Opinion ID: 2633657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Tort Claims Act Building Waiver Under Section 41-4-6

Text: {8} The TCA was enacted after this Court rejected common law sovereign immunity in Hicks v. State, 88 N.M. 588, 544 P.2d 1153 (1975), superseded by statute as stated in Electro-Jet Tool Mfg. Co. v. City of Albuquerque, 114 N.M. 676, 845 P.2d 770 (1992). See §§ 41-4-1 to -29. The TCA grants all government entities and their employees general immunity from actions in tort, but waives that immunity in certain specified circumstances. See § 41-4-4. The waiver for operation or maintenance of any building is just such a circumstance. Section 41-4-6. The waiver allows individual claims against governmental entities that are based on the negligence of public employees while acting within the scope of their duties in the operation or maintenance of any building, public park, machinery, equipment or furnishings. Id. For the waiver to apply, the negligent operation or maintenance must create a dangerous condition that threatens the general public or a class of users of the building. See Espinoza v. Town of Taos, 120 N.M. 680, 683, 905 P.2d 718, 721 (1995) (the critical question is whether the condition creates a potential risk to the general public); Castillo v. County of Santa Fe, 107 N.M. 204, 207, 755 P.2d 48, 51 (1988) (holding the waiver applies because the condition threatened the residents of the public building and their invitees). {9} Historically, the TCA waiver under Section 41-4-6 has been interpreted broadly to protect private citizens from the consequences of dangerous conditions created by the negligence of public employees in the operation or maintenance of public buildings. See Bober v. N.M. State Fair, 111 N.M. 644, 653, 808 P.2d 614, 623 (1991). The waiver applies to more than the operation or maintenance of the physical aspects of the building, and includes safety policies necessary to protect the people who use the building. See Castillo, 107 N.M. at 206-07, 755 P.2d at 50-51 (stating the county's failure to respond to a pack of dogs roaming a public housing facility created a dangerous condition to residents and their invitees, and fell under the waiver); Leithead v. City of Santa Fe, 1997-NMCA-041, ¶¶ 12, 15-16, 123 N.M. 353, 940 P.2d 459 (indicating failure by a public swimming pool to provide an adequate number of capable lifeguards created a dangerous condition arising out of the operation of the pool). The dangerous condition need not be limited to the confines of the building, but can include the grounds surrounding and linked to the structure. See Bober, 111 N.M. at 653, 808 P.2d at 623 (holding that the common grounds of the State Fairgrounds constitute a building under Section 41-4-6); Castillo, 107 N.M. at 206, 755 P.2d at 50 (stating dangerous condition in the public areas between the county housing structures fell within the waiver).