City of Lincoln v. County of Lancaster

Summary

The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for Lancaster County in the City of Lincoln's action seeking reimbursement for workers' compensation expenses arising from a deputy sheriff's intentional physical contact with a city police officer. The court held that the claim arose from a battery, which was not an accidental occurrence covered by the County's liability insurance policy, and therefore the County's purchase of insurance did not waive governmental immunity under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-916. The court declined to decide whether immunity would be waived for claims falling within the policy's retained limit.

Holdings

1. The claim arose from a battery because the deputy's harmful physical contact was intentional, and the City did not properly assign and argue a challenge to that characterization on appeal.
2. The County's procurement of liability insurance did not waive sovereign immunity for the City's battery claim because the claim was not covered by the policy.
3. The policy's personal-injury coverage did not cover the battery claim.
4. The court declined to decide categorically whether insurance waives immunity when a claim falls within a policy's retained limit or self-insured retention.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the district court erred in granting the County summary judgment.
2. Whether the City's claim arose from a battery and was therefore within the intentional-torts exception to the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act.
3. Whether the County's procurement of liability insurance waived sovereign immunity under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 13-916 for the battery claim.
4. Whether the insurance policy covered the claim as an occurrence or as personal injury.

Disposition

affirmed