Jeff Bardzik v. County of Orange, et al, No. 09-55103 (9th Cir. 2011)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff sued defendant under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that defendant violated plaintiff's First Amendment right to free speech by retaliating against him for supporting defendant's opponent in the 2006 Sheriff's election. At issue is whether plaintiff was a "policymaker" under Branti v. Finkel or at the very least, defendant was entitled to qualified immunity for his actions. The court held that defendant was entitled to qualified immunity for his actions retaliating against plaintiff while plaintiff was a Reserve Division Commander because plaintiff was a policymaker in that position. The court also held that defendant was not entitled to qualified immunity for any further retaliatory action against plaintiff once plaintiff was transferred to Court Operations because plaintiff was not a policymaker at Court Operations under clearly established law.
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