Annual Report 2012 - Alaska Department of Law

Torts and Worker’s Compensation
The Torts and Worker’s Compensation Section defends the State, state
agencies and state employees against tort claims before the courts
and represents the State as an employer before the Alaska Worker’s
Compensation Board. The tort claims handled by the section range from
personal injury, to property damage, to civil rights. The section’s cases
can have far-reaching consequences, as illustrated by the Alaska Supreme
Court’s decision last year in State, DOC v. Heisey.
Challenges to AS 09.50.253 –
Certification of State Employees
• AS 09.50.253 provides for
substitution of the State as a party
in place of individual state employee
defendants in certain litigation.
• Under this statute, if a state
employee is sued and the Attorney
General certifies that the employee
was acting within the scope of
employment, the employee is
dismissed from the case and the
State is substituted as the defendant
for all state law claims. The State’s
defenses then apply to those claims.
• In March 2012, the Alaska Supreme
Court issued its long-awaited opinion
on legal challenges to Attorney
General certification decisions in
State, DOC v. Heisey. As anticipated,
the court held that these decisions
are judicially reviewable.
• The court also held that the Attorney
General’s certification is presumed
to be valid, and placed the burden
on the plaintiff to prove that the
employee’s conduct was not in the
scope of employment. The State
prevailed on other collateral issues
and the case returned to the trial
court for further litigation.
• The Heisey standard has been
applied in several legal challenges
to Attorney General certification last
year. To date, the State has prevailed
in every case, with the courts
upholding the State’s substitution in
place of the state employee involved.
Annual Report 2012 ~ Alaska Department of Law 17