MTAS Publications: Technical Bulletins

Document Type

Bulletin

Publication Date

1-10-1990

Abstract

Under the Tennessee Tort Liability Act municipalities are liable for the negligence of their employees, with some exceptions. One of those exceptions is "discretionary functions" (Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) 29-20-205). However, the act does not define that term. The Tennessee Supreme Court recently grappled with both a definition and application of the term in Gordon, et al. v. City of Henderson, 766 S.W.2d 784 (1988). Although that case involved the delivery of municipal fire services, it contains some language that should cause Tennessee municipalities to look closely at the way they deliver all public safety services.

Comments

The MTAS publications provided on this website are archival documents intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as authoritative. The content contained in these publications may be outdated, and the laws referenced therein may have changed or may not be applicable to your city or circumstances. For current information, please visit the MTAS website at: http://mtas.tennessee.edu

Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS