Opinion ID: 771927
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Publication by Retention of Materials.

Text: 39 Despite the absence of evidence that defendants made the circumstances surrounding Llamas's employment or termination public to anyone but him, Llamas argues that retention of stigmatizing material in his personnel file can constitute disclosure  by his former employer. We have recently acknowledged that it remains an open question in this Circuit whether, in order to trigger due process protections, the stigmatizing charges must be publicized by the employer. Mustafa v. Clark County Sch. Dist., 157 F.3d 1169, 1179 n.10 (9th Cir. 1998) (citing Olivieri v. Rodriguez, 122 F.3d 406, 408 (7th Cir. 1997) (listing cases from other circuits)). 40 We said in Mustafa that the district court's finding that the charges were not publicized may be problematical  when details surrounding the charges remained in the employee's personnel file. Id. at 1179. Llamas argues that this acknowledgment demonstrates that we should adopt the rule that maintaining stigmatizing files constitutes publication. However, in Mustafa, the employer refused to remove documents relating to the discharge. See id. at 1178. But here the district court found, and the record before us supports the conclusion, that defendants purged Llamas's personnel file so that the only notation in his current record relating to his termination is a statement indicating that he was removed from on-call availability roster 10-20-97. 2 The current content of the personnel file is not derogatory. Any allegations of cheating made by the defendants are not publicized by this notation. Compare id. We do not need to address the current circuit split as to whether an employer can satisfy the publication prong by maintaining stigmatizing information in its personnel files. 41 We are not persuaded by Llamas's further assertion that persons pursuing law enforcement careers in California are not required to make the same showing of public disclosure because application for such a career often requires confidentiality waivers and extensive background investigations. Both cases cited by Llamas involved the termination of police officers for alleged misconduct and the maintenance of stigmatizing information in their personnel files. See Lubey v. City and County of San Francisco, 98 Cal. App. 3d 340, 347 (1979); Murden v. County of Sacramento, 160 Cal. App. 3d 302, 308 (1984). The Murden Court, citing Lubey, found that it must realistically assume that potential employers in the public law enforcement field would investigate petitioner's background and discover the reasons for his suspension and termination. Id. at 309. Accordingly, the state appeals court found that the employee's due process rights were implicated. See id. 42 These law enforcement cases can be distinguished, however, because the internal investigations leading to the terminations in Murden and Lubey were issues of public interest since the employees were police officers at the time and there was evidence that the public was aware of some details surrounding their alleged official misconduct. See id. We reject Llamas's invitation to create an enhanced due process right for someone employed in another field who may later seek to pursue a career in law enforcement. 43