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Ridley v. Johns

Neither malice nor intent to injure could strip a state employee of immunity under the State Tort Claims Act for torts committed within scope of the employee's official duties.

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Jane Johns worked for the Heard County Department of Family and Children Services “DFCS” under the supervision of Jere R. Ridley. Based on what she alleged was 13 months of harassment, Johns filed suit against Ridley and DFCS for slander, libel, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy. Johns’s husband, now deceased, sued the same defendants for loss of consortium and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The claims for slander and libel were subsequently dismissed by the Johnses. The trial court granted summary judgment to Ridley on the basis of official immunity under the State Tort Claims Act see OCGA § 50-21-25 a, and granted partial summary judgment to DFCS. The Court of Appeals affirmed the grant of summary judgment to DFCS, but reversed the grant of summary judgment to Ridley, holding that since the jury could have found the existence of actual malice or actual intent to injure, the trial court erred in granting summary judgment. Johns v. Ridley, 245 Ga. App. 710 1 537 SE2d 746 2000. This Court granted Ridley’s petition for a writ of certiorari and posed the following question:

Whether the Court of Appeals correctly held that state officers and employees can be sued personally for an intentional or malicious tort committed in the performance of their official duties. See Art. I, Sec. II, Par. IX d of the Georgia Constitution of 1983; OCGA § 50-21-20 et seq.; Mattox v. Bailey, 221 Ga. App. 546 1 472 SE2d 130 1996; Rayburn v. Farnesi, 70 FSupp2d 1334, 1341 III A N.Ga. 1999.

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