Hagen v. City of Eugene, et al., No. 12-35492 (9th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against the City of Eugene, the Police Department (EPD), and others, alleging that they violated his First Amendment rights when they removed him from his position on the EPD K-9 team in retaliation for repeatedly airing concerns about work-related safety issues to his supervisors. The court concluded that the evidence presented to the jury did not reasonably permit the conclusion that plaintiff established a retaliation claim where, as here, a public employee reports departmental-safety concerns to his or her supervisors pursuant to a duty to do so, that employee did not speak as a private citizen and was not entitled to First Amendment protection. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's denial of defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law and held that defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
Court Description: Civil Rights. The panel reversed the district court’s denial of defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law, following a jury trial, in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action in which plaintiff alleged that defendants violated his First Amendment rights when they removed him from his position with the Eugene Police Department’s K-9 team in retaliation for his repeatedly airing concerns about work-related safety issues to his supervisors. The panel concluded that the evidence presented to the jury did not reasonably permit the conclusion that plaintiff established a First Amendment retaliation claim. Where, as in this case, a public employee reports departmental-safety concerns to his or her supervisors pursuant to a duty to do so, that employee does not speak as a private citizen and is not entitled to First Amendment protection. The panel reversed the judgment and held that defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.
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