Georgia case law and legal news
Edited By George Washington

The Atlanta Gleaner.

November 29, 2022.

Ramos v. Owens, No. A22A1409, 2022 WL 17088528 (Ga. Ct. App. Nov. 21, 2022)
#personal injury #jail inmate #sovereign immunity
Former inmate Michael Ramos sued Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens in his official capacity asserting claims of negligence and seeking to recover for injuries sustained while performing landscape duties as part of inmate work detail at the county detention center. The State Court, Cobb County granted sheriff's motion to dismiss complaint on sovereign immunity grounds. Inmate appealed. AFFIRMED.

The Court of Appeals held:

1 sheriff did not waive sovereign immunity, and

2 standard under statute governing motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim did not apply to require discovery to identify any relevant insurance policies purchased by sheriff.

While Ramos was an inmate at the Cobb County Detention Center, he was injured when he was assigned to an inmate work detail performing landscaping duties. Allegedly, Ramos was not provided with appropriate footwear, he fell down an embankment and suffered injuries to his knee that required hospital visits and eventual surgery.

Ramos's argued Owens waived sovereign immunity by the purchase of insurance coverage for claims arising out of negligence of his deputies for failing to provide the proper equipment. However, sovereign immunity can only be waived by the General Assembly. Ramos’ theory of waiver by purchasing insurance did not entitle him to discovery.

Rodriguez v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., No. A22A1361, 2022 WL 16644492 (Ga. Ct. App. Nov. 3, 2022)
#personal injury #perfecting service #COVID-19 #uninsured motorist claims
Moises Rodriguez sued Tiara Stinson, an uninsured motorist, for injuries he sustained in a motor vehicle collision on August 9, 2019. Rodriguez filed his complaint on July 2, 2021. Rodriguez also served his UIM carrier, State Farm Insurance Company.

After filing, Rodriguez hired a private process server to serve Stinson. In mid-August, 2021, when the process server was unable to locate Stinson at two different addresses, Rodriguez employed a private investigations company. Stinson confirmed with the investigator, via telephone, that she resided at a particular address in Rex, Georgia. The process server made numerous unsuccessful attempts at the address during late August and September and informed Rodriguez's counsel in late September that a hostile resident of the address had threatened the process server during one of the attempts.

In October 2021, the process server attempted to schedule an appointment with Stinson, who had a mobile hairstyling service. Stinson neither answered nor returned the process server's calls, so the process server again attempted service at Stinson's residence, making several more attempts between October 31 and November 28, 2021. During these attempts the process server observed on occasion vehicles at the residence that the process server previously had identified as belonging to Stinson.

On December 9, 2021, the statute of limitation expired. It was not until January 4, 2022 that counsel for Rodriguez instructed the process server's employer to continue attempting service. Rodriguez argued COVID-19 caused the gap.

On January 21, 2022, State Farm filed a motion to dismiss, arguing Rodriguez had not exercised the greatest possible diligence to serve Stinson after the statute of limitation expired. The process server made additional unsuccessful attempts at service during the months of January and February. On February 4, 2022, Rodriguez filed a motion for service by publication, and on February 22, 2022, he filed a brief in opposition to State Farm's motion to dismiss, arguing that he had used the greatest possible diligence in effecting service. On March 3, 2022, a different process server succeeded in personally serving Stinson at her residence.

The State Court, DeKalb County, granted State Farm’s motion to dismiss because under these facts the plaintiff did not act with enough due diligence to perfect service as quickly as possible after the statute of limitation expired. AFFIRMED.