Opinion ID: 2334655
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Qualified immunity of PHA commissioners

Text: Monahan avers that when it denied him a termination hearing, the board violated his due process rights, entitling him to damages under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. He further asserts that the board acted unreasonably when it denied him a hearing, thus depriving its members of any potential immunity. The defendants counter that they are qualifiedly immune from civil damages as governmental officials performing discretionary functions. Our conclusion that Monahan waived any right to a post-termination due process hearing, however, renders this argument moot. Government officials need not avail themselves of the protections of qualified immunity when no constitutional violation is present. In Wilson v. Layne, 526 U.S. 603, 119 S.Ct. 1692, 143 L.Ed.2d 818 (1999), the United States Supreme Court stated that government officials performing discretionary functions generally are granted a qualified immunity and are `shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.' Id. at 609, 119 S.Ct. 1692 (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)). But the first step in evaluating a claim to qualified immunity is to determine whether the plaintiff has alleged the deprivation of an actual constitutional right at all   . Id. (quoting Conn v. Gabbert, 526 U.S. 286, 290, 119 S.Ct. 1292, 143 L.Ed.2d 399 (1999)). When no such deprivation has occurred, as is the case here, the analysis ends, and the need for immunity no longer exists.