ANDERSON TOMBLIN, APPELLANT,
v.
TOWN OF PALM BEACH, AND FLORIDA POWER AND LIGHT CO., APPELLEES
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Anderson Tomblin, an employee of a subcontractor, was injured while working on electrical construction in the Town of Palm Beach's right-of-way. The town was granted summary judgment on sovereign immunity grounds, and this appeal affirms that judgment.
The Town of Palm Beach retained sovereign immunity because it acted only in a permit-granting and supervisory capacity rather than engaging in operational activities, and it owed no duty to Tomblin under the circumstances alleged.
[1] A municipality is not liable for injuries sustained by a subcontractor's employee working within a right-of-way when the municipality merely granted a permit and did not…
[2] A municipality owes no duty to warn a subcontractor's employee of dangerous conditions at a construction site within a right-of-way when the municipality only granted a p…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“the Town of Palm Beach did not act in an operational-capacity but only granted a permit and witnessed work by third parties”
Establishes the court's determination that the town's conduct was a planning-level decision protected by sovereign immunity
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Town of Palm Beach granted a permit to construct electrical facilities within its right-of-way. Tomblin, an employee of a subcontractor conducting…
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PER CURIAM.
This appeal arose out of a final judgment entered in favor of the defendant, Town of Palm Beach, following entry of an order which granted the defendant summary judgment.
We affirm the final judgment, and approve and adopt the trial court’s order, which reads, in part:
The Town of Palm Beach granted a permit to construct electrical facilities within the Town’s right-of-way. The Plaintiff, Anderson Tomblin, an employee of a sub-contractor conducting the work pursuant to the permit, alleges he was injured while working for the subcontractor within the Town’s right-of-way. Plaintiff alleges that the Town of Palm Beach is liable for his injuries in that the Town, in granting the permit, did so with modifications to the proposed construction. Plaintiff also alleges that the Town of Palm Beach owed a duty to Plaintiff to keep the right-of-way in a safe condition, and to warn him of dangerous conditions at the construction site. These and other allegations by Plaintiff are apparently intended to show a common law duty owed to Plaintiff, and to show that the actions of the Town of Palm Beach and its ageSts were operational activities which went beyond planning level decisions protected by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Alternatively, Plaintiff suggests that the Town waived its sovereign immunity defense.
After due consideration of the pleadings and the depositions filed, while considering the facts in a light most favorable to the Plaintiff, the Court finds that the Town of Palm Beach did not act in an operational-capacity but only granted a permit and witnessed work by third parties. Further, under the circumstances of this ease as alleged, the Town owed no duty to the Plaintiff, and it did not waive its sovereign immunity. It appearing to the Court that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact as against this Defendant, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that Defendant’s Motion is hereby granted, and Summary Judgment entered in favor of the Defendant, Town of Palm Beach. Trianon Park Condominium v. City of Hialeah, 468 So. 2d 912 (Fla.1985); Alderman v. Lamar, 493 So. 2d 495 (Fla 5 DCA 1986).
ANSTEAD, GLICKSTEIN and GARRETT, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Trianon Park Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. City OF Hialeah, 468 So. 2d 912 (Fla. 1985)
- Alderman v. Lawson Lamar, 493 So. 2d 495 (Fla. 5th DCA 1986)