Case law

Benson v. Kutsch

181 W. Va. 1 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Mar 28, 1989

function or thwarting of established public policy. … It must be remembered that local governmental immunities were originally judicially established and were not the product of statutes. Consequently, they could be judicially removed.

McCormick v. Walmart Stores, Inc.

215 W. Va. 679 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Jun 30, 2004

The reason for establishing such immunity is readily understandable. … Public officials and local government units should be entitled to qualified immunity from suit under § 1983, or statutory immunity under W.

State Ex Rel. Kaufman v. Zakaib

207 W. Va. 662 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Jul 14, 2000

Judge Kaufman refused to qualify Dr. Freeman as an expert, but did allow him to testify. … Although ruling that the judge should have qualified Dr. Freeman as an expert, we found this to be harmless error.

Long v. City of Weirton

158 W. Va. 741 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Apr 29, 1975

Considering all of these facts to be established, in view of the jury’s verdict, we believe that the evidence clearly warranted a finding that the explosion was traceable to the gas leak in question. … Although the basis for the allocation of such expenses between the mother and natural father was not documented in the record, the liability therefor was clearly established. The error, if any, was harmless. Abdulla v.

Hayes v. Town of Cedar Grove

126 W. Va. 828 · West Virginia Supreme Court · May 30, 1944

But the immunity existed at common law. … Be this as it may, believing the doctrine of immunity against liability to be firmly established by the decided weight of authority, in cases where a municipality is engaged in performing governmental functions, we do not

Bias v. Eastern Associated Coal Corp.

220 W. Va. 190 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Jul 18, 2006

The Legislature intended for W.Va.Code § 23-2-6 (1991) to provide qualifying employers sweeping immunity from common-law tort liability for negligently inflicted injuries. … : [T]he immunity established in sections six and six-a, article two of this chapter is an essential aspect of this workers’ compensation system ....

Holsten v. Massey

200 W. Va. 775 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Jul 16, 1997

This Court explained that it did not find this evolution of the law regarding local governmental tort immunity to be unusual: The history in West Virginia of the qualified immunity, from tort liability, available to municipalities … Accordingly, we find the appellant’s assertion that he “is not required to establish a special duty owed by the county commission and Deputy Greene in order to establish liability” to be incorrect. ' Indeed, other courts

State Ex Rel. Darling v. McGraw

220 W. Va. 322 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Jun 28, 2007

is wrong in concluding that West Virginia Code § 23-2-6 (2003) (Repl.Vol.2005) bars a common law negligence action for a mental-mental claim. 1 I was convinced then and am even more convinced now that “the existence of a qualifying … Firmly believing that the benefit of the bargain analysis which underlies the establishment of a workers’ compensation system completely fails when recovery is expressly denied by statute for an employment-related injury,

State v. Haller

178 W. Va. 642 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Nov 17, 1987

These witnesses usually are either drug users offering immunized testimony or undercover police officers. … Accordingly, the court in Sweeney held that when the prosecution established an adequate foundation that lay witnesses had prior knowledge of drugs that qualified them to identify the substance used, the lay witness testimony

Hinebaugh v. James

119 W. Va. 162 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Jun 9, 1937

them to your own citizens, or as you limit or qualify, or impose restrictions on their exercise, the same, neither more nor less, shall be the measure of the rights of citizens of other States within your jurisdiction.” … Under this regulation citizens of other states are entitled to exactly the same privileges and immunities as are citizens of West Virginia.

State Ex Rel. Cosner v. See

129 W. Va. 722 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Mar 4, 1947

Ct. 383 , 42 L. ed. 780; or “immunities implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.”, Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U. S. 319 , 58 S. … It ignored the requirement that it must clearly appear that a qualified jury could not be obtained in Mineral County.

Smith v. Chestnut Ridge Storage, LLC

West Virginia Supreme Court · Feb 24, 2021

’s counterclaim, we find that the present appeal is comparable to a circuit court’s denial of a summary judgment motion based on qualified immunity. … qualified) is immunity from suit. . . .

Hank Heckman and Loren Garcia v. Betsy Jividen, Jeff Sandy, and Patrick Morrisey, Individually, and David Kelly, Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Michael Baylous, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and John B. McCuskey, Attorney General of West Virginia, in their Official Capacities

West Virginia Supreme Court · Jun 1, 2026

The ICA determined that qualified immunity barred that claim because, at that time, the discretionary act of issuing arrest warrants did not violate a clearly established constitutional or statutory right of which she should … Va. 492, 766 S.E.2d 751 (2014) (discussing the application of qualified immunity for the discretionary acts of public officials absent violation of clearly established laws which a reasonable official would have known, and

John R. Zsigray v. Cindy Langman and J.W. Ebert Corporation

West Virginia Supreme Court · Mar 27, 2020

“In order for a plaintiff to prevail on a claim for intentional or reckless infliction of emotional distress, four elements must be established. … Langman would be entitled to qualified immunity, and summary judgment would be appropriate. 13 See Beasley v. Mayflower Vehicle Sys., Inc., No. 13-0978, 2014 WL 2681689 (W.Va.

Fisher v. Bouchelle

134 W. Va. 333 · West Virginia Supreme Court · May 2, 1950

Such immunity was established in the early days in England, has been treated in this country as a part of the common law, and, unless restricted by statute, is in force in this State under the provisions of Article VIII, … is well established by the Whited case, supra, and by Lang, et al. v.

SER City of Bridgeport v. Hon. Christopher J. McCarthy, Judge

West Virginia Supreme Court · Nov 5, 2018

The very heart of the immunity defense is that it pursuant to the provisions of this article shall name as defendant the political subdivision against which liability is sought to be established. … Therefore, unless there is a bona fide dispute as to the foundational or historical facts that underlie the immunity determination, the ultimate questions of statutory or qualified

Fisher v. Bouchelle

61 S.E.2d 305 · West Virginia Supreme Court · Oct 9, 1950

is well established by the Whited case, supra, and by Lang et al. v. … In the early cases in England and in Virginia that consideration was emphasized and there was no indication that the application of the rule of immunity should be qualified or restricted to persons who were not residents

Elizabeth Crawford v. City of Charleston

West Virginia Supreme Court · Nov 17, 2023

Petitioner’s complaint describes a natural condition in the roadway—green slime in a pool of water—that clearly formed because of weather conditions. … Va. 139, 479 S.E.2d 649 (1996) (“The ultimate decision of whether qualified or statutory immunity bars a civil action is one of law for the court to determine.”).

Carey v. Dostert

185 W. Va. 247 · West Virginia Supreme Court · May 24, 1991

performed by the judge was clearly administrative rather than judicial in nature. … The Court in Forrester , however, left the door open on whether judges can claim a qualified immunity on some administrative acts. 484 U.S. at 230 , 108 S.Ct. at 545-46 . 13 . See Paxton v.

Adam Goodman and Paul Underwood v. Blake Auton

West Virginia Supreme Court · Nov 3, 2022

The extent of the immunity to suit as established by the Legislature is extremely broad: The Legislature intended for W.Va. … Code § 23-2-6 (1991) to provide qualifying employers sweeping immunity from common-law tort liability for negligently inflicted injuries.