XII. Relationship Between Individual and Municipal Liability

• Library: Sword and Shield: A Practical Approach to Section 1983 Litigation (ABA) (2015 Ed.)

XII. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INDIVIDUAL AND MUNICIPAL LIABILITY

A. Bifurcation of Personal-Capacity and Municipal Liability Claim

When § 1983 claims are brought against a state or local official in her personal capacity and against a municipal entity, the district court has discretion either to bifurcate the claims or to try them jointly.²³⁶ Section 1983 plaintiffs generally favor a joint trial, because in a joint trial the plaintiff, in an attempt to establish municipal liability, may be allowed to introduce evidence of other wrongs by the defendant officers, wrongdoing by other officers, or actions of a municipal policymaker, albeit with limiting instruction that the evidence be considered only on the issue of municipal liability. Section 1983 defendants normally seek bifurcation in order to thwart this stratagem. Federal trial judges tend to favor bifurcation in the hope of avoiding trial of the municipal liability claim. In other words, if plaintiff's claim against the individual officer fails, there may be no basis for imposing municipal liability, and if it succeeds, there may be no practical necessity for the plaintiff to continue to pursue the municipal liability claim.

B. Los Angeles v. Heller

In Los Angeles v. Heller,²³⁷ the plaintiff asserted § 1983 false arrest and excessive force claims. The complaint alleged personal capacity and municipal liability claims. The Supreme Court held that a determination in the first phase that the individual officer defendant did not violate the plaintiff's federally protected rights required dismissal of the municipal liability claim. This is because the municipal liability claim was premised on the...