holding that a cause of action against Wake County as a subordinate division of the State must be brought before the Industrial Commission under the Tort Claims Act
How later courts described this case
- holding that a cause of action against Wake County as a subordinate division of the State must be brought before the Industrial Commission under the Tort Claims Act
Written by the judges who cited it.
Distinguished
Distinguished by Gammons v. North Carolina Department of Human Resources, 119 N.C. App. 589 (1995)
Defendant argues that this Court is not bound by the Coleman decision because the present case is factually distinguishable and because the DHR was not a party in Coleman.
The opinion
Judge ARNOLD
concurring in the result.
In regard to defendant Cooper, while I agree that we are bound by the result of the Court’s prior panel on the question of this defendant’s liability, I strongly question the reasoning of that prior decision. Its anomalous rationale appears to allow a *659 claim against an employee in an individual capacity while conferring immunity from liability in a governmental capacity. Defendant’s actions were clearly within this scope.
In addition to the above, parents “have the duty to take every step reasonably possible under the circumstances ... to prevent harm to their children.” Coleman v. Cooper, 89 N.C. App. 188, 198-99 , 366 S.E.2d 2, 9 , disc. review denied, 322 N.C. 834 , 371 S.E.2d 275 (1988) (citing State v. Walden, 306 N.C. 466, 475 , 293 S.E.2d 780, 786 (1982)). Failure to perform this duty is negligence. From the forecast of evidence before us plaintiff was contributorily negligent as a matter of law.