Brown & Gay Engineering, Inc. v. Zuleima Olivares, Individually and as the Representative of the Estate of Pedro Olivares, Jr., & Pedro Olivares

in which Justice Green, Justice Johnson, Justice Boyd, and Justice Devine joined.

The doctrine of sovereign immunity bars suit against the government absent legislative consent. In this case, a private engineering firm lawfully contracted with a governmental unit to design and construct a roadway, and a third party sued the firm for negligence in carrying out its responsibilities. The firm filed a plea to the jurisdiction seeking the same sovereign-immunity protection that the governmental unit would enjoy had it performed the work itself. The trial court granted the plea, but the court of…