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Reuters General/ ­- Article, Ter, 17 de Abril de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Civil Rights)
U.S. top court: lawyers hired by cities can
seek immunity
By James Vicini WASHINGTON | Tue Apr 17, 2012
1:41pm EDT (Reuters) ­- The Supreme Court ruled on
Tuesday that private attorneys or others temporarily
hired by local governments to conduct investigations
can assert immunity from civil rights lawsuits alleging
constitutional violations and seeking damages. The
high court ruled such individuals were not barred from
getting immunity solely because they do not work for
the government on a permanent or full­-time basis. The
justices unanimously overturned a U.S. appeals court
decision and ruled a private attorney retained by city
officials to help with a personnel investigation can
claim immunity in a lawsuit alleging constitutional
violations. The ruling was a victory for lawyer Steve
Filarsky, who had been hired by the city of Rialto,
California, to investigate possible misuse of sick leave.
Nicholas Delia, a firefighter suspected of improperly
taking sick days, sued Filarsky after the investigation.
Delia was filmed by an investigator buying fiberglass
insulation at a home improvement store while on
medical leave. As part of the investigation, Filarsky
interviewed Delia and asked him about the insulation.
Delia was ordered by the fire chief to retrieve the
insulation from his home. Two department officers
accompanied Delia to his house to get the unopened
rolls of insulation to use in the city's case against him.
City officials ultimately closed the investigation and
took no action against Delia. Delia claimed in his
lawsuit it was an unconstitutional search that violated
his rights and sued the city, the fire department and
Filarsky. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but the
appeals court ruled that Delia could proceed against
Filarsky only. The Supreme Court in an opinion
written by Chief Justice John Roberts ruled for
Filarsky. Roberts wrote that affording immunity to
those hired temporarily allowed the government to
attract individuals with specialized knowledge or
expertise, and that the public interest was served by
their ability to work free from the distraction of potential
lawsuits and liability. He concluded that individuals
temporarily retained by the government should receive
the same immunity enjoyed by their public employee
counterparts. The Obama administration, 27 states,
the American Bar Association and groups representing
cities, mayors and state legislatures all supported
Filarsky while a group representing trial lawyers
backed Delia. Supporters of Filarsky said cities and
counties have been struggling to contain costs amid
massive budget cuts and have hired private attorneys
for work normally done by government employees.
The Supreme Court case is Filarsky v. Delia, No
10­-1018. (Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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