In Adam Community Center v. City of Troy, (ED MI, Aug. 26,2020), a Michigan federal district court held that members of a city's Zoning Board of Appeal who voted to deny a zoning variance sought by a mosque are entitled to qualified immunity in a suit against them personally for damages. The court said in part:
The record does not present sufficient evidence to establish that the Individual Defendants knew or should have known their straightforward application of the seemingly legal zoning regulations, which impose different setback requirements on places of worship and places of business, would violate Plaintiff’s constitutional rights. And Plaintiff provides no legal authority clearly establishing that a government official violates a citizen’s right to freedom of religion when it enforces an apparently valid zoning ordinance for facially neutral reasons that may or may not interfere with the citizen’s right to express her religion.
Moreover, Plaintiff fails to present sufficient evidence to establish that each of the of the Individual Defendants, in voting to deny Plaintiff’s variance application, acted with discriminatory intent or religious annimus...
However, in finding that the Individual Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity, the Court cautions that its decision here should in no way be construed as a finding that Plaintiff’s constitutional rights were not violated by the ZBA’s decision, or as absolving the ZBA , the City, or any of the Entity Defendants from potential liability.
