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Stevenson v. City of Doraville

The public duty doctrine's limitation on liability is restricted to cases involving police nonfeasance, not police misfeasance.

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We granted a writ of certiorari in this case to decide whether the Court of Appeals erred in its determination that the public duty doctrine insulated the City of Doraville from liability arising from the response of a Doraville Police Department “DPD” officer to a vehicle emergency on an interstate highway which culminated in a multi-vehicle accident injuring Kenyatta Stevenson. Stevenson v. City of Doraville, 315 Ga. App. 233 726 SE2d 726 2012. Stevenson sued the City and DPD Officer Sean Mahar asserting Mahar was negligent in failing to redirect traffic away from Stevenson’s disabled car and in causing traffic to move in Stevenson’s direction by engaging his vehicle’s blue emergency lights while stopped near the outer lane of the highway behind and to the right of Stevenson. The trial court granted summary judgment to both defendants, finding official immunity shielded Mahar from liability and that the public duty doctrine precluded Stevenson’s claims against the City.

Stevenson appealed the grant of summary judgment to the City arguing that the public duty doctrine did not apply to his case because he alleged affirmative acts of negligence and that, even if the doctrine did apply, he fell within the special relationship exception identified in City of Rome v. Jordan, 263 Ga. 26 426 SE2d 861 1993. The Court of Appeals affirmed, finding Stevenson’s arguments lacked merit. Although it appears the Court of Appeals based its rejection of Stevenson’s first argument on its finding that “there is nothing in the record . . . showing any active negligence on the part of the officer,” we write to clarify that the public duty doctrine does not apply to limit liability where a claim of active negligence misfeasance, rather than a mere failure to act nonfeasance is alleged. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the Court of Appeals’ decision in this case.

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