Opinion ID: 1984594
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: death before disability benefit approval

Text: If you are an active employe or on leave of absence on or after August 15, 1991 and die before the Board approves your benefit, your disability annuity will be granted if prior to your death we have received your application and one Medical Report certifying your disability.... It is therefore very important that the Medical Reports be submitted as quickly as possible. The department must also receive your employer's certification that you ceased employment due to your disability before your disability benefit can be approved. Whether or not your disability benefit is approved can have a substantial impact on the amount of the death benefits payable upon your death. Death benefits from a disability benefit will be based on the annuity option you select. You may contact the department for further information about how death benefits are calculated. ¶ 7. Aside from glancing at the estimates, Kierstyn did not read the information he received from the WRS. Mrs. Kierstyn did not apply for disability benefits at that time. ¶ 8. About a week before Mrs. Kierstyn's death, Kierstyn again met with Farrell. By this date, there was little doubt that Mrs. Kierstyn soon would die. Kierstyn, still under the incorrect assumption that Mrs. Kierstyn could not file for disability benefits until her sick days were exhausted, wanted to know of any available method to rid Mrs. Kierstyn of her remaining sick days. Farrell again incorrectly stated that the sick leave must be completely exhausted before filing the application with WRS. [4] ¶ 9. After Mrs. Kierstyn's death, Kierstyn filed an application for the disability benefits. Because the application had not been filed prior to her death, Kierstyn was only entitled to a non-annuitant survivor benefit and not to the more financially generous disability survivorship annuity. ¶ 10. Kierstyn filed suit, alleging that Farrell and the District were liable for common law negligence and negligent misrepresentation. The District filed a motion for summary judgment, contending that it and Farrell were immune from suit under Wis. Stat. § 893.80(4) (1997-98). [5] The circuit court granted that motion, concluding that Farrell's act of giving information was a discretionary act rather than a ministerial one. ¶ 11. Kierstyn appealed and the court of appeals affirmed in a 2-1 decision. The court of appeals concluded that Farrell's giving of benefit advice was a governmental act, so he retained immunity as a municipal employee under this court's decision in Scarpaci v. Milwaukee County, 96 Wis. 2d 663, 292 N.W.2d 816 (1980). Judge Brown dissented, concluding that the act of advising a client in an intimate setting was not governmental but rather professional in nature and therefore was an act subject to liability. Kierstyn petitioned this court for review. [1, 2] ¶ 12. It is well settled that when this court reviews a motion for summary judgment it applies the same standards as the circuit court. Grams v. Boss, 97 Wis. 2d 332, 338-39, 294 N.W.2d 473 (1980). In this case we are asked to determine whether Farrell, though negligent, is entitled to immunity as a municipal employee under Wis. Stat. § 893.80. This application of a set of facts to a legal standard is a question of law that we review independently of the legal determinations rendered by the circuit court and court of appeals. Miller v. Thomack, 210 Wis. 2d 650, 658, 563 N.W.2d 891 (1997). [3, 4] ¶ 13. Public officers or employees enjoy immunity from liability for injuries resulting from the performance of any discretionary act within the scope of their governmental employment. [6] Barillari v. City of Milwaukee, 194 Wis. 2d 247, 257, 533 N.W.2d 759 (1995); C.L. v. Olson, 143 Wis. 2d 701, 710, 422 N.W.2d 614 (1988); Lister v. Board of Regents, 72 Wis. 2d 282, 300, 240 N.W.2d 610 (1976). This rule applies regardless of whether the public official is employed by the state or by a political subdivision of the state, such as a municipality or school district. Lifer v. Raymond, 80 Wis. 2d 503, 511-12, 259 N.W.2d 537 (1977). [5] ¶ 14. Public officer immunity traces its origins to the common law and is separate and distinct from the constitutional guarantee of sovereign immunity, although the distinction is often overlooked. [7] As a derivation of the common law, governmental immunity is founded upon policy considerations that strike a balance between the need of public officers to perform their functions freely [and] the right of an aggrieved party to seek redress. Lister, 72 Wis. 2d at 300. Those policy considerations focus largely on the protection of the public purse against legal action and on the restraint of public officials through political rather than judicial means. As we identified in Lister, 72 Wis. 2d at 299, those considerations include: (1) The danger of influencing public officers in the performance of their functions by the threat of lawsuit; (2) the deterrent effect which the threat of personal liability might have on those who are considering entering public service; (3) the drain on valuable time caused by such actions; (4) the unfairness of subjecting officials to personal liability for the acts of their subordinates; and (5) the feeling that the ballot and removal procedures are more appropriate methods of dealing with misconduct in public office. Id. at 299. [6] ¶ 15. As outlined in Wis. Stat. § 893.80(4), governmental immunity relieves both a political subdivision and public officials from acts done pursuant to legislative, judicial, quasi-legislative, or quasi-judicial capacities. To describe an activity as quasi-judicial or quasi-legislative is to say that the activity involves the exercise of discretion. Lister, 72 Wis. 2d at 299; Spencer v. Brown County, 215 Wis. 2d 641, 647, 573 N.W.2d 222 (Ct. App. 1997). ¶ 16. However, immunity under Wis. Stat. § 893.80 is not absolute. Over the years, this court has recognized four exceptions to public officer immunity. Since Kierstyn contends that Farrell's actions fall within three of the four exceptions, we address each of those three exceptions separately below. [8]