§662-2 - Waiver and liability of State.

§662-2  Waiver and liability of State. 
The State hereby waives its immunity for liability for the torts of its
employees and shall be liable in the same manner and to the same extent as a
private individual under like circumstances, but shall not be liable for
interest prior to judgment or for punitive damages. [L 1957, c 312, pt of §1;
Supp, §245A-2; HRS §662-2; am L 1972, c 164, §2(a)]

Attorney General Opinions

  State liable for torts of volunteers working for state
agencies.  Att. Gen. Op. 85-8.

Law Journals and Reviews

  Punitive Damages in Hawaii:  Curbing Unwarranted Expansion. 
13 UH L. Rev. 659.

  Fido Seeks Full Membership In The Family:  Dismantling The
Property Classification of Companion Animals By Statute.  25 UH L. Rev. 481.

Case Notes

  Consent to suit in federal court; waiver of immunity in this
section is not just a waiver to actions in state courts.  512 F. Supp. 889.

  Where plaintiffs argued that State waived its Eleventh
Amendment immunity through the enactment of §353-14 and the State's Tort Claims
Act [sic], this section and §663-1, no express consent or applicable waiver
provisions found.  940 F. Supp. 1523.

  Section 661-1 and this section did not constitute a waiver of
defendants' Eleventh Amendment immunity where plaintiffs contended that
defendants' failure to provide sufficient Hawaiian language in Hawaii's public
schools violated state and federal laws.  951 F. Supp. 1484.

  State must exercise same standard of care required of private
party.  51 H. 150, 454 P.2d 112.

  Prohibition against payment of interest "prior to
judgment" construed.  52 H. 156, 472 P.2d 509.

  State's duty to maintain safe roads; no obligation to make
35- miles-per-hour highway safe for cars exceeding 40 miles.  54 H. 548, 511
P.2d 1087.

  State's duty to construct and maintain safe highways; no
obligation to guard against unusual accidents.  57 H. 405, 557 P.2d 125.

  Negligent operation of automobile by escapee of state
hospital held not a foreseeable consequence of the negligence which permitted
the escape.  59 H. 515, 583 P.2d 980.

  Assumption of risk is applicable for failure to provide a
safe working place only in cases of voluntary employment and does not apply to
prison laborers.  The State owes a duty to protect prisoners from unreasonable
risk of physical harm.  60 H. 557, 592 P.2d 820.

  This act did not waive sovereign immunity from suits for
money damages for constitutional rights.  61 H. 369, 604 P.2d 1198.

  Duty owed by State to public school students during required
attendance entails general supervision unless specific needs or dangerous
situation require specific supervision.  62 H. 483, 616 P.2d 1376.

  Negligent infliction of mental distress.  Death of family
dog.  63 H. 557, 632 P.2d 1066.

  Reconstruction or replacement of Moanalua stream bridge would
involve evaluation of broad policy factors, and therefore was discretionary
function.  66 H. 76, 655 P.2d 877.

  Based on State's knowledge of defective guardrail, danger it
posed to a driver and passengers who struck it, and the opportunity to improve
it, trial court did not err in concluding that State breached its duty of care
in failing to design, construct, and/or maintain--which includes a duty to "correct"
defects in--the highway and guardrail.  91 H. 60, 979 P.2d 1086.

  Where prior accident gave State reasonable prior notice of a
prior occurrence under similar circumstances, State had made improvements to
highway in vicinity of guardrail, and had knowledge of potential ramping
problems associated with guardrail, intoxicated driver's reckless actions were "reasonably
foreseeable" and thus not the sole legal cause of plaintiff's injuries and
damages.  91 H. 60, 979 P.2d 1086.

  This section provides in clear and unambiguous language that
the State shall not be liable for interest prior to judgment and constitutes a
plain reservation of immunity with respect to pre-judgment interest on
judgments rendered against the State.  As no other statute unequivocally
expresses a clear relinquishment of the State's immunity from awards of pre-judgment
interest, trial court did not err in concluding that the State is immune from
paying pre-judgment interest on the damages for which it is liable.  105 H.
104, 94 P.3d 659.

  Where, assuming that the department of human services had a
legal duty to protect minor, as plaintiffs alleged that it did, a "special
relation" would exist between the department and the minor such that the
department’s duty would encompass a duty to prevent further physical harm to
minor upon reports of physical abuse; thus, where plaintiffs met their burden
of demonstrating the existence of a private analog in the form of a "special
relationship" that satisfied the necessary elements under Restatement
(Second) of Torts §315(b), plaintiffs met the threshold requirement of a claim
against the department.  117 H. 262, 178 P.3d 538.

Hawaii Legal Reporter Citations

  Youth correctional facility.  77-1 HLR 77-267.

  School premises.  78-1 HLR 77-1239.

  Roadway defect.  80-2 HLR 800964.

  Shore waters.  81-1 HLR 810419.