Opinion ID: 176785
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Occupational-Liberty Claim

Text: Palka has also alleged a violation of his interest in occupational liberty. This claim appears to rest on Tobias's complaint to the Sheriff's Department and the County's failure to give him a retirement badge and firearms credentials following his resignation. An occupational-liberty claim may arise when, after an adverse employment action, a public employer stigmatizes the employee by making public comments impugning his good name, honor, or reputation or imposes a stigma that forecloses other employment opportunities. Bd. of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 573-74, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). Under this doctrine, a plaintiff must plead that (1) the defendant made stigmatizing comments about him; (2) those comments were publicly disclosed; and (3) he suffered a tangible loss of other employment opportunities as a result of the public disclosure. Townsend, 256 F.3d at 669-70. The public-disclosure element requires that the defendant actually disseminate the stigmatizing comments in a way that would reach potential future employers or the community at large. Ratliff v. City of Milwaukee, 795 F.2d 612, 627 (7th Cir. 1986) (no public disclosure and therefore no constitutional violation where communications regarding reasons for discharge were disseminated internally); see also Johnson v. Martin, 943 F.2d 15, 16-17 (7th Cir.1991) (same). Palka alleged that the complaint Tobias filed with the Sheriff's Department falsely asserted that he engaged in criminal conduct and that his failure to receive a retirement badge and firearms credentials upon his resignation exacerbated the impression left by the false allegations. But Tobias's complaint was not publicly disclosed; Tobias's stigmatizing allegations were made only to the Sheriff's Department, Palka's employer, and not a potential future employer. That the allegations were relayed to the State's Attorney's Office does not make a difference. The State's Attorney's Office has an obligation of confidentiality, and there is no allegation that Tobias's complaint reached potential future employers. An occupational-liberty claim requires that the circumstances made it virtually impossible for [the plaintiff] to find a new position in his chosen profession. Lashbrook v. Oerkfitz, 65 F.3d 1339, 1349 (7th Cir. 1995) (citing Ratliff, 795 F.2d at 625). The district court properly dismissed this claim.