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Phillips v. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources3/24/2000
Ex parte Jimmy Butts et al.
PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
Jimmy Butts, James D. Martin, Ray Bass, Douglas "Mitch" Kilpatrick, Terry McDuffie, Bob Campbell, and John A. Hayles are defendants in a wrongful-death action pending in the Montgomery Circuit Court. The plaintiffs in that action are Wendy Phillips, as the administratrix of the estate of Randall "Lane" Phillips; Ann Williams, as the administratrix of the estate of Frank "Dee" Williams; and the two deceased men's minor children, Dalton Phillips, Tanner Phillips, Haley Ann Williams, and Dee Ann Williams. The defendants petition for a writ of mandamus directing Judge Charles Price to dismiss the wrongful-death action as it relates to Martin in his official capacity, on the ground of state immunity, and as it relates to all of them in their individual capacities, on the ground of state-agent's immunity. We grant the petition in part and deny it in part.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources ("ADOC") owned a bridge over Lake Martin known as the Old Kowaliga Bridge ("the old bridge"). When a new Kowaliga Bridge was constructed to take the place of the old bridge, ADOC closed the old bridge to traffic and designated it for use as a public fishing pier. The old bridge fell into a state of disrepair, and ADOC decided to demolish it. ADOC solicited bids for the demolition project. The Alabama Department of Transportation ("ALDOT") offered the lowest bid, at $67,681; ADOC accepted that bid. ALDOT formulated a plan and assembled a crew for the demolition project. During the demolition of the old bridge, however, it collapsed prematurely. Two ALDOT employees, Randall Phillips and Frank Williams, who were working on the old bridge when it collapsed, died when pieces of the old bridge pinned them at the bottom of Lake Martin.
The widows of Phillips and Williams, acting as administratrices of their husbands' estates, along with their minor children (hereinafter the widows and the minor children will be sometimes referred to collectively as "the families") sued ADOC; ALDOT; Martin, the former director of ADOC; Butts, the former director of ALDOT; Bass, ALDOT's chief engineer; Kilpatrick, ALDOT's chief maintenance engineer; McDuffie, an assistant bridge maintenance engineer for ALDOT; Campbell, an assistant bridge maintenance engineer for ALDOT; and Hayles, the supervisor of the ALDOT work crew to which Phillips and Williams were assigned. All of the individual defendants were sued in both their official capacity and their individual capacity. The families' complaint alleged (1) that Butts had negligently or wantonly authorized the use of ALDOT personnel to demolish the bridge; (2) that Martin had negligently or wantonly allowed ALDOT to use unqualified personnel to demolish the bridge; (3) that the defendants had negligently or wantonly failed to halt the demolition project after discovering that insufficient funds had been allocated to the project; (4) that the defendants had negligently or wantonly hired, trained, and/or supervised the personnel assigned to demolish the bridge; (5) that Bass had negligently or wantonly submitted ALDOT's bid for the project; (6) that Kilpatrick had negligently or wantonly developed the plan to demolish the bridge; (7) that McDuffie, Campbell, and Hayles had negligently or wantonly implemented the plan; and (8) that Kilpatrick, McDuffie, Campbell, and Hayles had negligently or wantonly assumed the duties of a "bridge and/or structural engineer" without proper qualifications.
The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), Ala. R. Civ. P., raising the defenses of sovereign and discretionary-function immunity, now referred to as "stat
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