Defendant's Attorney: Alabama Attorney General's Office

Description: Montgomery, Alabama civil litigation lawyer represented Plaintiff, who sued Defendants on negligence and intentional bad faith.


Ashley Page Harris appeals from the dismissal of her claims against several people involved with the nurse anesthesia program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Nursing School ("the nursing school"). According to Harris's complaint, she was a student at the nursing school until she was dismissed in August 2016.

Harris sued in the Montgomery Circuit Court three nurses at Baptist South Hospital ("the hospital") in Montgomery who were tasked with providing the nursing school with evaluations of Harris's clinical work at the hospital. She also sued a supervising nurse at the hospital who relayed those evaluations to the nursing school. Finally, she sued four educators and administrators at the nursing school who were involved in the process that resulted in Harris's dismissal from the nursing school. Harris purported to state claims against the defendants in their individual capacities. The trial court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss based on State-agent immunity. In addition, it also concluded that 9 of Harris's 12 counts failed to state claims upon which relief can be granted. As discussed below, we affirm the trial court's judgment with respect to three of the defendants based on State-agent immunity, reverse the trial court's judgment to the extent it held that the remaining defendants are entitled to a judgment in their favor based on State-agent immunity at the motion-to-dismiss stage, and affirm the trial court's judgment to the extent that it concludes that Harris failed to state valid claims in nine of her counts.

Outcome:
We affirm the trial court's judgment to the extent that it dismissed 9 of Harris's 12 counts. We also affirm the trial court's judgment dismissing the claims against defendants McMullan, Tofani, and Hicks -- including two of the negligence counts, which were asserted against only either McMullan or Tofani -- on the basis of State-agent immunity. We reverse the judgment to the extent that it ruled that defendants Taylor, Hammond, Lambert, Woodfin, and Moss are entitled, at the motion-to-dismiss stage, to a dismissal based on State-agent immunity.

AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART; AND REMANDED.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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