AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Raleigh is appealing a judge’s decision in a suit against the city for the death of 11-year-old Hailey Brooks in the 2022 Raleigh Christmas Parade.
Read more UNC DC Steve Belichick on medical leave as Tar Heels build toward season opener
Last month, Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins denied a motion by the city to be dismissed from the case.
On July 28, the city appealed that decision, according to court records.
Collins ordered a pause in proceedings in the lawsuit — which targets the city of Raleigh, parade presenter Shop Local Raleigh, one current and one former city employee — while the appeal plays out.
Whitney Schoenfeld, the city’s senior manager in its Office of Special Events, and Kirk Archer II, a special events planner with the city in 2022 who now works for the city of Durham, are also appealing Collins’ decision refusing to dismiss them from the suit last month.
The lawsuit, first filed around three years ago, seeks both compensatory and punitive damages each “in an amount to be determined at trial, in excess of $25,000.00” as well as legal costs, funeral costs, Hailey Brooks’ healthcare costs and more.
The city of Raleigh, as of early July, had paid almost $23,000 for legal costs related to the case. That figure does not include the pay of city attorneys.
Landen Glass, who was driving a pickup truck in the parade, struck and killed Brooks and pleaded guilty last year to charges in her death.
Brooks’ family targeted Shop Local Raleigh, Glass, the city and others in a wrongful death lawsuit. Since filing the lawsuit, the family has settled with several parties, including Glass and a parade float company.
Read more Miss North Carolina USA stripped of title. CEO alludes to hate language.
The city and both employees involved in the suit asked to be dismissed in 2025.
The city’s attorneys had previously argued that Raleigh had “governmental immunity” while planning for safety and crowd control at the parade.
But the court found that “the City was engaging in a proprietary function with regard to the Christmas parade at issue and therefore does not have governmental immunity,” Collins wrote in a memorandum sent on May 26.
Proprietary functions are “activities that could just as easily be performed by a private entity, generally benefit a specific group of users, or charge fees,” according to the UNC School of Government.
Governmental activities like police and fire protection, on the other hand, are done for the public good on behalf of the state.
There is no timeline for the appeal process indicated in online court records.
Even if the city, Schoenfeld and Archer II were dismissed from the suit, it would continue against Shop Local Raleigh.
While a trial was scheduled for November, the pause on proceedings may change those dates.
Read more A deadly, ‘superbug’ fungus is spreading in NC — again. What’s Candida auris?