Opinion
No. 79-1235.
Submitted October 9, 1979.
Decided October 17, 1979.
Phillip H. McMath, Little Rock, Ark., and Nat P. Ozmon, Chicago, Ill., on brief, for appellant.
R. Jack Magruder, III, City Atty., Robert T. Taylor, Lester A. McKinley, and Carolyn B. Witherspoon, Asst. City Attys., Little Rock, Ark., William Fleming, Arkansas Municipal League, on brief, for appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Before LAY, HEANEY and HENLEY, Circuit Judges.
Katherine Lumpkin appeals from the District Court's dismissal of her tort complaint against the City of Little Rock, Arkansas. She contends that the District Court erred in holding that the municipality is immune from suit under Arkansas law. Her complaint in this diversity action states that she was severely burned in 1958 by the City's negligent placement of "smudge pots" containing hot oil near her home. The City moved to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). The District Court issued a memorandum and order dismissing the complaint because, under Arkansas law on the date of the injury, tort actions against cities were barred by the doctrine of municipal immunity. We affirm the District Court's dismissal on the basis of its memorandum.
Plaintiff, who was three years old at the time of her injury, filed her complaint the day before her twenty-first birthday.
Honorable G. Thomas Eisele, Judge, United States District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas, Western Division.
The parties agreed that Arkansas law was applicable to the action.
Lumpkin also challenges the constitutionality of the Arkansas sovereign immunity doctrine. We find no merit in the challenge.
The order of the District Court is affirmed.