Roybal v. Toppenish School District, No. 15-35541 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit granted the denial of qualified immunity to defendants on plaintiff's due process claim, and dismissed the denial of qualified immunity to defendants on plaintiff's First Amendment claim. Plaintiff, a former school principal, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that the school district reduced his salary without due process and retaliated against him for speaking to an attorney about his evaluation. The court held that the district court erred in holding that Toppenish violated due process by failing to comply with procedures required under state law when it reduced plaintiff's salary. The panel explained that federal due process did not necessarily entitle a plaintiff to the same procedures provided by state law. The panel also held that it lacked jurisdiction at this stage to review the denial of qualified immunity as to plaintiff's First Amendment claim because the district court had found genuine issues of material fact existed regarding the claim.
Court Description: Civil Rights. On interlocutory appeal in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action, the panel reversed the district court’s order denying qualified immunity to defendants on plaintiff’s due process claim, and dismissed, for lack of jurisdiction, the district court’s order denying qualified immunity to defendants on plaintiff’s First Amendment claim. Plaintiff, a former school principal, alleged that the Toppenish School District reduced his salary without due process and retaliated against him for speaking to an attorney about his performance evaluation. The panel held plaintiff had a protected property interest under Washington State law in the salary he received as a principal. The panel held, however, that the School District was not required under federal law to provide plaintiff with a predeprivation probable cause hearing pursuant to Washington Revised Code § 28.405.300. The panel noted that federal due process does not necessarily entitle a plaintiff to the same procedures provided by state law. In this case, the state-created protections reached beyond those guaranteed by federal law. The panel held that pursuant to Cleveland Bd. of Educ. v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532 (1985), plaintiff received all the process due to him when he twice received notice that the District was reassigning him and was provided with opportunities to be heard in his own defense. ROYBAL V. TOPPENISH SCH. DIST. 3 The panel held that it lacked jurisdiction over the district court’s order denying qualified immunity as to the First Amendment claim because the district court had found genuine issues of material fact existed regarding the claim. The panel held, therefore, that the issue of whether the School District violated plaintiff’s First Amendment rights was categorically unreviewable on interlocutory appeal. Moreover, the panel determined that the First Amendment retaliation claim was not “inextricably intertwined” with the due process claim such that the panel could exercise pendent jurisdiction to review it.
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