Court Opinion

ID: 9527593
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:31:45.531375+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:25:55.789155
License: Public Domain

SULLIVAN, Judge,
concurring.
I concur with the majority conclusion that Carver, in responding to a report of a possible suicide, was, as a matter of law, acting within the scope of his employment. I also agree that in doing so, he was enforcing a law.
The majority, however, rejects the holding of City of Wakaruse v. Holdeman (1990) 4th Dist., Ind.App., 560 N.E.2d 109, trans. pending, insofar as it honors a principle set forth in Seymour National Bank v. State (1981) Ind., 428 N.E.2d 208. Seymour stated that immunity does not exist for conduct "so outrageous as to be incompatible with the performance of the duty undertaken". 428 N.E.2d at 204. This principle has been questioned. See Jacobs v. City of Columbus (1983) 1st Dist. Ind. App., 454 N.E.2d 1253. It has not been overruled, however. Insofar as Seymour continues to have viability in this regard, the nature of the conduct and its impact upon immunity constitute questions of fact for resolution by the jury.
In the case before us, however, no reasonable trier of fact could conclude that Carver's conduct was at all outrageous, much less so outrageous as to be incompatible with the carrying out of his police mission. For this reason I concur in Part I of the majority opinion.
I fully concur in Part II of the majority opinion.