Swanson v. Whitworth, No. 10-1658 (7th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CaseSwanson purchased a lakeside home, next to the home of Whitworth, the elected mayor of Chetek. Swanson obtained a permit for “remodel-repair” and began work, including installation of a three-foot high fence between his property and Whitworth’s and along the street. Whitworth repeatedly told a building inspector that he should not have issued a permit; repeatedly entered the Swanson house without permission; used his influence to cause another inspector to delay a fence permit; told the fence installation team that Swanson was a drug dealer and unlikely to pay; and caused municipal prosecution of Swanson for construction of the fence in violation of a five-foot setback that did not apply to Swanson’s fence. Meanwhile, another neighbor of Swanson, installed a fence that encroached on part of Swanson’s property, without a permit, and was not prosecuted. Swanson filed a class-of-one equal protection suit and defamation and slander claims. The magistrate judge granted summary judgment for Whitworth, finding that Swanson did not show a similarly situated individual who received more favorable treatment. The Seventh Circuit reversed. A clear showing of animus, absent a “robust comparison” to a similarly situated individual, may sustain a class-of-one equal protection claim.
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