2 of 3 claims to qualified immunity rejected in Judge Doerr misconduct lawsuit
A federal court rejected most of Butler County's chief judge's claims to qualified immunity in a sexual misconduct lawsuit, sending the case back to the district court for further proceedings.
In a ruling issued Monday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that county President Judge Thomas Doerr could not claim immunity against two civil rights charges levied by the plaintiff, a woman who claims Doerr retaliated against her after ending a five-year sexual relationship between the two.
The appellate court, however, reversed the district court's ruling on one claim, ruling Doerr is entitled to qualified immunity as a defense against the allegation he interfered with the woman's First Amendment right to free association, remanding the case back to the lower court for further litigation.
Qualified immunity is a doctrine that keeps government officials not personally liable for civil rights violations, except in cases where a reasonable person would have known they were violating a clearly established constitutional right.
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