Governmental legal protections offered through sovereign immunity won’t get the Georgia Department of Transportation off the hook after its eminent domain installation of a highway allegedly caused a Ware County woman’s land to flood.

In a decision from the Supreme Court of Georgia Tuesday, the high court greenlit property owner Cathy Mixon’s legal pursuit of damages and an injunction against the state’s transportation department, after determining a just-compensation provision waiver to sovereign immunity applied.

Justice Nels Peterson, Supreme Court of Georgia. (Photo: John Disney/ALM) Justice Nels Peterson, Supreme Court of Georgia. (Photo: John Disney/ALM)