Section 1983 imposes civil liability upon any person who, under color of state law, deprives another person of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States.
42 U.S.C. § 1983. When an individual defendant in a
§ 1983 action claims s/he is entitled to qualified immunity, “our first task is to assess whether the plaintiff's allegations are sufficient to establish the violation of a constitutional or statutory right at all.”
Gruenke v. Seip, 225 F.3d 290, 298 (3d Cir.2000). If the plaintiff's allegations meet this threshold, “we must next determine whether, as a legal matter, the right that the defendant's conduct allegedly violates was a clearly established one, about which a reasonable person would have known.”
Id. If so, then the defendant is not entitled to qualified immunity.
Id. If the plaintiff's allegations fail to satisfy either inquiry, then the defendant is entitled to summary judgment.
Id. Until the question of qualified immunity is addressed, a court cannot reach the underlying merits of the case.
Id. at 298–99.