Jackson v. Daley11/19/1998
e we reverse the trial court, and dismiss the suit against U.S.F.&G;
. DIRECT APPEAL: AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED AND RENDERED IN PART; CROSS APPEAL: REVERSED AND RENDERED.
PRATHER, C.J., SULLIVAN AND PITTMAN, P.JJ., BANKS, ROBERTS, SMITH AND WALLER, JJ., CONCUR. McRAE, J., DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION.
McRAE, JUSTICE, DISSENTING:
. The majority unnecessarily discusses issues that are not relevant to the Disposition of this case, including jury instructions and closing arguments. It further errs in concluding that the trial court made a proper determination regarding the connection between the use of the county dump truck and Bryan Jackson*s death. I also disagree with the majority*s Conclusion that sovereign immunity is applicable both to individual county officials and Jefferson Davis County itself. Accordingly, I Dissent.
I.
.There is no question that the purchase of insurance by a municipality, county or other political subdivision of the State of Mississippi operates as a waiver of sovereign immunity to the extent of insurance carried. Morgan v. City of Ruleville, 627 So. 2d 275, 280 (Miss. 1993). While individual members of the Board of Supervisors of Jefferson Davis County directed county employee to use trucks to dump dirt on the road where Jackson*s accident occurred, these employees were the agents of the County. The policy purchased by Jefferson Davis County, then, covers the acts of individual county employees.
. Despite this Court*s numerous statements that the revival of common law by reference in Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-6 is unconstitutional and wrong, see, e.g., Hord v. Yazoo City, 702 So. 2d 121, 123 (Miss. 1997); Gressett v. Newton Separate Municipal School District, 697 So. 2d 444, 445 (Miss. 1997); Stokes v. Kemper County Bd. of Supervisors, 691 So. 2d 391, 393 (Miss. 1997); Mohundro v. Alcorn County, 675 So. 2d 848, 851 (Miss. 1996), the majority continues to insist that Miss. Code Ann. § 11-46-6 is a valid statute and attempts to apply pre-Pruett law to the instant case. Sovereign immunity may not be invoked in defense of grossly negligent acts. Mohundro v. Alcorn County, 675 So. 2d 848, 854 (Miss. 1996). Here, Jefferson Davis County*s act of dumping dirt with no warning is grossly negligent and goes against the grain of our statutory standards. See Lee County Bd of Supervisors v. Fortune, 611 So. 2d 927, 929 (Miss. 1992)(affirming circuit court*s finding that if Board of Supervisors breached its duty in failing to comply with bridge standards set forth in Miss. Code Ann. § 65-21 -1, it could not claim sovereign immunity); see generally Miss. Code Ann. § 65-7-7 (1991)(prohibiting obstruction of public highways, roads and ditches). Accordingly, the immunity defense is not available either to Jefferson Davis County or to the individual members of the Board of Supervisors. It is of interest that the Fortune opinion addressed but did not decide the issue of the "created danger" doctrine raised by Fortune. Fortune, 611 So. 2d at 930 (quoting Bailey Drainage District v. Stark, 526 So. 2d 678, 680-681 (Fla. 1988)).
II.
.The county employees were responsible to take reasonable care of the road and warn drivers if the dirt piles were hazardous. The majority correctly notes that the chain of causation must not only be direct, but also have as its initial link the operation of the truck. National Mutual Casualty Co. v. Clark, 193 Miss. 27, 40, 7 So. 2d 800, 803 (1942). However, this Court cannot simply declare, as a matter of law, that there could not have been a direct link between the operation of the truck and Bryan Jackson*s death. Any question as to whether the neg
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