RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

November 2007

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Eleventh Circuit Finds Public Officials Entitled to Qualified Immunity on Equal Protection Claim Relative to Environmental Enforcement
Griffin Industries, Inc. v. Tommy Irvin, ___F.3d___

Griffin Industries owes and operates a chicken rendering plant in Georgia. As a result of permit negotiations with regulatory officials relative to its Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permits, Grif-fin brought suit under § 1983 alleging (among other claims) government regulators and some local citizens violated its equal protection rights by subjecting the plant to more rigorous environmental regulation. The defendants filed motions to dismiss Griffin’s equal protection claims and alleged qualified immunity. The District Court dismissed all but Griffin’s equal protection and conspiracy claims. Defendants filed an interlocutory appeal from the District Court’s denial of qualified immunity. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held that Griffin failed to allege a violation of its equal protection rights on a “class of one” theory, and even assuming that Griffin had alleged a constitutional violation, the defendants were protected under the doctrine of qualified immunity.