United States Fourth Circuit

Dismissal of plaintiff's claim of employer retaliation, based on the content of his truthful testimony at a public hearing, is affirmed where his testimony was not a matter of public concern.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/23/2004
• Published 08/23/2004

Judges

• Before WILKINS, Chief Judge, WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge, and David R. HANSEN, Senior Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• ARGUED:Joseph Michael McGuinness, Elizabethtown, North Carolina, for Appellant.  Norwood Pitt Blanchard, III, Cranfill, Sumner & Hartzog, L.L.P., Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees.   ON BRIEF:Patricia L. Holland, Rachel K. Esposito, Cranfill, Sumner & Hartzog, L.L.P., Raleigh, North Carolina, for Appellees.  William J. Johnson, National Association of Police Organizations, Inc., Washington, D.C., for NAPO;  Richard Hattendorf, Fraternal Order of Police, Charlotte, North Carolina, for FOP;  M. Travis Payne, Edelstein and Payne, Raleigh, North Carolina, for Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics of North Carolina and North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers;  John W. Gresham, Ferguson Stein Chambers, Charlotte, North Carolina, for North Carolina Association of Educators, Amici Supporting Appellant.  James B. Blackburn, III, North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, Raleigh, North Carolina, for NCACC;  Allison Brown Schafer, North Carolina School Boards Association, Raleigh, North Carolina, for NCSBA;  M. Daniel McGinn, Brooks, Pierce, Mclendon, Humphrey & Leonard, L.L.P., Greensboro, North Carolina, for Amici Supporting Appellees.