United States Ninth Circuit

Summary judgment for defendants in an action brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. section 1983 by a tenured associate university professor who alleged that university administrators retaliated against him in violation of the First Amendment for distributing a short pamphlet and drafts from an in-progress book, is affirmed in part and reversed in part, where: 1) there is an exception to Garcetti v. Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006) for teaching and academic writing, such speech is governed by Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563 (1968); 2) under Pickering, the short pamphlet addressed a matter of public concern; 3) there was insufficient evidence in the record to show that the in-progress book triggered retaliation against plaintiff; and 4) defendants were entitled to qualified immunity from damages, given the uncertain state of the law in the wake of Garcetti.

Appellate Information

• Decided 01/29/2014
• Published 01/29/2014

Judges

• FLETCHER

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel