Estate of Gage v. State

¶ 1. This appeal requires us to determine whether the discretionary function exception to the Vermont Tort Claims Act applies to immunize the State of Vermont from a negligence action arising out of an incident in which a vehicle left the roadway, flipped over a guardrail, rolled down an embankment, and landed in a brook, resulting in several drowning deaths. The State contends the decision whether to remove or guard against the drowning hazard involved policy considerations of the kind the discretionary function exception was designed to shield from suit. We agree, and therefore reverse the…