Murray v. Georgia Dept. of Transp.

Robert Daniel Murray IV died as a result of injuries he suffered when the automobile in which he was a passenger was struck by another automobile at the intersection of State Route 8 with Broad Street/McMillan Road in the City of Dacula in Gwinnett County. Murray’s parents and his estate brought suit to recover for wrongful death, pain and suffering, and other expenses alleging that the fatal accident was caused by the negligence of the Georgia Department of Transportation State DOT, various employees of the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation Gwinnett County DOT in their individual capacities, CSX Transportation, Inc. CSX, and Joe Gregory, the driver of the automobile which struck the automobile occupied by Murray.1 The trial court dismissed the State DOT from the suit on the basis of sovereign immunity, granted summary judgment in favor of the Gwinnett County DOT employees on the basis of official immunity, and granted summary judgment in favor of CSX finding there was no basis for the negligence claim. The plaintiffs below appeal from these rulings in Case No. A06A1655. In Case No. A06A1656, two of the Gwinnett County DOT employees cross-appeal from the trial court’s denial of their motion to disqualify plaintiffs’ counsel. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court’s rulings in favor of the defendants below in Case No. A06A1655 and dismiss as moot the cross-appeal in Case No. A06A1656.

A06A1655