Drumm, In His Capacity As City Manager For The City Of Brunswick et al. v. George et al.

Rickman, Judge. We granted an application for interlocutory review from James Drumm, in his capacity as City Manager for the City of Brunswick, and the City of Brunswick (collectively “Drumm”) following the denial of their motion for summary judgment on a complaint for breach of contract filed by Paul George, Erik Hartshorn, Stephan Lowrey, Carla Futch, Alan Wainwright, and Terrence Tanner (collectively “the Officers”). Because the Officers’ suit is barred by sovereign immunity, we reverse.On appeal from the denial or grant of summary judgment, the appellate 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.  (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Watts v. City of Dillard, 294 Ga. App. 861 (670 SE2D 442) (2008).So viewed, the record shows that approximately three months after becoming the City Manager for the City of Brunswick, Drumm met with the City’s Chief of Police to discuss the retention and promotion of City police officers . Drumm agreed to the Chief’s proposal to promote officers who met certain requirements, but it was unclear at the time of the meeting how many officers would be eligible for the promotion.After the meeting, the following text message exchange took place between the Chief and Drumm:[The Chief]: There are 2 in drug squad And 4 in detectives eligible for promotion to corporal.

[Drumm]: Ok[.]