Opinion ID: 837891
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: History of the Governmental Tort Liability Act

Text: Historically, governmental immunity was a common-law doctrine. In 1961, however, this Court abolished common-law governmental immunity in Williams v. Detroit. [19] Although the Court almost immediately thereafter limited Williams and held that governmental immunity was abolished only in relation to municipalities, [20] the Legislature reacted by enacting the first version of the GTLA in 1965. The statute restored governmental immunity for municipalities and provided uniform treatment for state and local agencies. [21] The statute did not address immunity for governmental officers or employees. Thus, governmental immunity for individuals continued to be completely a creature of judicial decision-making. [22] In 1984, Ross v. Consumers Power Co. (On Rehearing ) comprehensively described the common-law test for individual governmental immunity from all tort liability. In Ross, judges, legislators, and the highest executive officials at all levels of government were given immunity from all tort liability when acting within the scope of their judicial, legislative, or executive authority. [23] Lower-level governmental officials and employees were afforded qualified immunity from all tort liability if they met all the following conditions: (1) the acts were taken during the course of employment and the employees were acting, or reasonably believed that they were acting, within the scope of their authority, (2) the acts were taken in good faith, and (3) the acts were discretionary-decisional, as opposed to ministerial-operational. [24] The Legislature amended the GTLA in 1986 in response to Ross. Section 7 of the GTLA now confers qualified immunity to individual governmental actors as follows: (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, and without regard to the discretionary or ministerial nature of the conduct in question, each officer and employee of a governmental agency, each volunteer acting on behalf of a governmental agency, and each member of a board, council, commission, or statutorily created task force of a governmental agency is immune from tort liability for an injury to a person or damage to property caused by the officer, employee, or member while in the course of employment or service or caused by the volunteer while acting on behalf of a governmental agency if all of the following are met: (a) The officer, employee, member, or volunteer is acting or reasonably believes he or she is acting within the scope of his or her authority. (b) The governmental agency is engaged in the exercise or discharge of a governmental function. (c) The officer's, employee's, member's, or volunteer's conduct does not amount to gross negligence that is the proximate cause of the injury or damage. (3) Subsection (2) does not alter the law of intentional torts as it existed before July 7, 1986.    (5) A judge, a legislator, and the elective or highest appointive executive official of all levels of government are immune from tort liability for injuries to persons or damages to property if he or she is acting within the scope of his or her judicial, legislative, or executive authority.    (7) As used in this section: (a) Gross negligence means conduct so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury results.[ [25] ]