Opinion ID: 745479
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Issues on Appeal and Pendent Jurisdiction

Text: 13 An order denying a motion to dismiss on the ground of qualified immunity is immediately appealable where the district court has rejected that defense as a matter of law. Kaluczky v. City of White Plains, 57 F.3d 202, 206 (2d Cir.1995); see Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 2817-18, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985). We therefore have jurisdiction to review the District Court's ruling that, because the applicable law was clearly established at the time of McEvoy's two demotions, Spencer and Christopher are not entitled to qualified immunity. 14 The immunity question turns on whether it was objectively reasonable for Spencer and Christopher to believe that their decisions to demote McEvoy did not violate his clearly established constitutional rights. The resolution of this question entails an inquiry into the nature and extent of the rights that [McEvoy] can assert, and whether [his] entitlement is well-settled. Kaluczky, 57 F.3d at 207. Because these underlying issues are inextricably intertwined with the qualified immunity issue, or are necessary to ensure meaningful review of that issue, Swint v. Chambers County Commission, 514 U.S. 35, 51, 115 S.Ct. 1203, 1212, 131 L.Ed.2d 60 (1995), we have discretion, on this interlocutory appeal, to exercise pendent jurisdiction over these related questions. We believe that there is sufficient overlap in the factors relevant to the appealable and nonappealable issues to warrant our exercising plenary authority over the appeal insofar as it concerns defendants Spencer and Christopher. See San Filippo v. United States Trust Co. of New York, 737 F.2d 246, 255 (2d Cir.1984) (quotations and brackets omitted).II. Qualified Immunity 15 The defense of qualified immunity shields government agents from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 2738, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). A right is clearly established when [t]he contours of the right [are] ... sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right.... [T]he unlawfulness must be apparent. Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640, 107 S.Ct. 3034, 3039, 97 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987); see Jermosen v. Smith, 945 F.2d 547, 550 (2d Cir.1991) (court should look to following factors to determine whether right was clearly established at time defendant acted: (1) whether the right in question was defined with 'reasonable specificity'; (2) whether the decisional law of the Supreme Court and the applicable circuit court support the existence of the right in question; and (3) whether under preexisting law a reasonable defendant official would have understood that his or her acts were unlawful). A defendant pleading qualified immunity on a motion to dismiss is entitled to prevail if the allegations in the complaint fail to state a claim of violation of clearly established law. Behrens v. Pelletier, 516 U.S. 299, ----, 116 S.Ct. 834, 839, 133 L.Ed.2d 773 (1996) (quotations omitted). 16 On its face, McEvoy's complaint appears to frame grievances that would bring it solely within the ambit of free speech cases like Pickering. The complaint explicitly alleges that both demotions were made because of McEvoy's vocal criticisms of the former Commissioner and because of his decision to petition the PERB or to file the present suit. 1 However, since, at least as to the first demotion (from Commissioner to Deputy Chief), the complaint also alleges that the defendants were motivated to reward a political ally, the complaint presents circumstances that might entitle the defendants to the insulation provided by cases like Elrod. The claim as to the first demotion therefore requires consideration of the distinction between the Pickering and the Elrod lines of decisions and poses the specific issue of whether an employer motivated to act against an employee for exercising both his speech and associational rights is insulated from liability by Elrod. The claim as to the second demotion (from Deputy Chief to Captain) appears to present only issues implicating the Pickering line of cases, but since the complaint alleges circumstances warranting a conclusion that McEvoy was a policymaker even after his first demotion, the second demotion poses the specific issue of the significance that should be attached to an employee's policymaking role in applying Pickering. 17 As our discussion below reveals, both issues were unsettled at the time of the demotions. As a result, the contours of the rights alleged to have been violated by Spencer and Christopher were not sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he was doing violates [those] right[s], Anderson, 483 U.S. at 640, 107 S.Ct. at 3039, and these defendants are therefore entitled to qualified immunity. Moreover, our resolution of the first issue entitles Spencer and Christopher not only to qualified immunity but also to have the claim against them regarding the first demotion dismissed entirely. 2 18