Case law

Athanas

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jun 25, 2026

“To overcome qualified immunity, the plaintiff must show both that (1) the defendant violated a constitutional right, and (2) this right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation.”7 Crider v. … Sheehan, 575 U.S. 600, 613 (2015) (“Qualified immunity is no immunity at all if ‘clearly established’ law can simply be defined as the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.”).

MacIntyre v. City of Palm Bay

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 6, 2025

Accordingly, “[t]o survive a motion to dismiss based upon qualified immunity, the plaintiff must have alleged sufficient facts to support a finding of a constitutional violation of a clearly established law.” … “[A]n entitlement to qualified immunity ‘raised . . . on a motion to dismiss . . . will be granted if the complaint fails to allege the violation of a clearly established constitutional right.’”

King

District Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 4, 2026

Qualified immunity protects government officials from civil damages unless their conduct violates “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Pearson v. … King has not shown that Brett’s conduct violated clearly established law. “[T]he touchstone of qualified immunity is notice.”

Militello v. Bardell

970 F. Supp. 1022 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Jul 10, 1997

Even if Defendant Mike Barr should remain as a defendant in this action, he is still entitled to qualified immunity. Id. at 1543 . … Accordingly, the Court finds Defendant Mike Barr is entitled to qualified immunity. II.

Clark v. Bell

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 19, 2025

“Clearly Established” Unlawfulness To defeat a claim of qualified immunity, Plaintiff must establish both that there was a violation of his constitutional rights and that the unlawfulness … of Defendant’s conduct was “clearly established” at the time of the arrest.

Wright v. Jones

District Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 28, 2025

With respect to the pleading stage, “[g]enerally speaking, it is proper to grant a motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds when the ‘complaint fails to allege the violation of a clearly established constitutional … qualified immunity is inappropriate.

D.L., a minor, by and through his next-of-friends, S.L. and R.L. v. Hernando County Sheriff’s Office, a public entity, DEPUTY PAUL SMITH, School Resource Officer, in his individual capacity, and Hernando County School Board, a public entity

District Court, M.D. Florida · Dec 30, 2025

“In this circuit, the law can be ‘clearly established’ for qualified immunity purposes only by decisions of the U.S. … Gaines, 871 F.3d at 1208 (holding that, for purposes of qualified immunity, it is the plaintiff’s burden to show that the defendant violated a constitutional right that was clearly established); see Jones, 857 F.3d at

KUBANY BY KUBANY v. School Bd. of Pinellas County

818 F. Supp. 1504 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Apr 13, 1993

Section 1983 ; however, they enjoy qualified immunity if they have acted in good faith in carrying out their duties. Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166-67 , 105 S.Ct. 3099, 3105-06 , 87 L.Ed.2d 114 (1985). … immunity at this stage of the proceedings.

Sheets

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 25, 2026

Sheets Cannot Overcome Defendants’ Entitlement to Qualified Immunity The qualified immunity general principles are well- established … the filming to defeat qualified immunity.

GTE Data Services, Inc. v. Electronic Data Systems Corp.

717 F. Supp. 1487 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 3, 1989

Clearly resort to legal process falls within the general rule of immunity under the doctrine. … The complaint alleges that: 1) there are a limited number of qualified persons to do the job involved; 2) that Defendant has employed a majority of said qualified employees; 3) that Defendant has required its employees to

Williams v. Sirmons

563 F. Supp. 2d 1315 · District Court, M.D. Florida · May 27, 2008

Sir-mons and Mills now argue that they are entitled to summary judgment because they benefit from qualified immunity. … Mosley, 487 F.3d 1350, 1357 (11th Cir.2007) (explaining that police officer’s immunity on state-law claims derives from state law rather than qualified immunity).

Sibley v. City of Lakeland

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jun 23, 2025

This alone warrants the grant of qualified immunity. It is Plaintiff’s burden to point to clearly established law supporting this claim and Plaintiff has chosen not to do so. … immunity defense, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving the existence of a clearly established right.

Hyman v. Iowa State Bank (In Re Health Care Products, Inc.)

159 B.R. 332 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 24, 1993

from suit unless such immunity is waived. … Writing for the majority in Nordic Village, Justice Scalia explained that § 106(c) “waives sovereign immunity, [although] it fails to establish unambiguously that the waiver extends to monetary claims.”

White

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 5, 2026

Qualified Immunity Murphy argues that qualified immunity bars White’s claim against him. (Doc. 21 at 5). … “Qualified immunity protects government officials from individual liability unless they violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.

Laughridge

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 4, 2026

Britton, 523 U.S. 574, 588, 597–98 (1998) (stating a trial court must exercise discretion when deciding whether to allow discovery after the defense of qualified immunity is raised and noting qualified immunity … in a footnote to this burden – and that the law regarding First Amendment retaliation as it relates to the facts of this case was clearly established as of the time of the events in question.

Fowler

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 23, 2026

“A right may be clearly established for qualified immunity purposes in one of three ways: (1) case law with indistinguishable facts clearly establishing the constitutional right; (2) a broad statement of principle within … Ordinarily, “it is proper to grant a motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds when the ‘complaint fails to allege the violation of a clearly established constitutional right.’ ” Corbitt, 929 F.3d at 1311

Konikov v. Orange County, Florida

302 F. Supp. 2d 1328 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 2, 2004

Qualified Immunity of the Individual Defendants Finally, the Individual Defendants have raised the defense of qualified immunity in this case. … If no constitutional right would have been violated were the allegations established, there is no necessity for further inquiries concerning qualified immunity.

Walker

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 9, 2026

“Generally speaking, it is proper to grant a motion to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds when the ‘complaint fails to allege the violation of a clearly established constitutional right.’” Corbitt v. … A right may be clearly established for qualified immunity purposes in one of three ways: (1) case law with indistinguishable facts clearly establishing the constitutional

Harden

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jun 8, 2026

) (1) Qualified Immunity Principles The qualified immunity principles are well-established. … Plaintiff can show the law was “clearly established” in any of three ways: (1) identifying a qualifying case with indistinguishable facts;15 (2) relying on a broader, clearly established

Eiras v. Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation Division of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco

239 F. Supp. 3d 1331 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 7, 2017

The relevant inquiry may fall under the Eleventh Amendment or qualified immunity, 10 however, because neither Defendant raises such arguments, the Court will not address these issues. … According to the court, not “every arrest lacking probable cause is made in bad faith” and “Florida’s waiver of sovereign immunity clearly contemplates that an agent can commit a wrongful, and even intentional, act and still