George W. Northrup v. Henry J. Witkowski, Jr.

Summary

The court affirmed summary judgment for the municipality and its officials, holding that maintaining and repairing the municipal storm-drainage system was a discretionary governmental function protected by governmental immunity. The controlling inquiry is whether a legal directive prescribed the specific manner in which the defendants had to perform the work; the general ordinance and evidence of an annual maintenance schedule and responses to complaints did not create such a ministerial duty. The court overruled its earlier contrary rule concerning drainage-system maintenance. Ecker, J., dissenting, would have retained that rule and allowed the negligence claims to proceed because the record supported an inference of negligent construction, maintenance, or repair.