Ex Parte Franklin Cnty Dept of Human Resources

The Franklin County Department of Human Resources, after having been denied relief in the Court of Civil Appeals,1 petitioned this Court for a writ of mandamus and for an immediate stay of an order issued by Judge John D. Jolly, of the 34th Judicial Circuit. Judge Jolly’s order had held that the Franklin County Department of Human Resources was not constitutionally immune from a suit brought by Alan Rorer.

Alan Rorer had filed a counterclaim against the Department, alleging that the Department and certain fictitiously named Department employees had “maliciously, willfully and/or wantonly…