Case Name: Dudley Scott McKENZIE, by Guardian ad Litem, Howard E. McKenzie, Appellant, v. George McKENZIE, Jimmy McKenzie, Samuel Tony Knight, and the South Carolina Highway Department, Defendants, of whom South Carolina Highway Department is Respondent; Benjamin D. McKENZIE, as Executor for the Estate of Euvena D. McKenzie, Appellant, v. George McKENZIE, Jimmy McKenzie, Samuel Tony Knight, and the South Carolina Highway Department, Defendants, of whom South Carolina Highway Department is Respondent, (two cases)
Court: Supreme Court of South Carolina
Jurisdiction: South Carolina
Decision Date: 1981-06-18
Citations: 276 S.C. 461
Docket Number: 21494
Parties: Dudley Scott McKENZIE, by Guardian ad Litem, Howard E. McKenzie, Appellant, v. George McKENZIE, Jimmy McKenzie, Samuel Tony Knight, and the South Carolina Highway Department, Defendants, of whom South Carolina Highway Department is Respondent. Benjamin D. McKENZIE, as Executor for the Estate of Euvena D. McKenzie, Appellant, v. George McKENZIE, Jimmy McKenzie, Samuel Tony Knight, and the South Carolina Highway Department, Defendants, of whom South Carolina Highway Department is Respondent, (two cases)
Judges: Lewis, C. J., and Gregory, J., concur.
Reporter: South Carolina Reports
Volume: 276
Pages: 461–464

Head Matter:
21494
Dudley Scott McKENZIE, by Guardian ad Litem, Howard E. McKenzie, Appellant, v. George McKENZIE, Jimmy McKenzie, Samuel Tony Knight, and the South Carolina Highway Department, Defendants, of whom South Carolina Highway Department is Respondent. Benjamin D. McKENZIE, as Executor for the Estate of Euvena D. McKenzie, Appellant, v. George McKENZIE, Jimmy McKenzie, Samuel Tony Knight, and the South Carolina Highway Department, Defendants, of whom South Carolina Highway Department is Respondent, (two cases)
(279 S. E. (2d) 609)
Katharine G. Herbert, Lake City, for appellants.
Atty. Gen. Daniel R. McLeod, Staff Atty. Grady L. Patterson, III, and Keith M. Babcock, of Barnes, Austin & Lightsey, Columbia, for respondent.
June 18, 1981.

Opinion:
Littlejohn, Justice:
Appellants Dudley Scott McKenzie and Benjamin E. McKenzie appeal from an order granting respondent's, S. C. Highway Department, motions tO' strike all language asserted as a basis for punitive damages from appellants' complaint. We affirm.
On April 15, 1979, Dudley McKenzie was injured and his mother Euvena McKenzie was killed in a two car accident on a state highway. Appellants sought damages from the Department alleging there was a defect in the shoulder of the road which contributed to the accident. The trial court granted the Department's motions to strike because of the doctrine of sovereign immunity.
A majority of this Court has consistently held the doctrine of sovereign immunity is the established policy of this State, and neither the State nor any of its agencies may be sued without the express consent of the legislature. Hazard v. S. C. State Highway Department, 264 S. C. 386, 215 S. E. (2d) 438 (1975); Morris v. S. C. State Highway Department, 264 S. C. 369, 215 S. E. (2d) 430 (1975).
The other ground asserted is without merit and we affirm.
Affirmed.
Lewis, C. J., and Gregory, J., concur.
Ness and Harwell, JJ., dissent.