Chapter 12 - § 12.5 • GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 12.5 • GOVERNMENTAL IMMUNITY

While there is virtually no case law in Colorado where product liability claims were asserted against a governmental entity, such claims are not beyond the realm of possibility. A governmental entity may well be a manufacturer under some circumstances.⁴⁰

Colorado has a Governmental Immunity Act, which provides complete immunity to public entities from any lawsuits "for injury which lie[s] in tort or could lie in tort,"⁴¹ unless the public entity waives the immunity in one of several specifically enumerated manners.⁴² There is a pre-suit notice requirement,⁴³ and damages are capped.⁴⁴

With regards to claims against the federal government, under the Federal Tort Claims Act,⁴⁵ the federal government waives its sovereign immunity for tort claims,⁴⁶ but federal district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over such claims,⁴⁷ and there are a number of exceptions to the broad waiver of immunity.⁴⁸ The full details of governmental immunity law, both at the state and federal level, are beyond the scope of this book.

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Notes:

^[40] See Shaw v. City of Colorado Springs, 683 P.2d 385 (Colo. App. 1984) (in case not referencing governmental immunity, plaintiff sued the City of Colorado Springs for product liability, and the court found the City of Colorado Springs was a "manufacturer"; however the City of Colorado Springs was immune under the workers' compensation statute).

^[41] C.R.S. § 24-10-106(1).

^[42] C.R.S. §§ 24-10-106(1)(a) through (h).

^[43] C.R.S. § 24-10-109.

^[44] C.R.S. § 24-10-114.

^[45] 28 U.S.C. §§ 1346(b) and 2671, et seq.

^[46] 28 U.S.C. § 2674.

^[47] 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)(1).

^[48] 28 U.S.C. § 2680; see also Millbrook v. United States, 133 S. Ct. 1441, 1442 (2013) (for a general overview of the Federal Tort Claims Act); In re Swine Flu Immunization Products Liab. Litig., 533 F. Supp. 567 (D. Colo. 1980) (addressing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act and the Swine Flu Act).