Copeland v. Housing Authority of Spartanburg

Littlejohn, Chief Justice:

The plaintiff-respondent, Peggy Copeland, brings this action against The Housing Authority of Spartanburg, South Carolina. She alleges that she is entitled to recover damages because of the negligence of the defendant in failing to repair a gas furnace which emitted flames causing her furniture to be burned. The trial judge overruled the Demurrer of the City in effect overruling the doctrine of sovereign immunity. We reverse.

We hold that this doctrine of sovereign immunity is still applicable in South Carolina. If the law is to be changed, such change should come from the legislature. We reaffirmed this doctrine in Belue v. The City of Spartanburg, 276 S. C. 381, 280 S. E. (2d) 49 (1981). The Demurrer should have been sustained and the order of the lower court is

Reversed.

Gregory, J., and J. Woodrow Lewis, as Acting Associate Justice, concur.