Mills v. Kinnan and Pumphrey v. Kinnan

Summary

The Florida Second District Court of Appeal consolidated Rick Mills's and Troy Pumphrey's petitions for certiorari review of an order denying their motions for summary judgment. The court held that the petitioners were entitled to common-law absolute immunity from the Kinnans' malicious prosecution claims because the claims were based on allegedly false statements made within the scope of the petitioners' official duties. The court granted the petitions and quashed the challenged portion of the trial court's order.

Holdings

1. The court has certiorari jurisdiction to review the trial court's denial of Mills's and Pumphrey's claimed absolute immunity because immunity from suit protects them from having to defend the action at all, and that injury cannot be remedied by an appeal after final judgment.
2. A public official's absolute immunity is determined by the underlying conduct rather than the label of the cause of action. When a malicious prosecution claim is premised on allegedly false statements made within the scope of the official's duties, absolute immunity protects the official from the claim.
3. The record conclusively established that Mills's and Pumphrey's investigations, preparation of misconduct reports, and communications to the Department of Education occurred within the scope of their respective official duties.
4. The alleged falsity, misleading nature, maliciousness, or legal insufficiency of the reports did not place Mills's or Pumphrey's conduct outside the scope of their duties and did not defeat absolute immunity.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the denial of common-law absolute immunity is reviewable by certiorari because immunity protects public officials from having to defend a suit at all.
2. Whether public officials are absolutely immune from malicious prosecution claims when the claims are premised on allegedly false statements made or caused to be made within the scope of their official duties.
3. Whether allegedly false, misleading, malicious, or legally insufficient reports take conduct outside the scope of a public official's duties.

Disposition

quashed