Cite as: 510 U. S. 471 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
Here, Meyer brought precisely the claim that the logic of Bivens supports—a Bivens claim for damages against Pattullo, the FSLIC employee who terminated him.10
An additional problem with Meyer's "logic" argument is the fact that we implied a cause of action against federal officials in Bivens in part because a direct action against the Government was not available. Id., at 410 (Harlan, J., concurring in judgment). In essence, Meyer asks us to imply a damages action based on a decision that presumed the absence of that very action.
Meyer's real complaint is that Pattullo, like many Bivens defendants, invoked the protection of qualified immunity. But Bivens clearly contemplated that official immunity would be raised. Id., at 397 (noting that "the District Court [had] ruled that . . . respondents were immune from liability by virtue of their official position"). More importantly, Meyer's proposed "solution"—essentially the circumvention of qualified immunity—would mean the evisceration of the Bivens remedy, rather than its extension. It must be remembered that the purpose of Bivens is to deter the officer. See Carlson v. Green, 446 U. S. 14, 21 (1980) ("Because the Bivens remedy is recoverable against individuals, it is a more effective deterrent than the FTCA remedy against the United States"). If we were to imply a damages action directly against federal agencies, thereby permitting claimants to bypass qualified immunity, there would be no reason for aggrieved parties to bring damages actions against individual officers. Under Meyer's regime, the deterrent effects of the Bivens remedy would be lost.
10 Although not critical to our analysis, we note that in addition to the Bivens claim against Pattullo, Meyer initially brought a contractual claim against FSLIC, which he later dropped. Meyer also could have filed a claim with FSLIC as receiver for the value of any contractual rights he believed were violated. See 12 U. S. C. § 1729(d) (repealed 1989); 12 CFR §§ 569a.6, 569a.7 (1982); Coit Independence Joint Venture v. FSLIC, 489 U. S. 561, 580-581 (1989).
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