Sovereign Immunity Precludes Many Valid Lawsuits

Many state, county, and local governments are protected from lawsuits even though their employees may have been extremely negligent in causing severe injuries to innocent citizens. In most instances, the doctrine of sovereign immunity precludes a lawsuit against these entities, unless the governing body, such as the legislature, has waived the protection of sovereign immunity. Even when there has been a waiver, it is generally restricted to a maximun amount of recovery.
For example, in a ruling involving last summers deadly Comair plane crash at Lexington Kentucky, a judge ruled Thursday that the Kentucky airport cannot be sued because it is protected by sovereign immunity as part of the merged Lexington-Fayette County government. This is a severe blow to the airline’s efforts to divide blame and apportion potentially millions of dollars in damages.
Comair had countersued the airport, arguing that it is partially to blame for the crash because of poor runway signs and markings that might have contributed to the pilots trying to depart from a runway that was too short.
In Georgia, the legislature has waived sovereign immunity for injuries caused by state employees, under certain circumstances, up to the limit of one million dollars.