The court found that the county engineer's sign placement decisions and rumble strip maintenance decisions were discretionary decisions entitled to official immunity. The court held further that the official immunity should be extended vicariously to the county to avoid the chilling effect that would otherwise result if the engineer's decisions subjected the county to liability. The court concluded that imposing liability on the employer would require review of the engineer's immunized decision, which would defeat the purpose of official immunity. Here, the parties agree that the decisions of the county and state highway engineers are protected by official immunity but disagree about extending the official immunity vicariously to the employer. The district court applied Ireland, finding it to be directly on point.
Appellants concede that under Ireland, the county and state are vicariously immune.
We decline to overrule our decision in Ireland. Return to Vol.