Turner v. Dept. of Transportation

• Court: Oregon Supreme Court
• Area(s) of Law: Civil Procedure
• Date Filed: 05-26-2016
• Case #: S063319
• Judge(s)/Court Below: Nakamoto, J., En Banc

Where a discretionary immunity defense is given by a government agency, alternatives to the agency's actions are a matter of material fact.

Plaintiff appeals a granting of summary judgment to the Oregon Dept. of Transportation (ODOT) on the grounds that failing to mitigate a hazardous traffic area was a discretionary policy subject to immunity. ODOT argued that it used a system to determine the level of hazard each traffic area posed, and only allocated resources to the top five percent most dangerous intersections, making this a discretionary policy. The Court held that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to ODOT because the question of alternative funding was a genuine issue of material fact. The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed in part and reversed in part, and the case is remanded to the circuit court. The decision of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.

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