Stilwell v. City of Williams, No. 14-15540 (9th Cir. 2016)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed suit against the City for retaliation, alleging that he was terminated for planning to testify against the City in a lawsuit relating to age discrimination. Plaintiff alleged that his termination violated both the First Amendment and the retaliation provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. 623(d). The court rejected the City's argument that plaintiff's speech was not speech as a citizen on a matter of public concern and so fell outside the First Amendment's protections. In this case, plaintiff's sworn statement and imminent testimony were outside the scope of his ordinary job duties, which means that he was engaged in speech as a citizen for First Amendment purposes. The court also concluded that the retaliation provision of the ADEA does not preclude a plaintiff such as the one in this case from bringing a First Amendment retaliation claim under 42 U.S.C. 1983. Given the substantial difference between the level of scrutiny afforded age discrimination equal protection claims and First Amendment retaliation claims, the court cannot assume that Congress intended the ADEA to affect the availability of section 1983 claims in the same manner in both subject areas. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Court Description: Civil Rights/Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The panel reversed the district court’s summary judgment and remanded in an action brought by a City of Williams employee who alleged that he was fired for planning to testify against the City in a lawsuit relating to age discrimination. The panel first held that plaintiff was engaged in speech as a citizen for First Amendment purposes because his sworn statements and imminent testimony about the City’s retaliatory conduct were outside the scope of his ordinary job duties and were on a matter of public concern. The panel held that the retaliation provision of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), did not
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