Giannoni v. Commissioner of Transportation

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of the Commissioner's motion to dismiss, holding that the allegations and record could support a claim under the state highway-defect statute despite sovereign immunity. A jury could find that the injured bicyclist remained a traveler on the highway when he moved onto the sidewalk to avoid traffic and that the culvert was a highway defect because the sidewalk led directly to it and the state reasonably should have anticipated that travelers might encounter the area. The court concluded that unresolved factual issues made dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction premature.