Sovereign Immunity

What Is Sovereign Immunity?

Sovereign immunity is a bar to suit, not just a defense on the facts. When it applies, a court dismisses the claim without deciding whether the government employee was careless. The doctrine covers the State itself, its departments, institutions, and agencies, and, in the form called governmental immunity, local governments carrying out public functions.

Immunity is waived only where the law clearly says so. In North Carolina the main waivers for injury claims are the State Tort Claims Act for state agencies and the insurance statutes for cities and counties. Each waiver comes with its own conditions, and a claim that does not fit within them remains barred.

How Does The North Carolina Tort Claims Act Waive Sovereign Immunity?

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-291 makes the North Carolina Industrial Commission a court for tort claims against state departments, institutions, and agencies. The claim must arise from the negligence of a state officer, employee, or agent acting within the scope of their work, in circumstances where the State would be liable if it were a private person. There is no jury. The Commission hears the evidence and decides the claim, and the Act is the exclusive remedy and forum for negligence claims against the State.

The deadline is in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-299: a claim must be filed with the Industrial Commission within three years after it accrues, or within two years after the death in a wrongful death claim. Damages are limited. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-299.2, the most the State may pay to all claimants for injury and damage to any one person arising out of one occurrence is $1,000,000. The Act is written for claims of negligence by state employees acting within the scope of their work.

When Can You Sue A North Carolina City Or County?

Local governments are protected by governmental immunity when the activity that caused the injury was a governmental function, meaning one that is discretionary, political, legislative, or public in nature and performed for the public good. They are not immune for proprietary functions, which are commercial activities or those carried on chiefly for the private advantage of the community, much as a private business would. Which category an activity falls into is decided case by case and is often the first fight in a claim against a town or county.

Even for governmental functions, immunity can be waived by insurance. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 160A-485, a city waives its immunity from tort liability by purchasing liability insurance or joining a local government risk pool, but only to the extent the insurance covers the claim, and no judgment may exceed the policy limits. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 153A-435 applies the same rule to counties. The practical first step in any such claim is finding out what coverage the local government carries and what the policy excludes.

• State agency or employee: Tort Claims Act claim before the Industrial Commission.
• City or county, governmental function: immune unless insurance or a risk pool covers the claim.
• City or county, proprietary function: no governmental immunity; ordinary negligence rules apply.
• Federal agency or employee: federal law controls, with its own claim procedure.

Does Contributory Negligence Apply To Sovereign Immunity Claims In North Carolina?

Yes, and the Tort Claims Act says so directly. The Commission may award damages only if it finds the state employee’s negligence was the proximate cause of the injury and that there was no contributory negligence on the part of the claimant. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-299.1 treats contributory negligence as a defense and puts the burden of proving it on the state agency, the same allocation that applies to private defendants.

So a claim against the government has to clear every hurdle an ordinary North Carolina injury claim does, plus the immunity questions. The injured person must show negligence, must not have contributed to the injury through their own negligence, must file in the right forum on time, and may recover only up to the statutory or policy limit.

What Should You Do After An Accident Involving A Government Vehicle Or Property?

Identify the government body precisely. A crash with a state Department of Transportation truck, a county sheriff’s cruiser, a city sanitation vehicle, and a public school bus can each lead to a different forum and a different set of limits, and the name on the side of the vehicle is not always the legal owner. Report the incident, get the crash report, and photograph the vehicle or the hazard.

Then act early. These claims have traps that ordinary claims do not: filing in superior court when the claim belongs before the Industrial Commission, or assuming a city has waived immunity when its policy excludes the claim. A lawyer who handles North Carolina injury claims can sort out the forum and the coverage well before the deadline.