Court allows property damage claim to go to jury where Defendants evicted wrong tenant
Julius Ward had the great misfortune of living next to a tenant who was evicted from his apartment for non-payment of rent. When authorities executed the eviction procedure, they mistakenly removed Ward's possessions from his apartment, damaged them by putting them in a dumpster, and then hauled them away. Ward sued for gross negligence.
The Defendants argued that Ward had not demonstrated "gross negligence" and therefore they were entitled to governmental immunity for their errors in enforcing the eviction order. The Court of Appeals upheld the trial court's decision that Ward had shown enough evidence of gross negligence to have his claim decided by a jury.