Grossman served as Administrator for the City of Westbrook until he resigned in June 1996. Richards was acting as a City Alderman and the City Council President at the time he made the allegedly defamatory comments. Richards moved for a summary judgment pursuant to M.R. Civ. After the trial court granted a summary judgment in favor of Richards, this appeal ensued. We review a grant of a summary judgment de novo for errors of law.
Summary judgment is appropriate when a defendant is immune from tort liability.
Whether a defendant is entitled to governmental immunity is a question of law that may be resolved by a summary judgment in the absence of factual contradiction. To perform their jobs effectively, many government employees are required to exercise their discretion in areas which are not specifically governed by a detailed statute. Accordingly, discretionary immunity should exist whenever the activity in question is in fact discretionary and is important to the functioning of the governmental activity involved. As we stated in Darling v. Augusta Mental Health Inst.