Opinion ID: 42939
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Protected Liberty Interest Claim

Text: 33 Protected liberty interests include the freedom to work and earn a living. Bd. of Regents of State Colls. v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 577, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). There [may] be cases in which a State refused to re-employ a person under such circumstances that interests in liberty would be implicated. Id. at 573, 92 S.Ct. 2701. To determine if a public employee has been deprived of a protected liberty interest, this court must find that he was either: 34 terminated for a reason which was (i) false, (ii) publicized, and (iii) stigmatizing to his standing or reputation in his community or [] terminated for a reason that was (i) false and (ii) had a stigmatizing effect such that (iii) he was denied other employment opportunities as a result. 35 Cabrol v. Town of Youngsville, 106 F.3d 101, 107 (5th Cir.1997) (citing Bd. of Regents of State Colls., 408 U.S. at 564, 92 S.Ct. 2701; Codd v. Velger, 429 U.S. 624, 627, 628, 97 S.Ct. 882, 51 L.Ed.2d 92, (1977) ( per curiam )); Moore v. Miss. Valley State Univ., 871 F.2d 545, 549 (5th Cir.1989); Wells v. Hico I.S.D., 736 F.2d 243, 256-57 (5th Cir.1984). 36 The district court found that Dr. Whiting had been accused of academic fraud; the veracity of that accusation is central to this suit. Neither party disputes that such an accusation would have a stigmatizing effect for a university professor. 37 Dr. Whiting alleged that she had lost job opportunities due to the denial of tenure, but, as the district court noted, did not (and does not) allege that she lost the opportunities because of the false and or stigmatizing information contained in her file. As we have stated before, [w]hile it is generally understood that the loss of a job can be stigmatizing in itself, the law requires more to find a liberty deprivation. Cabrol, 106 F.3d at 107 (citing Wells, 736 F.2d at 258). 38 Dr. Whiting does argue that she has suffered a reputational loss within her community; viz., USM. The question is whether she has raised a genuine question of material fact as to whether the accusations were publicized. To avoid summary judgement based on appellant's argument, Dr. Whiting must show that `the governmental agency has made or is likely to make the ... stigmatizing charges public in any official or intentional manner, other than in connection with the defense of [the related legal] action.' Wells v. Hico I.S.D., 736 F.2d 243, 255 (5th Cir. 1984) (quoting Ortwein v. Mackey, 511 F.2d 696, 699 (5th Cir.1975)). This court has previously held that 39 the mere presence of defamatory information in confidential personnel files does not amount to a violation of one's liberty rights. See Walker v. Alexander, 569 F.2d 291, 294 (5th Cir.1978); Ortwein v. Mackey, 511 F.2d 696, 699 (5th Cir.1975); Sims v. Fox, 505 F.2d 857, 864 (5th Cir.1974) (en banc), cert. denied, 421 U.S. 1011, 95 S.Ct. 2415, 44 L.Ed.2d 678(1975). However, where the information contained in the allegedly confidential files is clearly false, and there is a possibility that the information will not be kept confidential, we have held that an evidentiary hearing is required to determine the issues of confidentiality and the potential prejudice to the plaintiff's standing in the community and to his employment opportunities. Swilley v. Alexander, 629 F.2d 1018, 1022 (5th Cir.1980). 40 Burris v. Willis Indep. Sch. Dist., Inc., 713 F.2d 1087, 1092 (5th Cir.1983). 41 Dr. Whiting claims that adequate publication had occurred via preparation of transcripts and cites the record in stating that Defendants concede that at least 30 people, all of whom were participants in the tenure and promotion process, heard the allegation during the tenure and promotion process. She also argues that no evidence has been offered to suggest that those thirty people were in any way precluded from discussing the accusation. Furthermore, she argues, the information had been placed in her file, leaving it accessible to other potential employers, and the information spread by Dana Thames through the Department, the College, and the University. In her deposition, however, Dr. Whiting concedes that although she had discussed the facts of her suit with people outside of USM, she had no knowledge of whether defendants had discussed her case with anyone outside of the tenure and promotion process. 42 Any distribution of the information regarding the charges against Dr. Whiting thus seems confined to the setting in which they were made — the hearings for the tenure process — and to Dr. Whiting's personnel file. Dr. Whiting does not point to any concrete manner in which defendants have published or will publish, in an official or intentional manner, the alleged accusations outside of the various tenure committees. Cf., Burris, 713 F.2d 1087, 1092-93 (5th Cir.1983). Furthermore, in her deposition Dr. Whiting denied any knowledge that the defendants had disseminated the charges against her outside of the tenure process. Dr. Whiting therefore has not created a material question of fact as to whether the defendants acted in any official or intentional manner to publicize the alleged accusations regarding academic fraud. 43 Dr. Whiting thus does not meet the requirements that warrant finding deprivation of a liberty interest. Since she cannot assert that claim, nor claim deprivation of a property interest, the District Court correctly granted summary judgment against her on her due process claims. 44