Is a defendant entitled to a shield of qualified immunity in a civil damages action?

stage of a civil damages action, a defendant is entitled to the shield of qualified immunity if the allegations of the complaint fail to state a claim that his conduct violated "clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982). With these principles in mind, we examine the district court's decision denying defendants' motion to dismiss based on qualified immunity.

I Existence of Right in Question