Case law

Houston Balloons & Promotions, LLC v. City of Houston

589 F. Supp. 2d 834 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Dec 9, 2008

Defendant also asserted the affirmative defenses of failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted, official immunity, qualified immunity, immunity under Texas law, sovereign immunity, governmental immunity, and … legislative immunity.

Heckford v. City of Pasadena

District Court, S.D. Texas · Jun 18, 2021

Qualified Immunity Defendants next argue, without elaboration, that they are entitled to qualified immunity. … The qualified immunity issue is therefore moot for now.

Mull v. Houston Independent School District

District Court, S.D. Texas · Nov 30, 2021

clearly established at the time of the conduct. … Clearly, there are no facts pleaded that, if true, would satisfy either of the necessary elements to evade the bar of qualified immunity.

Johnson v. Harris County

District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 9, 2022

under qualified immunity.3 “The doctrine of qualified immunity shields officials from civil liability so long as their conduct ‘does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … A right is clearly established when the existence of the 3While not specifically argued in his motion for summary judgment, Officer Johnson raised the defense of qualified immunity in his answer to Mr.

Rodriguez v. Christus Spohn Health System Corp.

874 F. Supp. 2d 635 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Jun 13, 2012

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated Judge Jack’s ruling and found that CHRISTUS, as a hospital district management contractor, did qualify for limited governmental immunity under the Texas Tort … CHRISTUS further acknowledges that it qualifies as a “governmental unit” for purposes of Tex. Civ.

Winters v. United States

127 F. Supp. 2d 814 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Jan 12, 2001

Statutory Background It is well settled that the United States, as sovereign, is immune from suit unless it consents to be sued. See F.D.I.C. v. … The Discretionary Function Exception The FTCA, as discussed, is a limited waiver of sovereign immunity.

Brown v. Quian

District Court, S.D. Texas · Feb 3, 2023

Qualified Immunity Determination of qualified immunity requires a bifurcated analysis: first, the court must decide “whether the undisputed facts and the disputed facts, … Brown thus has plausibly alleged that the defendants’ conduct was not objectively reasonable in light of clearly established Fourth Amendment law.

Sauceda v. City of San Benito, Texas

District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 25, 2019

from the doctrine of qualified immunity. … A qualified immunity analysis requires a two-step process. The first question revolves around “whether the plaintiff has allege[d] the violation of a clearly established constitutional right.”

Brewer v. Geerdes

District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 25, 2020

clearly established statutory or constitutional rights. … Qualified Immunity and Excessive Force It was clearly established when the use of force occurred that a prisoner has the right to be free from having excessive force used against him.

Reyna v. Garza

District Court, S.D. Texas · Oct 29, 2021

A government official is entitled to qualified immunity to the extent his “conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” Id. at 818. … To overcome the defense of qualified immunity, a plaintiff must establish (1) a violation of a constitutionally protected right; and (2) the unlawfulness of the conduct was “clearly established at the time of the alleged

Doe v. University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 28, 2021

clearly established.74 Plaintiff contends the individual Defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity.75 Plaintiff alleges that the individual Defendants violated “two separate constitutional 71 Id. at 14. … was clearly established at the time of the challenged conduct.”

McWilliams v. City of Houston

District Court, S.D. Texas · Jun 15, 2021

Alston and the HCJ Defendants assert qualified immunity as a defense. … Tamez most directly addressed the constitutional-violation inquiry on qualified immunity. Estate of Allison most directly addressed the clearly-established inquiry.

Sauceda v. University of Texas

958 F. Supp. 2d 761 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Jul 26, 2013

The Eleventh Amendment does not bar Sauceda’s Equal Pay Act claim "because Congress has expressly abrogated sovereign immunity under the Equal Pay Act.” Raj v. La. … Congress has not commanded that the less qualified be preferred over the better qualified simply because of minority origins.

Rahdar v. City of Friendswood

District Court, S.D. Texas · Mar 14, 2025

“There are two aspects to qualified immunity: whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a constitutional right and whether the right at issue was ‘clearly established’ at the time of the alleged violation.” … When an individual asserts a Fourth Amendment false arrest claim, qualified immunity will shield officers from suit “if a reasonable officer could have believed [the arrest at issue] to be lawful, in light of clearly

Saville v. Winston

District Court, S.D. Texas · Oct 23, 2019

over suits against a state for money damages unless the state has waived its immunity or Congress has clearly abrogated that immunity. … Qualified Immunity Defendant Winston has invoked qualified immunity. Plaintiff bears the burden to negate the defense. See Hanks v.

Corporate Health Insurance v. Texas Department of Insurance

12 F. Supp. 2d 597 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Sep 18, 1998

Clearly, Plaintiffs contest the inclusion of the IRO provisions in the Act. … According to United, the company simply applied previously established eligibility criteria in order to determine whether Mrs. Corcoran was qualified for the benefits provided by the plan. Id.

Crenshaw v. United States

959 F. Supp. 399 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Mar 25, 1997

This cause of action clearly falls within the misrepresentation exception. … In short, Plaintiff has failed to point to any facts set forth in the Complaint that, if proved, would establish these torts.

Gray v. United States

445 F. Supp. 337 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Feb 2, 1978

There are no particular scientific tests or measuring sticks by which the FDA must qualify a new drug. … It had no authority to formulate new policy in the immunization program.” 500 F.2d at 1066 .

Huber v. Galveston County

District Court, S.D. Texas · Apr 16, 2024

“There are two aspects to qualified immunity: whether the plaintiff has alleged a violation of a constitutional right and whether the right at issue was ‘clearly established’ at the time of the alleged violation.” … Tran asserts that he is entitled to qualified immunity.

I.M. by his next friend M.M. v. Houston Independent School District

District Court, S.D. Texas · Jun 3, 2021

Once a defendant has asserted qualified immunity, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant “(1) ‘violated a statutory or constitutional right, and (2) that the right was clearly established at the time of the challenged … Qualified immunity precludes a state-created-danger theory because when Swearer failed to respond to I.M.’s report of abuse, there was no clearly established law that held her responsible for a state-created danger.