Sovereign Immunity Blog | Sands, White & Sands, P.A.

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rules that state-controlled foreign bank was not entitled to statutory sovereign immunity from lawsuit in the United States, citing commercial activity exception in Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act January 8, 2021

On December 4, 2020, in R&R International Consulting, LLC, v. Banco Do Brasil, S.A., No. 19-12466, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a U.S. district court erred...

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals rules that State of Florida does not have sovereign immunity from lawsuit brought by the National Association of the Deaf to require captioning for live and archived videos of Florida legislative proceedings December 8, 2020

On November 10, 2020, in National Association of the Deaf, et al. v. State of Florida, et al., No. 18-12786, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a SDFL district court’s denial...

Florida Third DCA affirms trial court ruling that University of Miami is entitled to sovereign immunity in lawsuit alleging negligence of its employee doctor while he was providing medical services at Jackson Memorial Hospital November 18, 2020

On October 28, 2020, in Lazzari, et al., v. Guzman, et al. No. 3D19-597, the Florida Third DCA affirmed a trial court ruling in a medical negligence case that the University of Miami...

Florida First DCA rules that sovereign immunity barred claims against state entity arising under federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 and Florida Uniformed Servicemembers Protection Act November 18, 2020

On October 9, 2020, in State of Florida v. Hightower, No. 1D19-227, the Florida First DCA ruled that sovereign immunity barred a private individual’s claims against the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles...

Florida Supreme Court rules that Florida’s sovereign immunity cap on damages applies collectively to all victims in mass shooting because all injuries occurred as the result of the “same incident or occurrence” October 08, 2020

On September 24, 2020, in Barnett v. State of Florida, Department of Financial Services, et al., No SC19-87, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that multiple...

Florida Fourth DCA affirms trial court’s denial of defendant security guard's motion to dismiss on sovereign immunity grounds in wrongful death lawsuit arising from 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting August 06, 2020

On July 1, 2020, in Medina v. Pollack, No. 4D19-777, the Florida Fourth DCA affirmed a trial court’s denial of the defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint based on sovereign immunity ...

Florida First DCA rejects essential government functions test in determining defendant’s sovereign immunity status May 12, 2020

On April 21, 2020, in Operations Management International, Inc. v. Johnson, No. 1D19-3393, the First DCA affirmed a trial court’s denial ...

Florida Fourth DCA rules that school resource officer on duty at time of mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is not entitled to summary judgment on the grounds of qualified statutory immunity in parents’ wrongful death/negligence case January 17, 2020

On December 18, 2019, in Peterson v. Pollack, No. 4D19-431, the Florida Fourth DCA affirmed a trial court ruling denying the summary judgment motion ...

Florida First DCA rules that liability of law enforcement agency for injuries caused by motor vehicle pursuit requires proof of officer’s recklessness exceeding gross negligence July 1, 2019

On June 12, 2019, in Ross v. City of Jacksonville , No. 1D18-2994, the Florida First DCA considered as a matter of first impression the application of the current version of Section 768.28(9)(d), ...

Florida Third DCA rules that sovereign immunity shielded county from liability for discretionary decisions made concerning allocation of resources to provide security for park partygoers July 6, 2018

On April 25, 2018, in Sanchez v. Miami-Dade County , No. 3D16-959, the Florida Third DCA ruled that the defendant county had sovereign immunity under Fla. Stat. section 768.28(9) which barred the ...

Florida First DCA dismisses interlocutory appeal of trial court order denying defendant's summary judgment motion based on sovereign immunity February 27, 2018

On February 23, 2018, in Florida Highway Patrol v. Jackson , No, 1D16-3940, dismissed the interlocutory appeal of a trial court order denying the defendant FHP’s summary judgment motion based on ...

Florida Fourth DCA rules that limitation on attorney's fees in Claims Bill was an unconstitutional impairment of contract June 27, 2017

On June 21, 2017, in Grossman Roth P.A. v. Mellon , No. 4D14-1766, the Florida Fourth DCA struck down a portion of a final judgment by a trial court setting attorney’s fees in a declaratory judgment ...

Second District Court of Appeal reverses trial court's dismissal of plaintiff's complaint against City of Tampa for alleged failure to comply with sovereign entity pre-suit notice requirement February 8, 2017

On February 1, 2017, in Wilson v. City of Tampa , No, 2D15-3953, the 2nd DCA reversed a trial court's dismissal of the plaintiff's negligence complaint against City of Tampa because of the plaintiff's ...

Florida Supreme Court rules that limitation on attorney's fees in Claims Bill was an unconstitutional impairment of contract February 8, 2017

On January 31, 2017, in Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley v, State of Florida , No. SC15-1747, the Florida Supreme Court struck down the portion of a legislative Claims Bill that had sought ...

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