Robert Stanley Williams v. Samuel P. Collins, Jr.

PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge:

Officials of the Army Corps of Engineers appeal from the denial of their motion for dismissal or summary judgment, claiming that the doctrine of absolute immunity under Barr v. Matteo, 360 U.S. 564, 79 S.Ct. 1335, 3 L.Ed.2d 1434 (1959), insulates them from liability to Williams on his common law tort claims. We hold that orders denying absolute immunity are automatically appealable under Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949), and finding defendants immune, reverse on the merits.

I

On April 26, 1982,…