Opinion ID: 155479
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Plaintiff Willard L. Houston

Text: Plaintiff Houston was employed by the City of Waurika as supervisor of the Street Department from 1989 until his termination on June 1, 1993. At the beginning of May 1993, defendant Jerry Wallace was elected to the city council. Several days later, the City Manager was terminated, and council member Wallace took over as Acting City Manager for approximately five days. According to plaintiff Houston, on the day after council member Wallace took over as City Manager, he directed Houston and other city employees to begin hauling trash from the city transfer station, including batteries, roofing materials, tires, oil sweepings, and metal scraps, to a swamp by the side of a road, and to dispose of the trash in the swamp. Houston protested that the dumping was illegal, but did as he was told. Defendant Winford Bickerstaff was then appointed Acting City Manager, on or about May 10, 1993, and continued in that position until he was replaced by Nolan Combs on June 17, 1993. After Bickerstaff took over, he continued to require plaintiff Houston to move the trash from the transfer station to the swamp, and instructed Houston to dump the trash in a new place as well. Houston protested the dumping as illegal on several occasions, and warned Bickerstaff that the City would get in trouble. Houston testified that on each occasion Bickerstaff told him that it was none of his business, and that he should keep his mouth shut. -5- Approximately a week later, Civil Defense Director Harold Winton approached plaintiff Houston and asked him about the dumping. Houston told Winton what was being dumped and Winton contacted the State Health Department. Several days later, a representative of the Health Department, Jeff Lawler, arrived at the transfer station from which the trash was being hauled. When Lawler inquired about the destination of the trash, Houston told Lawler that he was placing Houston in a difficult position regarding his job, but that he couldn’t stop Lawler from following him. See Appellant’s App. at 218. Lawler followed Houston, watched him dump the trash in the swamp, and then contacted City Manager Bickerstaff. According to Houston, Bickerstaff then told Houston “to keep [his] mouth shut, not to be running [his] mouth if [he] wanted to keep [his] job.” Id. at 225. The City was eventually required to remove all of the dumped trash from the swamp. In mid-May, at approximately the same time these events were occurring, several city council members contacted City Manager Bickerstaff about payments plaintiff Houston received for parts used in repairing city vehicles. Houston occasionally repaired vehicles for the city at no charge, but submitted receipts for the parts, for which the city council approved payment. Houston had previously owned a starter and alternator repair business, and some of the parts for which he received reimbursement came from his leftover inventory. Believing these -6- payments violated the city charter, the council members told Bickerstaff that Houston should be terminated. The evidence is conflicting as to whether council member Wallace participated in this discussion. On May 26, 1993, the City Attorney confirmed that the payments may have violated the city charter, and on June 1, 1993, plaintiff Houston was terminated from his employment. Plaintiff Houston brought claims against the City, former City Manager Bickerstaff, and council member Wallace, alleging that he was terminated because of his speech regarding the illegal dumping, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, several environmental regulatory statutes, and the public policy of Oklahoma. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants, noting first its doubts whether Houston had engaged in protected speech, but concluding that even if he had, Houston failed to show a nexus between his speech and his termination. The district court denied Houston’s motion to reconsider, and this appeal followed.