2005 California Government Code Sections 840-840.6 Article 3. Liability of Public Employees

GOVERNMENT CODE
SECTION 840-840.6

840.  Except as provided in this article, a public employee is not
liable for injury caused by a condition of public property where such
condition exists because of any act or omission of such employee
within the scope of his employment.  The liability established by
this article is subject to any immunity of the public employee
provided by statute and is subject to any defenses that would be
available to the public employee if he were a private person.
840.2.  An employee of a public entity is liable for injury caused
by a dangerous condition of public property if the plaintiff
establishes that the property of the public entity was in a dangerous
condition at the time of the injury, that the injury was proximately
caused by the dangerous condition, that the dangerous condition
created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury which was
incurred, and that either:
   (a) The dangerous condition was directly attributable wholly or in
substantial part to a negligent or wrongful act of the employee and
the employee had the authority and the funds and other means
immediately available to take alternative action which would not have
created the dangerous condition; or
   (b) The employee had the authority and it was his responsibility
to take adequate measures to protect against the dangerous condition
at the expense of the public entity and the funds and other means for
doing so were immediately available to him, and he had actual or
constructive notice of the dangerous condition under Section 840.4 a
sufficient time prior to the injury to have taken measures to protect
against the dangerous condition.
840.4.  (a) A public employee had actual notice of a dangerous
condition within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 840.2 if
he had actual personal knowledge of the existence of the condition
and knew or should have known of its dangerous character.
   (b) A public employee had constructive notice of a dangerous
condition within the meaning of subdivision (b) of Section 840.2 only
if the plaintiff establishes (1) that the public employee had the
authority and it was his responsibility as a public employee to
inspect the property of the public entity or to see that inspections
were made to determine whether dangerous conditions existed in the
public property, (2) that the funds and other means for making such
inspections or for seeing that such inspections were made were
immediately available to the public employee, and (3) that the
dangerous condition had existed for such a period of time and was of
such an obvious nature that the public employee, in the exercise of
his authority and responsibility with due care, should have
discovered the condition and its dangerous character.
840.6.  (a) A public employee is not liable under subdivision (a) of
Section 840.2 for injury caused by a dangerous condition of public
property if he establishes that the act or omission that created the
condition was reasonable.  The reasonableness of the act or omission
that created the condition shall be determined by weighing the
probability and gravity of potential injury to persons and property
foreseeably exposed to the risk of injury against the practicability
and cost of taking alternative action that would not create the risk
of injury or of protecting against the risk of injury.
   (b) A public employee is not liable under subdivision (b) of
Section 840.2 for injury caused by a dangerous condition of public
property if he establishes that the action taken to protect against
the risk of injury created by the condition or the failure to take
such action was reasonable.  The reasonableness of the inaction or
action shall be determined by taking into consideration the time and
opportunity the public employee had to take action and by weighing
the probability and gravity of potential injury to persons and
property foreseeably exposed to the risk of injury against the
practicability and cost of protecting against the risk of such
injury.


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