Opinion ID: 6984387
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pavone II and III

Text: Plaintiffs first assert the Town Board abolished the Police Department in order to retaliate against Pavone and other members of the Department for engaging in protected speech. Plaintiffs point out that in a radio interview on September 5, 1996 Supervisor Puglisi said that as a result of the several lawsuits initiated by Pavone and other members of the Police Department she would pursue the abolition of the Department. Some record evidence supports plaintiffs’ interpretation of this radio interview. A second assertion made by Pavone is that he was constructively demoted when the Town Board amended the procedures and policies of the Department in a manner intended to substitute the Town supervisor for the chief of police, and vest in the supervisor direct and absolute administrative control of the day-to-day operations of the Department. Pavone next contends the Town Board adopted revised policies and procedures for the Department that reiterated an alleged “prior restraint” on his communication with the press. The policy states With respect to your conduct at press conferences, other than for press conferences held to discuss an arrest or an accident situation, you are to advise us in advance as to the subject of any press conference that you are going to be calling and such notice shall be given to us prior to your notifying the press. The complaint asserts that this policy was implemented in a manner that effectively served as a prior restraint on speech. In support of such assertion, it states that on June 18, 1996 defendant Lindau publicly and impliedly threatened Pavone with disciplinary action by announcing that he was “not following the direction[s] of the Town Board, one of which is not to talk to the press without getting permission.” According to plaintiffs, on that same day, Lindau further explained that Pavone was not supposed to talk to the press unless he received clearance beforehand from defendant Puglisi or the Town Board. The complaint also charges that, in retaliation for Pavone’s speech, Farrell, Lindau and Puglisi counseled and encouraged George Gottesman, a non-employee, to bring a personal injury suit against Pavone. As to Pavone, Jr., the complaint maintains that he was denied the opportunity to interview for a Police Department job in retaliation against his father’s speech, thus violating the son’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Some of the remaining allegations before us were part of Pavone I, which was discontinued by the 1994 Settlement Agreement, and are now therefore barred by res judicata. Further, some of the present allegations were left out of the complaint, were not addressed by the district court, or were de minimis acts not amounting to an adverse employment action. As such, these allegations do not warrant additional discussion.