Charitable Immunity Nonprofit Liability Limit

What Is Charitable Immunity?

For over a century, American courts protected churches, hospitals, and charities from lawsuits under the charitable immunity doctrine. The theory was that nonprofits serve the public good, and allowing injured people to sue them for damages would drain their limited charitable resources, ultimately harming the communities they serve.

Under traditional charitable immunity, if a volunteer at a nonprofit food bank accidentally dropped a shelf on a visitor, breaking their arm, the food bank was completely shielded from liability. The injured visitor could not sue, no matter how negligent the charity was.

Florida's Abolition of Charitable Immunity

Florida has largely abolished the charitable immunity doctrine. The Florida Supreme Court, in Nicholson v. Good Samaritan Hospital (1954) and subsequent cases, ruled that charitable organizations can be held liable for their negligent acts, just like any private business.

However, important statutory protections still exist for specific categories:

• Volunteer Protection — Under Florida Statute 768.1355, individual volunteers of nonprofit organizations are immune from civil liability for acts committed within the scope of their volunteer duties, as long as the volunteer was not grossly negligent or acting in bad faith.
• Officers and Directors — Under Florida Statute 617.0834, officers and directors of nonprofit corporations are shielded from personal liability for acts performed in good faith in their official capacity.
• Sovereign Immunity Analogy — Government-funded charities that operate as agents of the state may claim sovereign immunity protections under Florida Statute 768.28.

Related Terms

• Damages — The financial recovery that charitable immunity historically blocked
• Comparative Negligence — The fault allocation framework applied when a charity is sued
• Corporate Veil Piercing — May expose individual nonprofit directors if immunity is lost

Barnes Walker Nonprofit Law

Barnes Walker's attorneys advise Florida nonprofit boards on the limits of charitable immunity, structuring robust liability insurance programs and governance procedures that protect the organization and its volunteer directors from personal exposure in negligence lawsuits. Request a legal inquiry for assistance.

Reviewed by the attorneys at Barnes Walker, Goethe, Shea & Robinson, PLLC