Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
An Indiana man who claims a Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) error cost him a job opportunity, over $1,000 in fines and a night in jail can’t sue for damages, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Monday.
“This case requires us to determine whether the Legislature intended to confer on Indiana’s more than 4.5 million licensed drivers a right to sue the BMV when damages allegedly result from inaccurate records,” the decision said. “Though the Legislature often enacts statutes imposing duties on private persons and governmental entities alike, we recognize a private right of action only when a statute was intended to create one. And we will not infer such intent if a statute contains an independent enforcement mechanism or primarily protects the public at large.”
The ruling, written by Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush, said the General Assembly created a material error review process to correct inaccurate driving records — without awarding damages.
Chris Kelly, a Marion County resident, was pulled over in August 2020 for two “minor traffic infractions,” as outlined in a January 2023 complaint. A Marion County prosecutor twice sent SR16 records to the BMV to delete his related conviction and restore Kelly’s driving privileges around November of 2020 and February of 2021.
Still, law enforcement pulled Kelly over multiple times and the suspended license showed up on Kelly’s record, costing him a job for an outside sales position. Kelly reported paying more than $1,000 in tickets, at least 30 calls to the BMV alongside letters, emails and an in-person visit.
“(The BMV) breached the duty of care they are required to provide,” concluded Kelly’s complaint. “This has caused the plaintiff to not be able to work in his industry since 2020. Plaintiff cannot work in his field due to negligence of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.”
As summarized by his counsel, Daniel K. Burke told the Indiana Supreme Court in March that there is an implied right to sue in law. If there isn’t, he said Kelly has no remedy. But lawyers for the state urged dismissal of the case, as a trial court judge had done earlier. The Indiana Court of Appeals had ruled that Kelly qualified for judicial relief.
The court ruling said the legislature sometimes does create a private right of action to sue with very clear language, but that isn’t the situation here.
“We do not condone the BMV’s alleged failings in this case. But as we have never recognized a common-law duty in these circumstances and Kelly has not established one exists under the Webb test, we decline to find such a duty here. Kelly has therefore failed to show he has a legally actionable common-law negligence claim,” the majority of justices ruled.
Justice Christopher Goff wrote a dissenting opinion in which he said the statute imposes a duty on the BMV to maintain records for each “individual” licensed, suggesting it owes a duty to those individuals rather than the public in general.
“Despite repeated requests, the BMV failed to correct the error in Kelly’s driving record. This failure foreseeably caused Kelly harm, including a lost job opportunity. At this early stage, Kelly has alleged sufficient facts for his negligence case to proceed,” he said.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.