Qualified immunity is a defense that protects public employees in Nevada from civil liability when they injure you or your property while carrying out their official job duties. However, qualified immunity is not available as a defense if the government employee either:
- acted in bad faith, or
- acted unreasonably
Therefore, law enforcement officers who committed police misconduct may not be able to escape civil liability in a personal injury lawsuit if their actions were unjustifiable or not in line with their training.
Note you are never barred from bringing a personal injury lawsuit against the state or city government if you are injured by a state or city employee in Nevada. In many cases, you may be able to avoid a lawsuit altogether by filing a notice of claim and settling with the government.
In this article, our Las Vegas Nevada personal injury attorneys discuss:
- 1. Can I sue police and public employees in Nevada personal injury cases?
- 2. Can I sue police and government officials in federal civil rights cases?
- 3. Can I sue the government in Nevada personal injury cases?
- Additional reading
Police can escape prosecution for causing an injury if they were acting reasonably.
1. Can I sue police and public employees in Nevada personal injury cases?
Nevada’s qualified immunity laws shield government employees from liability for any damage or injuries they cause while they are performing their job. Specifically, government employees may not be held liable for accidents that occur while:
- exercising an essential job duty (such as a police officer administering a breathalyzer test on a DUI arrestee), or
- exercising a discretionary job function (such as a public school gym teacher punishing unruly students by making them run extra laps)
Nevada courts grant government employees substantial leeway to make decisions about how to react to the varied situations they are presented with throughout the day. Even if any harm they caused was avoidable, the legal doctrine of qualified immunity should still protect them from liability as long as they were acting reasonably.
Example: A murder suspect leads police on a high-speed car chase through a Henderson neighborhood. During the chase, one of the police officers makes a wide turn in order to stay on the suspect’s tail and in the process sideswipes a parked vehicle. In Nevada, qualified immunity probably would protect the police officer from property damage liability even if making a wide turn was not necessary to catch the suspect.
Note that qualified immunity does not serve as a defense in personal injury cases if the government employee acted in “bad faith.” In other words, you may sue government employees personally if they deliberately act in an unlawful or unreasonable way.
Example: A liberal UNLV political science professor fails a conservative student in his class solely because of his politics. If the student can show that he did not otherwise deserve to fail and that the professor acted unreasonably, then the professor cannot claim qualified immunity if the student decides to sue him.
Note that qualified immunity extends to not only public employees in Nevada but also independent contractors hired by the state or city. Therefore if the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department hires a phlebotomist at a private hospital to draw a DUI suspect’s blood, the phlebotomist may then be able to claim qualified immunity for any injuries arising out of the blood draw.1
Understandably, there has been renewed interest in qualified immunity laws, police reform, and excessive force (including chokeholds) following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Unlawful searches and seizures
A 2022 Nevada Supreme Court case held that you do have the right to sue police officers for performing an unlawful search. The qualified immunity doctrine does not shield them from liability.2
Federal qualified immunity defense laws are similar to Nevada’s.
2. Can I sue police and government officials in federal civil rights cases?
Government officials accused of breaking federal law can claim qualified immunity under federal law as long as they were acting reasonably in the course of their job. These cases frequently involve police officers accused of committing Section 1983 civil rights violations in Nevada.
Example: A LVMPD officer is performing a traffic stop on a healthy-looking suspect for failure to yield when the suspect suddenly flees. The officer tases him once after warning him. The suspect enters into a coma for several days. If the suspect then sues the officer for violating his Constitutional rights, the officer can probably claim that qualified immunity protects him because his official conduct was reasonable under the circumstances.
Similar to Nevada law, federal qualified immunity laws do not protect government officials from prosecution if they:
- acted in bad faith (such as racial profiling) or
- were clearly unreasonable (such as the unlawful use of police dogs).
Or as a U.S. Supreme Court decision stated,
“qualified immunity protects all but the plainly incompetent or those who knowingly violate the law.”3
The law is clear that law enforcement agencies should avoid deadly force to arrest you if you are not dangerous. Plus they should cease inflicting physical force on you once you are subdued.4
See our related articles on false imprisonment, jail and prison neglect and unlawful police shootings.
3. Can I sue the government in Nevada personal injury cases?
Yes. Sovereign Immunity is an old legal concept that the government is immune from liability simply because it is the government. Fortunately, in Nevada, sovereign immunity does not apply to state and local government in personal injury cases.
If you have been hurt by Nevada state or local officials while they are carrying out their duties, you are allowed to sue the government for damages. Examples of accidents where you may sue the state or local government for negligence include:
- An RTC bus breaks down on the road and collides with you
- Your car falls into a ditch in an improperly maintained city road, causing you to suffer whiplash
- A Nevada Highway Patrol car malfunctions, crashing into your car
Note that if you are injured by a government employee while the employee is off-duty, you usually cannot recover damages from the government.5
Depending on the case, you may be able to sue for compensatory damages to cover your:
Continue scrolling down to learn specific information about suing the state of Nevada and the city of Las Vegas.
Police who act in bad faith are not immune from prosecution under the qualified immunity doctrine.
3.1 Suing the State of Nevada for personal injury
When you get injured by a Nevada state employee or on Nevada state property, you may:
- file a personal injury lawsuit right away and/or
- submit a completed formal claim form to the Nevada Attorney General.
The claim form is a way to avoid litigation and pursue a settlement more quickly. The claim form asks for the following information:
- the settlement amount being sought
- a description of the accident which caused the injury
- an explanation of why the state is responsible for your injury, and
- medical records and/or property value records, depending on the case
The attorney general’s office will then either approve the claim and pay, or else deny the claim. If the claim is denied, you can still bring a lawsuit as long as no more than two (2) years have passed since the injury.
Note that personal injury damages against the Nevada state government are capped at $100,000 per claim. Plus judges may not impose punitive damages against the government.6
3.2. Suing the City of Las Vegas for personal injury
The process of bringing a personal injury lawsuit against the City of Las Vegas is similar to the process of suing the State of Nevada. You may either:
- bring a lawsuit right away or
- try to avoid a lawsuit altogether by submitting to the city a “notice of claim,” which is a formal request for payment of loss, injuries, or damages that the City of Las Vegas allegedly caused.
You can obtain a notice of claim form by calling Las Vegas’s Risk Management Division at (702) 229-4011. Or go in person to the following address between 7:00 A.M. and 5:30 P.M.:
Las Vegas City Hall
495 S Main Street, 1st Floor
Las Vegas, NV 89101
You are strongly encouraged to retain an experienced attorney to complete and submit the form. You should attach all supporting documentation to the form, such as:
- receipts
- estimates
- invoices
- photos
- diagrams
Note that these supporting documents become public documents once you submit them. Most claims are processed within six weeks.
If the City accepts liability and you agree to a settlement, the settlement becomes a public record. If the City of Las Vegas rejects liability for the claim, you can then consult with your attorney about going forward with a civil lawsuit against the City.
Personal injury cases must be brought within two (2) years of the accident. Personal injury damages against the City of Las Vegas are capped at $100,000 per claim. Plus judges may not impose punitive damages against the City.
3.2.1. Car accidents and rental vehicles
When the City of Las Vegas vehicles cause a car accident, the City’s third-party insurance adjuster will offer you a notice of claim form at the accident scene. The adjuster will also arrange for an “economy class” rental car for you if your car:
- is not drivable from the accident scene, or
- is at a licensed body shop for immediate repairs
Note that the City of Las Vegas will not pay for a rental vehicle in the following three circumstances:
- More than 30 days have passed since the City provided you with a rental,
- Your vehicle is drivable even if you are waiting for ordered repairs, or
- The rental car has been upgraded from economy class (unless there are extreme extenuating circumstances)
3.2.2. Medical bills following notice of claim
If the City of Las Vegas accepts liability following notice of claim and the parties agree to a settlement, the City will not pay medical providers directly. Instead, the City will reimburse you for doctor’s bills.
It is your responsibility to communicate with your medical providers and transmit payments on time.7
Additional reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- The Fall and Rise of Qualified Immunity: From Hope to Harris – Nevada Law Journal.
- Qualified Immunity’s Flawed Foundation – California Law Review.
- A New Frontier for Ending Qualified Immunity: State Civil Rights Acts – Public Interest Law Report.
- Sovereign Immunity and Interstate Government Tort – University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform.
- Fair Notice, the Rule of Law, and Reforming Qualified Immunity – Florida Law Review.
Legal References
- NRS 41.032; Falline v. GNL v. Corp., (1991) 107 Nev. 1004, 823 P.2d 888 (“[A]n employee who has suffered damage as a result of the negligent or bad faith failure or refusal by a self-insured employer or its administrator/agent, to process and timely pay claims properly asserted under the Nevada Industrial Insurance Act (NRS 616) may pursue a tort action in accordance with the limitations set forth in this opinion.“).
- Mack v. Williams (Nev. 2022) 522 P.3d 434.
- Mullenix v. Luna, (2015) 136 S. Ct. 305. See also Harlow v. Fitzgerald, (1982) 457 U.S. 800 (“The previously recognized ‘subjective’ aspect of qualified or ‘good faith’ immunity — whereby such immunity is not available if the official asserting the defense ‘took the action with the malicious intention to cause a deprivation of constitutional rights or other injury,’ Wood v. Strickland, 420 U. S. 308, 420 U. S. 322 — frequently has proved incompatible with the principle that insubstantial claims should not proceed to trial. Henceforth, government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate ‘clearly established’ statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.”).
- 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (passed by House and Senate lawmakers in 1979). Sandoval v. Las Vegas Metro Police Dep’t, (9th Cir. 2014) 756 F.3d 1154 (“For qualified immunity purposes, in determining whether a constitutional right was clearly established, it is not enough that there is a generally established proposition that excessive use of force is unlawful…Rather, the ‘contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.’ Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194 (2001) It is, however, ‘not necessary that the alleged acts have been previously held unconstitutional, as long as the unlawfulness [of defendant’s actions] was apparent in light of pre-existing law.’ San Jose Charter of Hells Angels Motorcycle Club v. City of San Jose, 402 F.3d 962, 977 (Ninth Circuit, 2005).”). Pearson v. Callahan, (the Supreme Court, 2009) 555 U.S. 223 (“[A]n officer conducting a search is entitled to qualified immunity where clearly established law does not show that the search violated the Fourth Amendment.”). See also Rivas-Villegas v. Cortesluna (2021) 142 S. Ct. 4. See also Emma Tucker, States tackling ‘qualified immunity’ for police as Congress squabbles over the issue, CNN (April 23, 2021)(“Colorado and New Mexico were the first states to pass legislation that effectively created their own versions of the statute, allowing people to sue designated government officials by creating a new pathway under their state constitutions and barring qualified immunity as a defense. Qualified immunity reform bills are still pending in states such as New York, California and Texas.”).
- NRS 41.031.
- NRS 41.035; NRS 11; NAC 41.100.
- Same; Filing a Notice of Claim, City of Las Vegas, Frequently Asked Questions, lasvegasnevada.gov.