RHODE ISLAND SUPREME COURT FINDS THAT PUBLIC DUTY DOCTRINE DID NOT APPLY TO DOT EMPLOYEE

The Supreme Court of Rhode Island reversed a Superior Court ruling which was decided in favor of an employee of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation who, as a member of a state highway clean up crew, was the driver of a state owned dump truck which was involved in a fatal accident. The victim's spouse brought suit against the State and lost his initial attempt. Upon taking the case to the State Supreme Court, however, the Court ruled that the public duty rule which requires that the plaintiff show that the employee breached a special duty of care owed to the plaintiff in his or her individual capacity did not apply in this case. Thus, the spouse won the right to another trial. Catone v. Medberry 87-542-Appeal (555A.2d 328 R.I. 1989)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0884612X
• Corporate Authors:

  TranSafety, Incorporated

  5811 Oak Leather Drive
  Burke, VA  United States  22015
• Publication Date: 1990-8

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 1-2
• Serial:
  • TRANSAFETY REPORTER
  • Volume: 8
  • Issue Number: 8
  • Publisher: TranSafety, Incorporated
  • ISSN: 0884-612X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashes; Fatalities; Highway maintenance; Negligence; State departments of transportation
• Geographic Terms: Rhode Island
• Old TRIS Terms: Public duty doctrine
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I73: Traffic Control; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00497220
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 30 1990 12:00AM