Case law

Fontenot v. McLeod

889 F. Supp. 269 · District Court, E.D. Texas · Jun 6, 1995

Discussion Because plaintiff does not claim he has been the subject of threats due to the exercise of a constitutionally protected right, all defendants are entitled to qualified immunity. See Doe v. … Therefore, no clearly established right was violated by refusal of their attendance.

Richmond v. Coastal Bend College District

883 F. Supp. 2d 705 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Aug 1, 2012

When a government official has pleaded the defense of qualified immunity, the burden is on the plaintiff to establish that the official’s conduct violated clearly established law. Id. … Qualified Immunity The doctrine of qualified immunity affords protection against individual liability for civil damages to officials “insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional

Weir Bros., Inc. v. Longview Economic Development Corp.

373 S.W.3d 841 · Court of Appeals of Texas · Jul 2, 2012

They also argue that Weir did not plead and establish a clear and unambiguous waiver of the immunity granted by the Act. … case law establishing that Longview’s actions are governmental functions.

Jimmie Dewayne Hudson v. State

Texas Court of Appeals, 10th District (Waco) · Apr 12, 2006

Appellees assert the affirmative defense of qualified immunity. … This immunity shields a state official from liability for damages unless his conduct violates "clearly established statutory or constitutional right of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v.

Telles v. City of El Paso

481 F. Supp. 2d 773 · District Court, W.D. Texas · Mar 8, 2007

District Attorney Esparza’s qualified immunity Esparza argues that he is shielded by qualified immunity from Telles’ § 1983 claim because Telles failed to assert any constitutional violations. … If the official conduct violates a clearly established right, the official is still entitled to qualified immunity if his conduct was objectively reasonable in light of the established legal rules at the time of the alleged

Petrie v. City of Grapevine

904 F. Supp. 2d 569 · District Court, N.D. Texas · Oct 21, 2012

Qualified Immunity Salame also raises the affirmative defense of qualified immunity. … Sept. 21, 2011) (denying qualified immunity and finding law clearly established where Fifth Circuit had never ruled that speech similar to that uttered by plaintiff was not protected).

City of Houston v. Newsom

858 S.W.2d 14 · Court of Appeals of Texas · Jun 24, 1993

The city and the two officers moved for summary judgment based on the qualified immunity of the officers, the city’s governmental immunity based on the officer’s qualified immunity, and the non-existence of a cause of action … Officer Stivers and Sergeant Zumwalt based their motion for summary judgment on the doctrine of qualified or official immunity. The city based its immunity on that of the officers.

de la Paz v. Coy

954 F. Supp. 2d 532 · District Court, W.D. Texas · Jun 21, 2013

Qualified immunity shields a government official from civil liability for damages based on the performance of discretionary functions if the official’s acts were objectively reasonable in light of clearly established law. … Was the right clearly established?

Guidry v. Jefferson County Detention Center

868 F. Supp. 189 · District Court, E.D. Texas · Nov 14, 1994

Defendant Hawthorn’s Motion to Dismiss Claim This motion is grounded in the qualified immunity doctrine. … The shield of qualified immunity is not limited to high-ranking officials.

Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District v. Cristina L. Esparza

Texas Court of Appeals, 13th District · Dec 1, 2022

We applied collateral estoppel to the Commissioner’s decision, finding that it “clearly establishes, legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the adverse action.” Id. … Rather, we simply held that “the decision of the Commissioner . . . clearly establishes legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the adverse action.”

Robert Writt v. Shell Oil Company and Shell International, E&P, Inc.

409 S.W.3d 59 · Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District (Houston) · Jun 25, 2013

The distinction between the absolute privilege and the conditional, or qualified, privilege is that “an absolute privilege confers immunity regardless of motive whereas a conditional privilege may be lost if the actions of … The court explained that “[ijnitial communications ‘to a public offi *70 cer ... who is authorized or privileged to take action’ are subject to only a qualified privilege, not absolute immunity.” Id.

Rojero v. El Paso County

226 F. Supp. 3d 768 · District Court, W.D. Texas · Apr 28, 2016

The qualified immunity defense serves to shield government officials performing discretionary functions “from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional … of qualified immunity.”

Texas Health & Human Services and El Paso State Supported Living Center v. David Sepulveda

Texas Court of Appeals, 8th District (El Paso) · Mar 15, 2023

The State argues that Sepulveda did not establish that he was qualified for the position. We disagree. … While the State primarily focuses on the question of whether Sepulveda had sufficient evidence to establish that he was clearly better qualified than Bravo, Sepulveda focuses on asserting that the State’s proffered reasons

Phillip K. Poteet, Individually and as Next Friend for Jeffrey Poteet, a Minor v. Collin J. Sullivan, Henry Lucio, Byron Lake and Town of Flower Mound, Texas

Texas Court of Appeals, 2nd District (Fort Worth) · Feb 1, 2007

Qualified Immunity Government officials performing discretionary functions are protected from civil liability under the doctrine of qualified immunity if their conduct violates no clearly established statutory or constitutional … Were the constitutional rights violated by Officers Sullivan and Lucio clearly established?

Martin v. Texas Department of Protective & Regulatory Services

405 F. Supp. 2d 775 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Dec 16, 2005

The Qualified Immunity Standard “Qualified immunity protects officials in the course of performance of their discretionary duties unless their conduct violates a ‘clearly established [federal] statutory or constitutional … immunity, based on a claim that the right to family integrity was not clearly established, will fail.

Matthews v. High Island Independent School District

991 F. Supp. 840 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Jan 22, 1998

Qualified Immunity Finally, Chiaravalloti argues for dismissal of the claims against him on the grounds of qualified immunity. … Since Plaintiffs’ allegations are sufficient to support a violation of clearly established law, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Chiaravalloti on qualified immunity grounds is DENIED. III.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice v. Arthur Cooke, Ernest Cortez, Larry Johnson, and Dequinna Moore

Texas Court of Appeals, 3rd District (Austin) · May 20, 2004

The Department urges that immunity has not been waived because Johnson has failed to establish by his pleadings and the evidence that he was denied the job because of his race. … Although the Department believes that Johnson was clearly not qualified for the position and that, therefore, he had no prima facie case and necessarily pleaded fraudulently that he was qualified, for the reasons already

LaBarbara v. Angel

95 F. Supp. 2d 656 · District Court, E.D. Texas · Mar 1, 2000

Assuming however, that a clearly established right was violated, the defendants would not be entitled to qualified immunity as the plaintiffs have plead violations of specific statutory provisions for Winder, Cooper and Newell … Thus, even assuming Lujan’s actions constituted a violation of a clearly established right, his actions were objectively reasonable and Lujan would be entitled to qualified immunity on the claims against him.

Suzonne Franks v. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and Glenn Hegar, in His Official Capacity

Texas Court of Appeals, 11th District (Eastland) · May 30, 2025

Likewise, the TEDA indicated that a “qualified property” must be the subject of a proposal to “make a qualified investment” of a specified minimum amount, which also creates twenty-five new qualifying jobs. Id. … Rather, “the more of these powers it has, the more clearly is it quasi-judicial in the exercise of its powers.” Id.

Becerra v. Asher

921 F. Supp. 1538 · District Court, S.D. Texas · Apr 4, 1996

“Unless the plaintiffs allegations state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery.” Mitchell v. … immunity because they would not have violated Juan's clearly-established rights.