Thompson waived sovereign and official immunity by stipulation; and 3 certain arguments about the scope of the waiver were moot because they were not presented prior to entry of the pretrial order. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

“On appeal from the grant of summary judgment, this Court conducts a de novo review of the evidence to determine whether there is a genuine issue of material fact and whether the undisputed facts, viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, warrant judgment as a matter of law.”1 So viewed, the record shows that one morning in May 2010, Jonathan Martinez waited at his assigned roadside location to board the school bus that customarily took him to school. The speed limit on the road is 55 miles per hour, and visibility was reduced by heavy fog that morning. Thompson was driving the school bus, and after she stopped the bus at the customary location and activated the warning signals, Jonathan attempted to cross the street to board the bus. As he crossed, he was struck by an oncoming vehicle that failed to yield for the stopped school bus.

Tift County Sch. Dist. v. Martinez

The school district waived its sovereign immunity to the extent of the coverage of the motor vehicle insurance it purchased on the school bus, which the plaintiff's son was trying to board when another vehicle fatally struck him.

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