Opinion ID: 1385454
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Denial of Summary Judgment Seeking Discretionary Function Immunity

Text: Prior to obtaining its directed verdict, the state moved for summary judgment on grounds, inter alia, that its conduct fell within the discretionary function exception of the Alaska Tort Claims Act. AS 09.50.250. The motion was denied. The issue must be reached because we have reversed the directed verdict granted the state. In reviewing the rejected motion for summary judgment, we must determine whether the state met its burden of showing that there was no genuine issue of material fact and that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Jennings v. State, 566 P.2d 1304, 1308-09 (Alaska 1977). We conclude that the state did not meet the second requirement. Further, because we conclude that on the merits the discretionary function immunity is not available, we decline to rule on Johnson's claim that the state waived this argument. The discretionary function immunity derives from AS 09.50.250: A person or corporation having a ... tort claim against the state may bring an action against the state in superior court... . However, no action may be brought under this section if the claim ..... (1) is an action for tort, and based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of a state agency or an employee of the state, whether or not the discretion involved is abused.... We have addressed the discretionary function exception to governmental tort liability in several cases. [35] Beginning with State v. Abbott, 498 P.2d 712, 717-22 (Alaska 1972), reaffirmed in State v. I'Anson, 529 P.2d 188, 192 n. 12, 193 (Alaska 1974), and in Jennings v. State, 566 P.2d 1304, 1311-13 (Alaska 1977), we adopted the planning-operational test to determine whether a particular governmental function was within the ambit of the discretionary function immunity: [D]ecisions that rise to the level of planning or policy-making are considered discretionary acts which do not give rise to tort liability, while decisions that are merely operational in nature are not considered to be discretionary acts and therefore are not immune from liability. Carlson v. State, 598 P.2d 969, 972 (Alaska 1979). This distinction is based on the type of decision being made, examined within an analytical framework which is sensitive to the policies underlying the discretionary function or duty exception. Id. The policy underlying immunity is the necessity for judicial abstention in certain policy-making areas that have been committed to other branches of government. Id. This policy in turn is based upon notions of separation of powers, and limitations on this court's ability to reexamine the questioned decision and the considerations that entered into it. I'Anson, 529 P.2d at 193; Abbott, 498 P.2d at 721. Thus, under the planning-operational test, decisions that rise to the level of planning or policy formulation will be considered discretionary acts immune from tort liability, whereas decisions that are operational in nature, thereby implementing policy decisions, will not be considered discretionary and therefore will not be shielded from liability. Japan Air Lines Co., Ltd. v. State, 628 P.2d 934, 936 (Alaska 1981). In other words, the key distinction is between basic policy formulation, which is immune, and the execution or implementing of that basic policy, which is not immune. Id. Notably, however, liability is the rule, immunity the exception. Japan Air Lines, 628 P.2d at 937; Jennings, 566 P.2d at 1311; Adams v. State, 555 P.2d 235, 244 (Alaska 1976); Abbott, 498 P.2d at 720. In her complaint, Johnson alleged that the state was negligent in the design, signing, and maintenance of Phillips Field Road at the point where it intersects with the MUS spur track crossing. On appeal, the state argues that the first two of these functions are within the discretionary function immunity.
The state urges us to hold that state highway design determinations are insulated from liability because they are basic policy decisions occurring at the planning level. It argues that this initial design immunity should extend until the state has notice, actual or constructive, that due to changed physical conditions the original design has produced a dangerous condition. It thus asks us, in part, to adopt the principles of Baldwin v. State, 6 Cal.3d 424, 99 Cal. Rptr. 145, 491 P.2d 1121 (1975). [36] Here, the state did not initially design the road and crossing. Phillips Field Road was originally a gravel road constructed by the Alaska Railroad over its land. In 1956, the Railroad leased to the City of Fairbanks a portion of its land for the purpose of constructing and operating coal facilities and a spur track. In 1957, the spur track was constructed. In 1958, the Railroad granted the Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), a United States agency, an easement to improve and pave Phillips Field Road. The BPR was the agency responsible for the construction and maintenance of the public highway system in Alaska during territorial days. In May, 1961, the United States deeded its easement interest in Phillips Field Road to the state. Thereafter, in 1970, the city reconstructed the MUS crossing, which it had purchased in 1958. The reconstruction was completed pursuant to specifications approved by the state. [37] The angle at which the MUS crossing intersects Phillips Field Road was not altered by the 1970 reconstruction. There was no evidence that the flangeway groove was altered by this reconstruction. Thus the state inherited a paved road, with an existing crossing, but subsequently approved its reconstruction utilizing the original design. This is the design decision for which the state urges immunity. It argues that [t]he concept of initial design immunity should apply to decisions made by governmental entities that adopt or approve plans for public highway construction, and thus urges state immunity from liability for the initial plan or design provided there is a reasonable basis for adopting or approving it. This reasonable basis for approval would add a new element to the discretionary function analysis, and we decline to adopt it. The decision of whether to have built the road or crossing was a planning decision involving a basic policy decision entrusted to a coordinate branch of government. See Japan Air Lines, 628 P.2d at 937 n. 2; Jennings, 566 P.2d at 1311-12. However, once the state made the decision to construct the road and crossing, the discretionary function immunity did not protect it from possible negligence liability in the operational carrying out of the basic policy-planning decision to build. Japan Air Lines, 628 P.2d at 937 n. 2. In other words, policy decisions cannot be implemented negligently. Immunity can only be based on activity involving the formulation of basic policy which is entrusted to another branch of government. Our prior decisions show that there is no blanket design immunity in Alaska. In State v. I'Anson, 529 P.2d 188 (Alaska 1974), we held that the state could be held negligent for failing to post a road warning sign in advance of the entrance of a side road and for failing to place no-passing striping on a rise in the road. Although we noted that these items could be characterized as design decisions, we rejected the state's argument that all design decisions are protected, id. at 192 n. 11, and found that the state decision on signing and striping the road did not involve broad basic policy decisions which come within the `planning' category of decisions ... expressly entrusted to a coordinate branch of government. Id. at 193-94. Similarly, in Japan Air Lines, 628 P.2d 934, we held that the state could be held liable for injuries resulting from the possible negligent design of an airport runway. [38] In the present case, the design decision made by the state in approving the reconstruction plans of the road and crossing involved were operational decisions which merely implemented the basic policy formulation decision to build an overlapping road and crossing at that location. Once the basic policy decision to continue the existence of the crossing and road was made, the state was obligated to use due care to make certain that the road met the standard of reasonable safety for users. The trial court properly denied the state's motion seeking immunity for its design decision. [39]
The failure to provide a sign warning bicyclists that the MUS crossing presented a particular hazard to them is the gravamen of Johnson's claim. The state acknowledged responsibility for both signing and maintaining Phillips Field Road, but it argues that the decision not to provide a sign warning of a particularized hazard falls within the initial design phase of decision-making and is immune unless there is no reasonable basis for such a decision. We conclude, however, that the decision to sign is operational and hence not immune. We reached a similar conclusion in I'Anson: We now turn to the central issue in this review proceeding, namely, whether the placement of traffic signs and highway striping comes within the ambit of the discretionary function or duty exception ... In the trial court, the questions in dispute turned on whether the state properly marked and striped a portion of the Seward Highway north of the Granite Creek Campground access road. In our view, functions of this nature do not involve broad basic policy decisions which come within the `planning' category of decisions which are expressly entrusted to a co-ordinate branch of government. We are further persuaded that resolution of questions such as whether or not the state properly striped or marked a portion of the highway as it relates to the state's duty of care to users of the highway presents facts that courts are equipped to evaluate with traditional judicial fact-finding and decision-making processes. I'Anson, 529 P.2d at 191-92, 193-94. Thus the trial court properly denied the state's motion for immunity. [40]