METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY v. JOHN CHRISTOPHER INGRAM, A21A0541

On Sept. 25, 2018 a MARTA bus driven by employee Fasil Zewdie collided with a truck carrying John Ingram (plaintiff). Ingram was a passenger and alleged injury.
Zewdie was acting within the scope of his employment for MARTA and was a DeKalb County resident; Ingram sued MARTA and Zewdie in DeKalb County State Court.
MARTA and Zewdie moved to dismiss or transfer venue to Fulton County Superior Court under §10(t) of the MARTA Act of 1965, which vests certain suits against MARTA in Fulton Superior.
The state trial court denied the motion; the defendants obtained interlocutory appellate review.
The Court of Appeals considered whether the MARTA Act or the Georgia Constitution controls venue when MARTA is sued with its employee, and whether a defendant can change venue by waiver.
The court affirmed: because MARTA and its employee are treated as joint tortfeasors for venue, constitutional venue rules permit suit in the employee’s county (DeKalb); defendants cannot change venue by waiver.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether §10(t) of the MARTA Act or the Georgia Constitution controls venue when MARTA is sued with its employee	Ingram: constitutional venue for joint tortfeasors allows suit in either defendant’s county; venue in DeKalb is proper	MARTA/Zewdie: §10(t) vests exclusive jurisdiction/venue in Fulton Superior, so case should be in Fulton	Held: Georgia Constitution controls for joint tortfeasors; MARTA and its employee are treated as joint tortfeasors, so venue in DeKalb is proper
Whether a defendant can change venue by waiving venue defenses	Ingram: waiver by defendant does not transfer venue to another county	MARTA/Zewdie: argued Zewdie waived venue in DeKalb and thus case should be in Fulton	Held: A defendant may waive a defense of improper venue but cannot effect a change of venue by waiver; Holcomb is distinguishable

MARTA v. Buho, 353 Ga. App. 466 (Ga. App. 2020) (interpreting §10(t) as applying to suits against MARTA generally)
Glover v. Donaldson, 243 Ga. 479 (Ga. 1979) (legislature may fix MARTA’s residence for venue when sued alone, but Constitution governs when MARTA is joined as a tortfeasor)
McDonald v. MARTA, 251 Ga. App. 230 (Ga. App. 2001) (employer sued vicariously with employee is treated as joint tortfeasor for venue purposes)
RC Cola Bottling Co. v. Vann, 220 Ga. App. 479 (Ga. App. 1996) (same: driver-employee and employer are joint tortfeasors for venue in auto accident suits)
Gay v. Piggly Wiggly Southern, 183 Ga. App. 175 (Ga. App. 1987) (plaintiff may sue negligent employee and vicariously liable employer as if joint tortfeasors for venue)
Holcomb v. Ellis, 259 Ga. 625 (Ga. 1989) (venue rights under the Constitution may be waived by a party who chooses a different county; fact-specific and involved a plaintiff’s choice)
Bonner v. Bonner, 272 Ga. 545 (Ga. 2000) (defendant waives improper-venue and personal-jurisdiction defenses by failing to timely assert them)