Opinion ID: 795988
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Qualified Immunity for Commissioner Ward

Text: 17 The district court ruled on the pleadings that Commissioner Ward was entitled to qualified immunity and dismissed him as a defendant. Once a defendant raises the defense of qualified immunity, a plaintiff must plead the violation of a clearly established constitutional right. Jackson v. Schultz, 429 F.3d 586, 589 (6th Cir. 2005). Dismissal based on qualified immunity is only appropriate if it is clear that no violation of a clearly established constitutional right could be found under any set of facts that could be proven consistent with the allegations or pleadings. Id. 18 The plaintiffs identify several clearly established constitutional rights that they claim Ward violated, preventing him from being entitled to qualified immunity. They claim that the prohibition of tattoos and the requirement that park workers keep their shirts tucked in violates the First Amendment's protection of free speech. They also contend that the imposition, without sufficient notice, of the dress code policies that they claim are vague and arbitrary amounts to a due process violation under the Fourteenth Amendment. Additionally, the plaintiffs contend that the requirement that they tuck their shirts in while working in the outdoor heat violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment due to health and safety implications.
19 The district court found that the Parks Department's appearance policy did not implicate a clearly established First Amendment right because it did not involve a matter of public concern, and thus is not protected speech for a government employee. As the district court recognized, the Supreme Court has acknowledged that when acting as an employer, a government entity has far broader discretion to regulate the speech of its employees than it does as a sovereign regulating the speech of its citizens. 1 D. Ct. Op., Sept. 22, 2004, at 8 (citing Waters v. Churchill, 511 U.S. 661, 671, 114 S.Ct. 1878, 128 L.Ed.2d 686 (1994)). For a government employee's speech to be protected under the First Amendment, it must, as a threshold matter, involve a matter of public concern. Garcetti v. Ceballos, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 1951, 1958, 164 L.Ed.2d 689 (2006). The district court ruled that neither the plaintiffs' refusal to tuck in their shirts, nor Leslie's display of his Navy tattoo, involves matters of public concern, and thus was not protected. 20 The Supreme Court appears to have identified two lines of cases under which a state employer's limitations upon the speech of its employees can violate the First Amendment. See City of San Diego v. Roe, 543 U.S. 77, 80, 125 S.Ct. 521, 160 L.Ed.2d 410 (2004). The first line of cases involves instances where a public employee speaks out about some functioning of the branch of government for which he or she works, a matter on which he or she [is] uniquely qualified to comment by virtue of their job status. Id. Because constructive criticism of the government can be a legitimate matter of concern to its citizens, these types of statements can be protected against retaliatory conduct from supervisors if they do not primarily involve comments about employment that are personal in nature. Id. at 83, 125 S.Ct. 521 (a public employee's speech is entitled to Pickering [ v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968)] balancing only when the employee speaks `as a citizen upon matters of public concern' rather than 'as an employee upon matters only of personal interest.' (quoting Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983))). Given that the statements go to the functioning of the government entity in question, however, the government has some added leeway in limiting such speech due to its status as the employer. See United States v. National Treasury Employees Union, et al., 513 U.S. 454, 466, 115 S.Ct. 1003, 130 L.Ed.2d 964 (1995) (hereinafter NTEU ). 21 The other line of cases involves government regulation of statements that are unrelated to the employee's job. See id.; City of San Diego, 543 U.S. at 80, 125 S.Ct. 521; Rankin v. McPherson, 483 U.S. 378, 388, 107 S.Ct. 2891, 97 L.Ed.2d 315 (1987). Where the speech is unrelated to the job of the employee and involves a matter of public concern, it appears to be entitled to greater protection, as it is less likely to disrupt the efficient functioning of the workplace. See NTEU, 513 U.S. at 466, 115 S.Ct. 1003. Both types of cases are based on the principle that the speech must involve a matter of public concern to be protected, and that the government must have an adequate justification for treating the employee differently from any other member of the general public. Garcetti, 126 S.Ct. at 1958. This balancing test reflects the importance of the relationship between the speaker's expressions and employment. Id. The focus of the balancing test, first articulated in Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968), is whether the restrictions imposed on the speech of a government employee are directed at speech that has some potential to affect the entity's operations. Garcetti, 126 S.Ct. at 1958. 22 The plaintiffs provide little argument to rebut the determination that untucked shirts do not amount to speech on a matter of public concern. There is no suggestion, for example, that they were untucking their shirts to express their opinion on some political question. Rather, they emphasize that the rule was arbitrary and unreasonable, and that they kept their shirts untucked because they were uncomfortable when they tucked them in. The state, on the other hand, justifies the policy as a regulation of their employees' appearance. Whether or not the policy was somehow unfair as applied to the plaintiffs, as they argue here, there is no basis for questioning the district court's determination that it did not involve speech on a matter of public concern, and thus does not implicate any clearly established First Amendment rights. 23 Leslie's USN tattoo, on the other hand, presents a potentially closer question. The district court summarily determined that the tattoo also did not involve a matter of public concern. Leslie contends, however, that the tattoo expresses his  support, loyalty and affection for the U.S. Navy. Viewing the significance Leslie attributes to the tattoo in this light, support for the military seems to come much closer to involving a matter of public concern than do the untucked shirts. We have held that the subjective intent of the speaker is a relevant, albeit not controlling factor in whether the speech is a matter of public concern. Banks v. Wolfe County Bd. of Educ., 330 F.3d 888, 894 (6th Cir. 2003). Further, Leslie's support for the military is unrelated to his job as a state park employee. The state argues that Leslie's tattoo can only be said to reflect his personal service in the Navy, and given its form as a tattoo, involves a matter of personal taste and decoration, and thus cannot rise to the level of speech on a matter of legitimate public concern. Appellee's Br. at 11. 24 For qualified immunity purposes, because some dress code limitations are permissible, we find that an individual's decision to display a tattoo such as Leslie's is not a clearly established right.
25 The plaintiffs claim that Ward infringed on their clearly established due process rights by unilaterally changing the dress code policy, presumably through his May 17, 2004 email. They claim that although the email purported to implement an existing policy, it in fact represented a new policy altogether. They argue that this implementation did not comply with chapter 13A of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, which requires the formal administrative procedures of public notice and hearings. 26 The district court dismissed the plaintiffs' due process claims because they had not identified any property or liberty interest that would entitle them to due process protections prior to the change in policy. Although an employee can obtain a property interest in continued employment where state law or the terms of his agreement with the state creates an expectation of continued employment, where no such expectation is created there is no property interest that would implicate due process protections. Bd. of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 578, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972). Recognizing this hurdle, the plaintiffs claim that despite the lack of any applicable tenure provision, they have de facto tenure under Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972). Under Perry, a plaintiff can show de facto tenure where the circumstances of his service and the practices of his employer create an expectation of continued employment. 27 The district court rejected the plaintiffs' de facto tenure claim, reasoning that where a state employer provides tenure for some employees, as Kentucky does, other employees are not entitled to de facto tenure when they are excluded from the tenure system. Because Kentucky provides some employees with a merit system that formally provides for tenured employment, and yet plaintiffs were specifically excluded from it, the district court found that they cannot qualify for tenure under our decision in Edinger v. Bd. of Regents of Morehead State Univ., 906 F.2d 1136 (6th Cir.1990). 28 Edinger also states that even if a tenure system exists, where the circumstances surrounding the employment relationship lead[] the [non-tenured] employee to reasonably believe his employment is permanent, such actions may create a protected property interest in continued employment. Id. at 1140. Even so, the plaintiffs point to nothing other than their continued employment to establish their de facto tenure. Under Roth, their continued employment is not enough to create a property interest. 29 Therefore, we find no violation of the plaintiffs' due process rights, and we affirm the district court's grant of qualified immunity to Commissioner Ward on this ground.
30 The plaintiffs claim that the revised dress code violated their clearly established equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, as the dress code had a much more onerous impact on manual laborers who worked outside in the summer, including themselves, than it did on office workers. The district court determined that because the policy applied to all park workers, it did not raise any equal protection concerns. Although a facially neutral law can be challenged under the theory of disparate impact, the inquiry for such a challenge focuses on whether it targets a group that has historically been the victim of discrimination or otherwise reflects invidious discrimination. Personnel Adm'r of Massachusetts v. Feeney, 442 U.S. 256, 273, 99 S.Ct. 2282, 60 L.Ed.2d 870 (1979). The plaintiffs present no argument on appeal that would establish an equal protection violation. 31 Because the plaintiffs' allegations do not implicate any clearly established constitutional rights, we affirm the district court's grant of qualified immunity to Commissioner Ward. 32