Case law

Becker v. Clark

722 So. 2d 232 · District Court of Appeal of Florida · Nov 25, 1998

Qualified immunity shields a government actor from personal liability when his conduct does not violate clearly established rights. See Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 638 , 107 S.Ct. 3034 , 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987). … , under the most favorable version of facts alleged, the defendant's action violated clearly established law.

Brisk v. City of Miami Beach, Fla.

726 F. Supp. 1305 · District Court, S.D. Florida · Dec 15, 1989

For instance, if the plaintiff’s allegations do not state a claim of violation of clearly established law, a defendant pleading qualified immunity is entitled to dismissal before the commencement of discovery. … of violations of clearly established law. 13 Accordingly, the case proceeded to *1309 trial with the qualified immunity issue unaddressed and hence unresolved.

Brown v. City of Clewiston

644 F. Supp. 1417 · District Court, S.D. Florida · Sep 22, 1986

Summary Judgment Standard and Qualified Immunity In order to prevail on the qualified immunity defense (described, infra), PEREZ must show that there exists no genuine issue of material fact and that he is entitled to judgment … Stated succinctly, an officer was only entitled to qualified immunity if he established his reasonable, good faith belief that his actions were lawful and within the scope of his authority. See, e.g.. Barker v.

Reuther v. Anderson

677 So. 2d 38 · District Court of Appeal of Florida · Jul 3, 1996

We do not want this affirmance to be construed, however, as a holding that appellants are not entitled to qualified immunity as a matter of law. … Creighton, 483 U.S. 635 , 107 S.Ct. 3034 , 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987) (qualified immunity defense calls for a determination of whether a constitutional right asserted and allegedly violated was clearly established at time and

Florida Highway Patrol, etc. v. Lashonta Renea Jackson, etc.

Supreme Court of Florida · Jan 23, 2020

We also agree with FHP that, precisely because sovereign immunity includes immunity from suit, entitlement to sovereign immunity should be established as early in the litigation as possible. … where a legal duty has been established.

Steen v. City of Pensacola

809 F. Supp. 2d 1342 · District Court, N.D. Florida · Aug 22, 2011

Qualified Immunity “The qualified immunity defense ‘shields government agents from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable … I will simply assume arguendo that there was a constitutional violation and proceed to the second step of the qualified immunity analysis. 2. Was the right “clearly established” at the time of the violation?

Aisenberg v. Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

325 F. Supp. 2d 1366 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Jul 16, 2004

Qualified Immunity Qualified immunity protects a prosecutor’s discretionary acts that violate no “clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.” … See Gonzalez, 325 F.3d at 1233-34 (qualified immunity requires dismissal of an action if the complaint “fails to allege the violation of a clearly established constitutional right”).

Department of Educ. v. Roe

679 So. 2d 756 · Supreme Court of Florida · Jul 18, 1996

her motion for summary judgment based on the defense of qualified immunity. … DOE argues that the public policy that animates sovereign immunity is similar to the public policy that animates qualified immunity.

Abella v. Simon

831 F. Supp. 2d 1316 · District Court, S.D. Florida · Nov 28, 2011

Therefore, the burden shifts to Abella to demonstrate that Simon violated a clearly established statutory or constitutional right to overcome the qualified immunity defense. … Therefore, the burden again shifts to Plaintiff to demonstrate that Defendants violated a clearly established statutory or constitutional right to overcome the qualified immunity defense.

Alachua General Hosp., Inc. v. Zimmer USA, Inc.

403 So. 2d 1087 · District Court of Appeal of Florida · Sep 11, 1981

litigation is "closely related" to the previous, terminated litigation. [2] However, the weight of modern authority clearly provides that work product retains its qualified immunity after the original litigation terminates … Smith in his investigation of the Hospital fire was work product as to the initial wrongful death litigation, and retains its qualified immunity as to the present litigation.

Deppe v. Sovinski

District Court, M.D. Florida · Feb 18, 2025

[may] be specific enough to establish clearly the law applicable to particular conduct and circumstances to overcome qualified immunity, even in the total absence of case[]law.” … of qualified immunity.”); Dolihite v.

Bowden v. Snider

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

What is more, the defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity. … Cortesluna, 595 U.S. 1, 5 (2021) (A right is clearly established for purposes of qualified immunity “when it is sufficiently clear that every reasonable officer would have understood that what he is doing violates that

Vermette v. Ludwig

707 So. 2d 742 · District Court of Appeal of Florida · Dec 10, 1997

As to the § 1983 claims, the officers grounded their summary judgment motion on an assertion of qualified immunity from suit. … If the public official's conduct did not violate a clearly established statutory or constitutional right, the official is immune." Stephens, 702 So.2d at 526 .

Gioia v. Bradshaw

District Court, S.D. Florida · Aug 8, 2025

Florida Department of Probation, filed August 19, 2024 (separate § 2254 habeas petition challenging guilty plea of 1 I note that there may also be qualified or absolute immunity defenses for the various Defendants Plaintiff … Baldwin County, 835 F.3d 1338, 1343-44 (11th Cir. 2016) (“qualified immunity protects government officials performing discretionary functions from liability if their conduct violates no clearly established statutory or

Sims v. Figueroa

District Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 27, 2019

Qualified Immunity Defendant Figueroa alternatively asserts that he is entitled to qualified immunity. … As to qualified immunity, the Eleventh Circuit has stated: To invoke qualified immunity, a public official must first demonstrate

Samedi v. Miami-Dade County

134 F. Supp. 2d 1320 · District Court, S.D. Florida · Jan 26, 2001

White’s qualified immunity insulates him from suit. … was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation.

In Re Conner

172 B.R. 119 · United States Bankruptcy Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 15, 1994

However, this principle cannot change the law which requires an annuity contract to qualify for the section 222.14 exemption. … If all that is required to establish an annuity contract is a stream of payments over time, all installment contracts would qualify as an annuity and that is clearly not what the McCollam decision requires.

Baker v. Airguide Manufacturing, LLC

151 So. 3d 38 · District Court of Appeal of Florida · Oct 29, 2014

Based on the changes to her testimony, Baker argued that there was a genuine dispute over material facts whether Airguide possessed the requisite degree of control over Baker to establish Airguide’s immunity under the … Thus, an employer can establish its right to workers’ compensation immunity by either meeting the three-prong test for common law “borrowed servant” immunity or by establishing that the injured employee came from a “help

Fernander v. Bonis

947 So. 2d 584 · District Court of Appeal of Florida · Jan 3, 2007

We first address Fernander's claim the trial court erred in finding that Captain Bonis was entitled to qualified immunity as to Fernander's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 due process claims. … A plaintiff suing a government official has the burden of showing that the official's acts, at the time, violated clearly established law." Alexander v. Univ. of N. Fla., 39 F.3d 290 , 291 (11th Cir.1994).

Davis v. Bradshaw

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

Pridmore, 961 F.3d 1135, 1145-46 (11th Cir. 2020) (stating that identification of a broad, clearly established principle is one way to show that a defendant’s conduct violated a clearly established constitutional right … Davis has not carried his burden to show that Deputy Jones is not entitled to qualified immunity. See Keating v.