Case law

Blain v. Baker

District Court, M.D. Florida · May 27, 2020

“Qualified immunity offers complete protection for government officials sued in their individual capacities if their conduct ‘does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … Second, the Court must determine whether Plaintiff has alleged that Baker violated clearly established law. See id.

Lanier v. Fairfield Communities, Inc.

776 F. Supp. 1533 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 17, 1990

The defendants conclude without establishing any foundation that “[we] have clearly not simply thrown ‘a couch in a laundry room and labeled] it a recreation center,’ ” citing to 54 Fed.Reg. 3256. 4. … In contrast, the plaintiffs provide evidence to establish that all of the Pointe Alexis homes have substantial flights of stairs inside and outside. See e.g., Shalkowski Affidavit, at 2.

Martelli v. Knight

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jun 23, 2020

Qualified immunity protects a government official acting within his discretionary authority from civil lawsuits unless his conduct violates a statutory or constitutional right clearly established when the alleged violation … So the burden then shifts to Plaintiff to show that Tuck violated a clearly established constitutional right.

Williams v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc.

957 F. Supp. 1246 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Feb 24, 1997

This is clearly over the six-month limitation set by DelCostello . … The Florida Supreme Court has clearly established that this statutory language does not extend to vendors who sell alcoholic beverages in closed containers for consumption on other premises. Persen, 656 So.2d at 455 .

Gerber v. Longboat Harbour North Condominium

724 F. Supp. 884 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Nov 17, 1989

Gibson, 355 U.S. 41 , 78 S.Ct. 99 , 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) established the principle that a complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless the plaintiff can prove no set of facts which would entitle him … This circuit clearly holds that summary judgment should only be entered when the moving party has sustained its burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue as to any material fact when all the evidence is viewed in the

Avant v. Bates

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 25, 2023

For the excessive-force claim, Defendant argues he is entitled to summary judgment on qualified-immunity grounds. … “Qualified immunity offers complete protection for government officials sued in their individual capacities if their conduct ‘does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable

Hamman v. University of Central Florida Board of Trustees

District Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 23, 2024

The Magistrate Judge determined that qualified immunity applied to Cook, just the same as it applied to Pluguez, stating: “Defendant Cook is equally entitled to qualified immunity for the same reasons as Ms. … Callahan, 555 U.S. 223, 243 (2009) (“[W]e hold that petitioners are entitled to qualified immunity because the entry did not violate clearly established law.” (emphasis added)); Lassiter v.

Shed v. University of South Florida Board of Trustees

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 8, 2023

“The right to be free from retaliation is clearly established as a right and as a right under Title VII; but no clearly established right exists under the clause to be free from retaliation.” , 62 F.3d at 340. … established constitutional right under the Equal Protection Clause. , 62 F.3d at 341 (reversing the district court’s denial of qualified immunity on the plaintiff’s equal protection claim because there is no clearly

Allen v. Ratigan

District Court, M.D. Florida · Oct 24, 2024

Allen believed the deposition qualified him for protective management, and he explained the situation to Brock. … These allegations are clearly enough to state an Eighth Amendment claim. C.

Milfort v. Rambosk

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 14, 2022

Second, the individual officers raise qualified immunity as an immunity from suit here. (Doc. 123). They are each entitled to a decision on that matter as soon as possible. E.g., Simmons v. … “To defeat qualified immunity, ‘(1) the relevant facts must set forth a violation of a constitutional right, and (2) the defendant must have violated a constitutional right that was clearly established at the

Poulin v. Bush

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 13, 2023

Poulin’s] clearly established constitutional rights. … It is also important to reiterate that, for the purposes of a qualified immunity analysis, the facts as established by the evidence taken in a light most favorable to Mr.

Holmes v. Clearwater Police Department

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 28, 2024

ANALYSIS Dean and Illich-Hailey enjoy qualified immunity unless they violated one of Holmes’s “clearly established” constitutional or statutory rights. Harlow v. … Because Dean had arguable probable cause to stop, search, and arrest Holmes, Dean and Ulich-Hailey enjoy qualified immunity. The defendants’ motion (Doc. 105) is GRANTED.

Breiding v. Garrett

816 F. Supp. 708 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 21, 1993

Based on those documents, Parrish concluded that none of the seven candidates was clearly superior to the others, so he decided to interview each of them. … The evidence indicates that Breid-ing and Woodard did have differences in education 3 and experience, but these differences do not establish that Woodard was unqualified or that Breiding was more qualified.

Jones v. Ceinski, Jr.

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jul 22, 2025

Officer Ceinski argues prior counsel’s strategy was tailored toward the qualified immunity defense. (Doc. 66, p. 4). … in Florida Statutes, (4) failure to mitigate, (5) arrest made on probable cause, and (6) qualified immunity.

Johnson v. Florida Department of Juvenile Justice

District Court, M.D. Florida · Feb 27, 2025

To summarize it in pertinent part here, qualified immunity is meant to protect government officials from liability if their conduct does not violate a clearly established statutory or constitutional right. Maggio v. … The Defendants’ claims of qualified immunity are denied at this juncture. C.

Stalley v. Cumbie

District Court, M.D. Florida · Feb 19, 2022

The Court did not decide—because it did not have an occasion to—that Bozeman was clearly established law foreclosing qualified immunity. … Second, Defendants are 60 entitled to qualified immunity on Count III because Plaintiff has not established that Defendants violated clearly established law.

Prophete v. Peugh

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 20, 2023

“The qualified immunity defense shields ‘government officials performing discretionary functions . . . from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or … “To be entitled to qualified immunity, the defendant must first establish that he was acting within the scope of his discretionary authority.” Gaines v.

Hoffmann v. Jones

District Court, M.D. Florida · Oct 31, 2019

Qualified Immunity & Failure to State a Claim Defendant Gaylord argues Plaintiff fails to state a claim against him for deliberate indifference, which entitles him to qualified immunity … An official sued in his individual capacity “is entitled to qualified immunity for his discretionary actions unless he violated ‘clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of

Abramson v. Walt Disney World Co.

370 F. Supp. 2d 1221 · District Court, M.D. Florida · May 27, 2005

As this district has recently noted, "It is well-established under Florida law that [s]ome conditions are simply so open and obvious, so common and so ordinarily innocuous, that they can be held as a matter of law to not … That would lead to the conclusion that the admission of such testimony was erroneous under Rule 702, but the error was clearly harmless.") Andrews v. Metro North Commuter R.

Gaston v. City of Leesburg

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 12, 2025

City of Nahunta, Georgia, 846 F.3d 1320, 1328 (11th Cir. 2017) (“To be entitled to qualified immunity from a Fourth Amendment claim, an officer need not have actual probable cause, but only arguable probable cause—that … App'x 783, 786 (11th Cir. 2018) (“[T]he qualified immunity question hinges on whether Officers Sackrider and Wolff had arguable probable cause to detain and commit Mr.