Ohio Court of Appeals Confirms Sovereign Immunity Does Not Apply to Municipal Transit Entity as to Operation of Motor Vehicle But Does Insulate Municipality from Suit as to Negligent Hiring, Training, Retention and Supervision

This matter presents the issue of sovereign immunity for a standard motor vehicle accident. 

The Court of Appeals in Ohio made it clear that summary judgment was properly denied because this immunity does not apply to an individual’s negligent operation of a motor vehicle. However, the court did cite to an existing statute and an unambiguous Ohio Supreme Court precedent that a municipality could not be held liable for negligent hiring, training, retention, and supervision as it applied to a matter involving the negligent operation of a motor vehicle. 

This is a benefit to defendants in an ever-increasing plaintiff-friendly atmosphere, where plaintiff attorneys engage in “reptile theory” tactics to portray companies and entities in a bad light for their internal operations, so as to inflame and anger juries. 

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