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Housing Authority of Baltimore City v. Bennett6/6/2000
[Concerns The Scope Of The Local Government Tort Claims Act's Caps On Damages]
Bell, C.J., Eldridge Rodowsky * Chasanow Raker Wilner Cathell, JJ.
*Chasanow, J., now retired, participated in the hearing and conference of this case while an active member of this Court but did not participate in the decision and adoption of this opinion.
The Local Government Tort Claims Act (LGTCA), Maryland Code (1974, 1998 Repl. Vol., 1999 Supp.), ยงยง 5-301 through 5-304 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, makes all entities defined therein as "local governments" responsible for the legal defense of their employees, and liable for judgments for compensatory damages rendered against their employees, in suits against the employees based on tortious acts committed in the scope of their governmental employment. In addition, the LGTCA prohibits local governments from asserting the defense of governmental immunity to avoid this responsibility and liability, and it establishes monetary caps per individual claim and occurrence on the recoverable damages.
This case concerns the scope of the LGTCA's caps on damages. In particular, the case at bar requires us to decide whether the damages cap provision applies to a judgment against a local government agency in a tort action which is authorized by another statute enacted by the General Assembly prior to the LGTCA and reenacted after the LGTCA.
I.
To understand the underlying issue in this case, namely to what extent the LGTCA's caps on damages affect local government tort liability under other law, and the tort liability of housing authorities in particular, it would be useful to summarize the status of local governmental immunity from suit up to and including the enactment of the LGTCA and its amendment pertaining to housing authorities.
A.
Unlike the sovereign immunity of the State and its agencies, which has been addressed by the General Assembly at various times in the history of Maryland, the matter of local government immunity prior to enactment of the LGTCA was shaped largely by judicial decisions and by statutes dealing with specific agencies or specific matters. See Austin v. City of Baltimore, 286 Md. 51, 69-72, 405 A.2d 255, 264-266 (1979) (concurring and dissenting opinion). Until the twentieth century, local governments generally had no immunity under Maryland common law in either tort or contract actions. Austin, 286 Md. at 71-78, 405 A.2d at 265-269. There is still no common law local governmental immunity in contract actions. See Harford County v. Bel Air, 348 Md. 363, 372-373, 704 A.2d 421, 425-426 (1998), and cases there cited.
In the early twentieth century, however, this Court adopted a distinction that had been developed earlier in other jurisdictions, and held that local governments enjoyed immunity in certain types of tort actions based on activity categorized as "governmental" but had no immunity in tort actions based on activity categorized as "private" or "corporate" or "proprietary." See Austin, 286 Md. at 71-78, 405 A.2d at 265-269 (concurring and dissenting opinion), and cases there cited. See also DiPino v. Davis, 354 Md. 18, 47, 729 A.2d 354, 369-370 (1999) ("A local governmental entity is liable for its torts if the tortious conduct occurs while the entity is acting in a private or proprietary capacity, but, unless its immunity is legislatively waived, it is immune from liability for tortious conduct committed while the entity is acting in a governmental capacity"); Harford County v. Bel Air, supra, 348 Md. at 373, 704 A.2d at 426; Ashton v. Brown, 339 Md. 70, 101, 660 A.2d 447, 462-463 (1995); Board v. Town of Riverdale, 320 Md.
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