The court has described an official's duty as ministerial "when it is absolute, certain and imperative, involving merely execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts." Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937) (citations omitted). Under these standards, the decision to remove an unclassified policy-making employee, who may be discharged at any time without reason, is discretionary rather than ministerial.
Wiederholt v. City of Minneapolis, 581 N.W.2d 312, 315 (Minn. 1998) (quoting Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937) (citation omitted)). Thus, in Wiederholt we held that a city sidewalk inspector's duty was ministerial when a city ordinance established "fixed and designated facts," i.e., that protrusion of any sidewalk slab more than one inch above the adjacent slab would require immediate repair.
As noted previously, a ministerial duty is “simple and definite, leaving nothing to the discretion of the official.” Kelly, 598 N.W.2d at 664 (citing Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937)). In Thompson v. City of Minneapolis, 707 N.W.2d 669 (Minn.2006), we held that a policy similar to the Hennepin County policy at issue here created a ministerial duty.
" Id. A ministerial act is one that is "`absolute, certain and imperative, involving merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts.'" Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937) (quoting People v. May, 251 Ill. 54, 95 N.E. 999, 1000 (1911)). A ministerial duty leaves nothing to discretion; it is "`a simple, definite duty arising under and because of stated conditions.'"
A ministerial act, in contrast, is "`absolute, certain, and imperative, involving merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts.'" Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937) (quoting People v. May, 251 Ill. 54, 95 N.E. 999, 1000 (1911)). In order to determine whether the conflicting accounts of the officers' conduct raise a genuine issue of material fact regarding the officers' official immunity, we first must determine "`the precise governmental conduct at issue.'"
In contrast, a ministerial duty is one in which nothing is left to discretion; it is "absolute, certain, and imperative, involving merely execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts." Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937) (citation omitted). When the job is "simple and definite" and therefore "clearly ministerial," the public employee is not entitled to official immunity.
This court has defined a ministerial duty as "absolute, certain, and imperative, involving merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts." Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937); see, e.g., Larson v. Independent Sch. Dist. No. 314, 289 N.W.2d 112, 120-21 (Minn. 1979) (supervising and teaching a gymnastics exercise a ministerial duty); Williamson v. Cain, 310 Minn. 59, 245 N.W.2d 242, 244 (1976) (dismantling an abandoned house a ministerial duty).
Nevertheless, some basic principles emerge from the cases. In Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937), this court explained that "[o]fficial duty is ministerial when it is absolute, certain and imperative, involving merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts." Applying this principle, state employees did not perform a discretionary act when they removed an abandoned house with a tractor in Williamson v. Cain, 310 Minn. 59, 61, 245 N.W.2d 242, 244 (1976).
A ministerial act is one that is "absolute, certain and imperative, involving merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts." Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937) (quotation omitted). Such an act leaves nothing to discretion; it is "a simple, definite duty arising under and because of stated conditions."
A ministerial act, in contrast, is an act taken pursuant to a duty that is ""absolute, certain, and imperative, involving merely the execution of a specific duty arising from fixed and designated facts.'" Cook v. Trovatten, 200 Minn. 221, 224, 274 N.W. 165, 167 (1937) (quoting People v. May, 251 Ill. 54, 57, 95 N.E. 999, 1000 (1911)). A government official is not protected by immunity when he or she fails to perform a ministerial act or when his or her performance of a discretionary act is willful or malicious.