James Weed, Juranda Faith Madson A/k/a Jan Madson, Bruce Senkow, and John Bennett

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court held that state procurement officials are entitled to qualified, rather than absolute, immunity for common-law claims arising from the bid-evaluation process. Applying a three-factor immunity test, the court emphasized the officials' highly restricted discretion, the lack of evidence that they would face frequent tort suits, and the availability of an administrative bid-protest remedy, while concluding that these considerations outweighed the importance of the procurement function. Justice Fabe concurred, stating that an unaddressed exclusive-remedy provision might independently bar the lawsuit.