United States Ninth Circuit

Summary judgment for defendant-city in an action seeking to hold the Alaskan city liable for injuries caused by the negligence of a tribal police officer is affirmed, where: 1) under Alaska state law, an employee's immunity from tort liability precludes an employer from being held vicariously liable for the employee's negligence; 2) the tribal officer was immune from individual liability for plaintiffs' tort claims, both under the Federal Tort Claims Act and the tribe's sovereign immunity; and thus, 3) because plaintiffs sought to hold defendant-city vicariously liable on a non-delegable duty theory for the negligent conduct of an immune independent contractor, plaintiffs’ claims against defendant-city failed.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/01/2013
• Published 07/01/2013

Judges

• SMITH

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel