United States Supreme Court

In a suit brought by a demoted police officer, claiming that the police chief and other defendants had demoted him because, in their mistaken view, he had engaged in conduct that constituted protected speech, the Third Circuit's decision, that plaintiff's claim was actionable under 42 U.S.C. section 1983 only if his employer's action was prompted by plaintiff's actual rather than his perceived exercise of his free-speech rights, is reversed where when an employer demotes an employee out of a desire to prevent the employee from engaging in protected political activity, the employee is entitled to challenge that unlawful action under the First Amendment and section 1983, even if the employer's actions are based on a factual mistake about the employee's behavior.

Appellate Information

• Published 2016/04/26

Judges

• BREYER

Court

• United States Supreme Court

Counsel