Singer v. Harris, No. 17-1972 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants in an action brought by plaintiff after he was terminated as an employee of the Arkansas State Treasurer. The court held that plaintiff's initial argument regarding his defamation, false light, and invasion of privacy claims were without merit because the district court had denied summary judgment on these issues; the district court appropriately granted Defendant Milligan, in his official capacity as Treasurer of the State of Arkansas, summary judgment on plaintiff's Rehabilitation Act claim where the Treasurer neither accepted nor distributed federal financial assistance; the district court's jury instructions on defamation were not erroneous; the district court did not abuse its discretion by failing to give plaintiff's proposed jury instructions regarding invasion of privacy, agency, and cat's paw theory as to the Americans with Disabilities Act claim; and plaintiff's claims regarding whistleblowing activities were not supported by the record and were therefore rejected by the court.
Court Description: Shepherd, Author, with Wollman and Erickson, Circuit Judges] Civil case. Defendant Milligan, in his official capacity as the Treasurer of the State of Arkansas, was immune from claims arising under the Rehabilitation Act as he neither accepted nor distributed federal financial assistance; jury instructions on defamation were not erroneous; the court did not abuse its discretion when it refused to give plaintiff's proposed supplemental instruction on invasion of privacy or his proposed instruction on agency and cat's paw theory in relation to an ADA claim; claims the district court improperly excluded evidence of plaintiff's whistle-blowing activities were not supported by references to the record and would not be considered.
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