Police Dog Bite Lawsuit - Appeal Victory in St. Petersburg Case

Alexander Appellate Law P.A. secured a victory for our St. Petersburg/Clearwater client in McKinley v. Gualtieri, 2D20-3156, 2022 WL 1395523, at *1 (Fla. 2d DCA May 4, 2022). This appeal involved a police dog-bite lawsuit after a K9 attack at a public stadium, raising important questions about sovereign immunity and accountability.

Police Dog Attack Litigation and Sovereign Immunity

In March 2018, Robert McKinley was walking through the TD Ballpark stadium when he was bitten without provocation by a deputy sheriff’s K9 unit. Mr. McKinley suffered severe injuries to his right arm.

After suing the sheriff’s office, the St. Petersburg trial court dismissed his case, ruling that sovereign immunity protected the sheriff from liability. Sovereign immunity protects the government from lawsuits for engaging in discretionary, policy-level decision-making, but does not protect the government from lawsuits aimed at operational-level conduct.

Our firm was retained to handle the appeal. In the appeal, we argued that under Florida Supreme Court case law, police can be sued for negligent handling of equipment—like cars or firearms—and that a police dog was a form of equipment. We also argued that handling a police dog was “operational” rather than “policy-level” behavior, making this police-dog attack litigation permissible under Florida law.

Court of Appeal Ruling in the Police Dog Bite Lawsuit

The Second District Court of Appeal agreed, holding:

we do not hesitate to conclude that although the decision to patrol the baseball venue with K-9s may have been discretionary, the act of patrolling the venue with K-9s was operational. Therefore, McKinley's lawsuit is not barred by sovereign immunity. Accordingly, we vacate the order dismissing McKinley's fourth amended complaint and remand for further proceedings

McKinley v. Gualtieri, 2D20-3156, 2022 WL 1395523, at *6 (Fla. 2d DCA May 4, 2022).