Opinion ID: 149610
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: jurisdiction

Text: “Under the Supreme Court’s collateral order doctrine, a district court’s denial of a claim of qualified immunity, to the extent that it turns on an issue of law, is an appealable ‘final decision’ within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291 notwithstanding the absence of a final judgment.” Weise v. Casper, 507 F.3d 1260, 1263 (10th Cir. 2007) (citations and quotations omitted). “[T]he Supreme Court has limited appeals of interlocutory decisions denying the defense of qualified immunity to cases presenting neat abstract issues of law.” Id. at 1263-64 (quotations omitted). “[P]retrial determinations of evidentiary sufficiency in qualified immunity cases are not immediately appealable.” Id. at 1264. Glover asserts we lack jurisdiction because the district court found its complaint -4- “states plausible violations of Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights . . . and that those rights were clearly established.” (Appellee’s Br. at 3.) It relies on Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 319-20 (1995), where the Court held it lacked jurisdiction over an appeal by police officers because “[t]he [qualified immunity] order in question resolved a fact-related dispute about the pretrial record.” Id. at 307 (emphasis added). One issue is not properly before us. The district court determined the record was insufficient at this stage of the litigation to resolve the absolute immunity claims. When determining whether a defendant is entitled to absolute immunity, we employ a functional approach. See Perez v. Ellington, 421 F.3d 1128, 1133 (10th Cir. 2005) (quotations omitted). The district court stated “the functions of the various Defendants, and the agency itself, ha[d] not been established by any factual record which the Court can evaluate.” (R. Vol. I at 148.) Because this is a factual determination, we do not address it on this appeal.3 Weise, 507 F.3d at 1264 (“If a district court cannot rule on the merits of a qualified immunity defense at the dismissal stage because the allegations in the pleadings are insufficient as to some factual matter, the district court’s determination is not immediately appealable.”). Other than in the absolute immunity context, Glover’s jurisdictional argument has no merit. The sufficiency of a complaint is a question of law, as is the existence of a 3 The denial of absolute or qualified immunity on a motion to dismiss does not preclude the ODOT defendants from raising the issue in a later motion for summary judgment when the record is more fully developed. Weise, 507 F.3d at 1265 (recognizing “the denial of qualified immunity at the dismissal stage does not preclude a renewal of that defense at summary judgment after further factual development has occurred”). -5- clearly established constitutional violation. See Id. at 1267 (“the denial of qualified immunity on a motion to dismiss constitutes a legal decision because Rule 12(b)(6) requires a court to accept as true all well-pleaded facts in the complaint”). Because the remaining issues involve questions of law rather than fact, we have jurisdiction over this interlocutory appeal.